Hey, had REALLY bad probs with my horse & mites... from the research I did I understand they can be passed from horse to horse, and almost all horses carry mites but only SOME have a reaction to them. Heavily feathered horses seem to have a bad reaction, I guess they are hotter in their feathers & this makes the mites breed more prolifically so they have a larger population??? or as they are hot & itchy they have a reaction.
My horse rubbed his legs RAW a couple of years ago, now I control it using lots of methods combined that seems to work. I keep his feathers as short as possible (he deosnt like me clipping his feathers!) and wash them with Selsun shampoo (avalible from the pharmacy) I use Frontline and pig oil with sulphur powder mixed in. Twice a year, usually in Nov, he has a Dectomax injection from the vet and I try to use an ivermectin wormer in the middle of the winter when their at their worse!
From what I found out (not saying take it as gospel!) you wont get it out of a herd as it's so hard to get all the mites gone at once & then catch the cycle to kill the larvae from the eggs.
