Frantically itchy pony??

[fuze]

Just curious as to whether anyone has any ideas?

Pone is a 14hh heavy, hairy cob. Over the past few days he's been itchy, and I mean really itchy. It seems to be pretty much all over, but the worst bit is his back, just under where the saddle would go, and the left side is itchier than the right. I've had a look under the fluff, there's no scurfiness (he only had a bath about 3wks ago), scabs, redness, sores, or anything like that. I can't see anything crawling, he hasn't had any change of products or feed, and he was chaser clipped a couple of weeks ago to lessen his sweatiness. He's unrugged.

Bar attack him with a set of clippers and take the lot off, I'm not sure what best to try? Anyone have any experiences, please? :confused3:

 

[holeymoley]

Is it possible he has came into contact with some sort of mite? This is totally daft but I once ran out of space to dry my wet rugs so flung one over a large bale of hay. Next day I took it off and it was covered in harvest mites and eggs which to the eye don't look like anything other than dust/ skin flakes but if you look closely they move . Maybe check his rugs and stuff.

 

[hoggedmane]

Friends pony had this - we couldn't find anything but when the vet came he found lice round top of her tail. They are hard to spot.

 

[SKY]

I would treat a pour on for lice. It covers a lot of mites. Mine always get it this time year one treatment and there fine.

 

[JillA]

I would treat a pour on for lice. It covers a lot of mites. Mine always get it this time year one treatment and there fine.

This, and wondering if he is too warm? Also we have had a discussion on this elsewhere and someone reported that by chance she got a lick containing copper and hers stopped itching from then on. I'm going to try that with mine - apparently copper helps reducethe histamines in the system

 

[Dreamer515]

my horse gets real itchy round his girth area this time of year. he is retired and ive tried everything. ive treated him for lice, even clipped the area as i thought he may be getting too hot there. there is nothing there to see or feel and ive used antibacterial shampoo aswell. he wears a rug at night (he is an elderly TB with next to nothing for a coat so would feel mean leaving him naked 24/7!) which i have checked and had washed but he was still itching. the only thing i find helps is too use some aloe vera gel on the area twice a day, he loves the feel of it and i guess it must help take away the itchyness. like i said he is clipped in his itchy area so dont know how difficult it would be to get to the skin of a hairy cob! hope you solve his itchyness soon

 

[fuze]

Mites are always a possibility... any ideas as to the best stuff to blitz him? I've encountered lice before, and you can usually see something crawling if you look hard enough.

I did wonder about being too warm, but he has been clipped and the temperature has dropped if anything this week. He's still out naked with a low chaser, but his fluff is very dense. He was washed with tea tree shampoo on his last bath. I guess treat for mites, and if that fails call the clipping lady in? :confused3:

 

[Embo]

Mine has an itchy butt because he's warm. He's only wearing a rainsheet in the day and nothing/cotton sheet at night and has almost no winter coat yet! He is a hot horse.

I did check for creepy crawlies, but came up with nothing. On the cooler days he's not itchy at all.

I would check for mites/lice to rule it out.

 

[fatpiggy]

My old girl used to be frantically itchy during the late spring months - she would practically throw herself into my arms when I unbolted the stable door in the mornings because she was so desperate for me to scratch her belly. There was nothing to see or feel and I was baffled for a couple of years. I chucked louse powder all over the bedding and her rugs, but it made no difference. Then one day I heard about the mites that live in chicken feathers and wondered if the swallows which nested in her stable might have something to do with it. So I bought some Red Mite spray meant for chickens, sprayed the bed, the stable walls, her belly and legs and the very next day she was absolutely fine. I just sprayed once a week after mucking out after that and it solved the problem completely (and cheaply). No other horses were affected, all the stables had nests on the beams but she was very sensitive to bites and stings and perhaps being chestnut made her skin more sensitive too.

 

[Spyda]

Could be just down to moulting into his winter coat? But I'd treat for lice/mites to be on the safe side. Powder the inside of any rugs, saddle cloths, etc., and sterilise your grooming kit. And I used to sprinkle louse powder around my cleaned out and disinfected stable and over the bedding too. 9.9/10 the problem resolved itself within a couple of weeks. I guess if he keeps on itching, you'd be best off having the vet out to take a look and give a definitive opinion. Good luck

 

[charli_]

It could be the weather. Wellie always gets very itchy in summer, he has sweet itch which is easier to contain than his body itching. He will itch sides, and bum. It seemed to be when he was very hot, so got some garlic mix type stuff from tack shop and used in food. Only my luck, he's allergic and made it worse! eventually found that marmite works, just a dollop mixed with small amount of food. Wouldn't usually feed him hard feed in summer as is welsh and practically lives on air, but had to because of this, so just used high fibre lo calorie type. Was tenner for 20kg bag, and lasted a good 2 months! Keep in mind that after a while their systems get used to it so have a add a tiny bit more.

Also thinking that it may be fly spray (been ages since I've had to use that, but don't know where you are) so may be that. I had been using it a while before mine had a reaction. Was suggested it may be because it had built up on his skin, so stopped using and within a few days was fine.