Gypsy horse mane & feather?!

S

suzimaulkerson

New User
Joined
8 April 2007
Messages
4
Visit site
Hi, I'm new to this site & I was wondering if any one has experience of Gypsy horses. I purchased mine in Jan & she is absolutley wonderful but she has had a real itch problem which does seem to have settled down now but she's still constantly rubbing her knee's & feathers. We have tried everything for mites & lice etc. We have also tried Benzyl Benzoate 50/50 with surgical spirit which was suggested by a vet for our other horses years ago & has always been fantastic but she just still itches. whenever I combe her mane clumps come out and she's rubbing away all her feathers!!!
mad.gif
I love all her hair & just want to make her feel more comfortable, get rid of her itch & let her feathers grow back as they should be. Can any one advise me please????
 
This does sound like a mite problem! Very common in the hairies. I have had this problem and my vet gave the Dectomax injection, which cleared the problem up without having to resort to trimming the feathers off. Dectomax is not licensed for horses, but most vets are happy to administer it. As a bonus, it is also a wormer. Another wonderful thing for the prevention of mud fever & mites is pig oil mixed with sulphur - lots of people with gypsy cobs/heavy horses use this on the feathers.
 
Maybe she just gets too hot under all her hair so that makes her itchy. My old cob was really itchy when i first got him, like you i tried loads of treatments but in the end could only kmanage the itchiness. I cut off most of his hair! (sorry know you don't want to do this!) Then i could really wash his legs thoroughly, they were a bit scabby especially under his fetlocks. You could try washing her with hibiscrub, although make sure you wash it out thoroughly afterwards. You ca get some soothing creams to help stop itching, most tack shops have them. You could try washing her mane and feathers after any times she gets hot when working, to stop her getting dried seat under them that will make her itchy.
 
Thank you.
And thanks that's really helpfull, I know it's not nice but it's nice to know someone else has been here, I forgot to mention that we had also tried an insecticidal shampoo on her feathers when she arrived & Frontline spray since, I would just like to sort it without clipping her as you say. I will look into this injection, it sounds good, thanks.
 
Thank you, for your quick replies!!
laugh.gif
Yes I think she does get quite hot under her hair bless her. Pig Oil, I'll have to have a look into this too, Thank you.
 
In addition to the injection, my vet also reccomends using Frontline flea/tick spray (the dog/cat one) on the legs. I have used it many times and it definately helps.
 
i had my horse injected and it didnt work, I was gutted.

I am going to try frontline.
Id be happy to try pig oil and sulphur but I cant find any round here ( Herts )
 
Hiya and welcome to the forum
smile.gif
I too had mite problems with one of my lads. Also tried the frontline twice and while it did help it did not eradicate them completely. Now going to try it again with a good wormer such as equest or eqvalan which contains moxidectin and ivermectin respectively. Both are also considered as good treatments for mites and similar parasites. So if your horse is in need of worming you could use one of those which may help to kill them as well.
We had to resort to clipping off Mcfly's feathers ( Piebald gyspy vanner cob in sig picture) in order to get at the scabs as he has thick feathers and you could not reach his skin properly. If you use frontline you need to get it under the scabs if possible as that is where the mites are hiding. Simply spraying on top will not work. That was what I was told and also what I read in articles relating to the use of frontline for mites. If you scrub the scabs off with an antibacterial wash like hibiscrub be sure to dry thoroughly and if possible leave at least a day before spraying. Frontline shouldn't be used on sore or broken skin and you could either make matters worse by causing inflammation of the skin ( possibly resulting in secondary infections which is common anyway with mites etc) or else make their skin sore in which case the horse may resent you spraying and since more than one application two weeks apart ( to kill mites from newly hatched eggs) is recommended you may find it near high impossible to get near their legs again. Just a tip btw not trying to dictate but just mentioning the precautions with frontline as not everyone on here has cat and dogs and may not be as familiar with it.
When I eventually get them sorted as they can be hard to get rid of I plan to use pig oil and sulphur.
I would suggest that once treated you follow a similar programme to help deter the mites. Be warned though if it is the choriotypes mite they are more prevailent in the winter months so as summer progresses and you think they have gone, they may not have so it may be worth treating again before the start of next winter as a precaution even if the horse doesn't show any signs of having them.
I know I would rather be on the safe side
With regard to the pig oil and sulphur there is a gentleman on Ebay called Matthew Burks who sells it and I contacted him last year about some. Didn't buy any in the end but I plan to this year.
He can be contacted via ebay as matt286bay or via email ( I do have his email address if anyone is interested and will be happy to forward on ( if you pm me).
Cazx
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top