Help - my pony is rubbing his tail off!!

[Janica]

Can anyone help?
He does suffer from sweet itch and is treated with switch weekly -
he also wears a rambo flybuster rug all the time - but he has now taken to rubbing the top of his tail - which is now very sparse...
any tips would be appreciated. Is there a tail cover which he can wear in the field at all times? All I can find is tail guards which are mainly for travelling.

 

[Tinypony]

Janica, I think a tail guard might make his tail warm and make him itch more.
Do you use any lotions and potions on him? The Net Tex sweetitch stuff is pretty good. A lot of people are recommending Ruggles products, pricey, but then sweetitch ponies do get a bit pricey in the summer don't they? Sigh.

 

[LouS]

My boy rubbed his tail out last year too. This year I'm on top of it so far. He goes out in a Mark Todd fly rug which has a big belly flap and a really big tail flap, so the only places he can get bitten are his legs. (He also wears a mask with ears etc).

Does he rub his mane as well or is it just his tail?

I try to thoroughly wash his mane and tail every few days at least, I use a mild Aloe Vera shampoo, try not to use anything that will irritate. Then I rinse it thoroughly. I use a product called Kill Itch every other day but will eventually cut back to a few times a week. All of the above seems to be working. Its really just working out a system that works for your horse.

My friend has a horse with severe sweet itch and using Kill Itch she turns out with no rug and the horse has been fine, so it works on some of them amazingly.

Does he live out? If possible put electric fencing up so there's nowhere for him to rub.