Horse is biting his tummy and dock

[Callmem]

Am at my wits end. We bought the most kind natured horse in the world in July. he arrived was fine for about 4 -6 weeks then he started biting his dock area after an ilness which shot his temp up, stopped him drinking and made him really dehydrated. I thought it may be tape worm so wormed him. It didnt stop him. I ended up buying a fly rug and putting that on him. However whenever the rug came off he would still try to bit his dock. Now he is also biting his tummy. Someone suggested I treat him for lice. I couldnt see any but spent an hour working delouser liquid into his coat on Sat. took his rug of today for a while and when I went back a couple hours later I could see he had bitten his tummy and dock area again due to the marks he had left although not quite so badly. He doesnt cut himself just scratches himself by biting. he is titally electric fenced off from fences or sheds.His previous owner said he was the only horse in the field that didnt have to wear a fly rug and he came from Midgie city!
He is soo good natured but am at my wits end as to what could be causing this and what I should do to give him some relief. I tried Scratch supplement and that didnt work. He is HighlandX Welsh Cob. he gets fed Equlibre, a handful of applechaff, but was on unmolassed Alfa until he got too fat, and allen and page fast fibre.

 

[SatansLittleHelper]

I would personally have a chat with your vet xx

 

[smellsofhorse]

I think you should talk to your vet.
They will maybe do bloods and a skin scraping.
Also there are other worms, pin worms I think that cab cause itching.
He's obviously very uncomfortable.
Also the biting at his stomach maybe because its not settled, mild colic etc?

 

[cremedemonthe]

As above, talk to your vet, could it be ringworm starting?

 

[paulineh]

I have an Arab gelding that did this a few years ago. After Tape worming him ,bloods taken (nothing abnormal ) we thought it was at this time of the year when they are changing their coat that this was the problem. He also would shake and shiver. He was in good condition and very fit (100 mile fit Endurance horse) . He was also very sensitive to touch.

We gave my boy a good bath with a Tea Tree shampoo. Started him on Sodium Bicarb to neutralize the stomach acids and Pro Pell for the blood. This all seems to work and they all have the Pro Pell from November through to March. Apart from helping with the change of coat it also boosts them throughout the winter.

 

[Callmem]

Thank you all. I have talked to my vet when he first started hence the worming him however he was only biting his dock or round it at that time. Its not colic like tummy biting. Its around dock, croup point of buttock and towards the back of his barrell. If he has a rug on he is fine. However his mane is not itchy at all. Hence me ruling out sweetitch but his neck can be as he loves you brushing him there. Will try something for tape worm now. See if that makes a difference. I wish they could talk! He is in excellent condition if not too fat at the moment. I dlove to be able to take the rug off him for a while to let him breathe but last twice i felt awful when went back a couple hours later. None of the other horses are exhibiting any form of scratching. when he arrived he wasn't scratching. One of the other girls ponies had lice but can't remember if that was before he arrived or after however they were not near eachother at the time. Can't see any lice though.

 

[putasocinit]

Give him a really good brush, you had put a delouser on, worm him with ivermectin for round worms which are caused by flies and stop tail rubbing etc. suggest if no improvement after a month, clip, shampoo with tea tree, use spot on, kills mites as well in winter, rug and get ready for spring - sweet itch time

 

[_HP_]

I would check for a food allergy if you've recently changed his feed. Perhaps the mollasses is causing the itch...is the grazing different?...richer?

 

[Callmem]

THanks. The only thing that has molasses is the applechaff and its low sugar. He gets literally one handful of applechaff half handful of Alfa( unmollased) Equilibre and a touch of watery fast fibre to dampen the chaff. He has salt lick in the field, he gets some hay morning and night and has plenty grass in his field although goodness is almost gone now. When I went down today he just looked like an unruly child lol I have taken his rug off past few days and just lived with him scratching himself. He does have hay ring in the field but has never rubbed himself on it and I would have thought if he was stressed with being itchy its the first place he would head for. I'll see how he goes. hde got wormed on THursday with Equvlan Duo. I have to redo the de louser liquid this weekend but I don;t think he has lice. Am scared to use Spot On as I've heard bad stories about it.But I also know its the one sure way to kill any bugs on him.

 

[Buddy'sMum]

Try cutting out the alfa, some horses can be hyper sensitive to alfalfa.

 

[Silverfire]

How old is he? Is he a colt or gelding? Is he turned out with a friend? Is he ridden? Ive seen a few young and not so young colts and occasionally geldings do this and its just like a boredom vice thing. I also have a horse who will to do it out in the field, just playing almost like a dog chasing its tail except he chased his leg, he still does it occasionally and hes 20 now! Try putting him out with another if he is on his own and he might stop doing it.

 

[cheeryplatypus]

Get vet and bloods done, take it from there. Could be liver related, if not an allergy.

 

[YorksG]

Stop all feed except grass, hay/haylage. There is synthetic flavour in apple chaff, and plenty of horses who can't cope with alflafa. Itching is one of the most common symptoms of food intolerance in any mammal. Go back to basics for at least a week, then add one feed component at once, aagain over at least a week.