Horse stamping hind legs and kicking out

[Marigold4]

My young horse (6) is a sensitive flower and always seems to have something going on with him. Last couple of months, it's been an itchy tail. This is still going on but helped with steroid cream, steroid injection, washing with specialist shampoo etc.

Now he is furiously stamping hind legs and kicking out. Started yesterday when I brought him in. He's 40% TB, 40% Oldenburg and 20% Welsh. Zero feather - he doesn't grow any, so I don't think it's mites. He's buckskin. I've cleaned his sheath, anus, under tail, between legs, put on cream and spayed with flyspray. Any ideas anyone what might be the issue? Poor chap is quite unhappy. Vet coming on Monday but it would be good to work something out beforehand.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Is he the same in the stable as when turned out?

Mine will go drama lama and kick out repeatedly if there's a horse fly about.

 

[Marigold4]

Is he the same in the stable as when turned out?

Mine will go drama lama and kick out repeatedly if there's a horse fly about.

Worse in the stable. I haven't seen him doing it in the field, nor the tail rubbing, even though there's a shelter he could rub on. Same stables for years, but only started this behaviour recently.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Wasps nest near stables, or maybe vermin?

 

[Fruitcake]

I've had a hose with no feather with mites between his back legs before (really high up) so don't rule that out. It also caused him to rub his tail.

 

[meleeka]

He hasn’t got stinging nettles in his field has he? One of mine is like that if she ends up in them (the teeny bit of grass there must be worth it).

 

[ycbm]

If there's nothing external I would start thinking hind gut acidosis or even hind gut ulcers. Short term I might try a sucralfate test or aloe vera.
.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I've had a hose with no feather with mites between his back legs before (really high up) so don't rule that out. It also caused him to rub his tail.

Same. My TB.

 

[Gloi]

Even without feather it would be worth using a mite treatment on his back legs. A pipette of fipronil dog flea treatment on each leg has been successful for many.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Give him a full body bath in a good selenium shampoo, such as Selsun 2.5%. It will clean the skin and remove dandruff and skin debris thus removing the food source for any possible mites. Mites are not blood feeders, so be wary of being talked into 'the mite injection' by your vet. The shampoo is a cheap, chemical free option that has worked for countless people.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Give him a full body bath in a good selenium shampoo, such as Selsun 2.5%. It will clean the skin and remove dandruff and skin debris thus removing the food source for any possible mites. Mites are not blood feeders, so be wary of being talked into 'the mite injection' by your vet. The shampoo is a cheap, chemical free option that has worked for countless people.

I read that and actually wrote it down in my diary last year.
I don’t have a mite problem yet but can guarantee I will do shortly. Since moving here it’s been every summer. Is any sort of dandruff shampoo ok or does it specifically have to be Selsun?
My issue is harvest rather than feather mite so all over the horse.

 

[Pinkvboots]

We get harvest mite here mine tend to get bites on the face rather than legs though and it's normally later in the summer.

 

[Highmileagecob]

The heel mites are the same family as scabies mites. They don't burrow or blood feed, but live in the skin debris. Not sure about harvest mites, I would have to Google....

 

[Highmileagecob]

Google reckons they hook into the skin to feed, which would suggest something like Deosect wash or Dectomax injection might work better.

 

[kidsandponies]

Possibly maggots in his sheath? Gross I know but a friends horse showed similar symptoms to yours last year and it was eventually found to be this, easily sorted with sedation and a very thorough wash/clean by vet.

 

[Lucky Snowball]

Crab fly? No amount of fly spray will deter them. Locate and kill. Found on Dartmoor or New Forest or transmitted at shows.

 

[Birker2020]

I would hazard a guess at pinworm. Check his anus. Does he have either of these, rub marks with hair loss along side head of tail and lower down. Also a yellow/cream colour (looks like birds poohed on him)?

 

[Horseysheepy]

Is he bedded on straw? It could be a parasite living in the straw. Or he could be allergic to his bedding perhaps?

 

[Birker2020]

Having the itchy tail first and then stamping his legs would definitely shout pinworm.

I hope for your sake its not, Bailey had it and it took a wormer followed 3 weeks later by Panacur Guard 5 day and two wormers up the bottom and three cycles of pinworm wash and selenium sulphide shampoo. When I say three cycles I mean three bottles of each over a targeted programme.

Cost me a fortune and the stress was unbelievable. One of the liveries was very rude and suggested I called the vet 'to deal with it' - up to this point I'd had the vet out about 5 times trying to come up with various strategies to deal with it.

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Has the sun burned his skin?

 

[HollyWoozle]

My mare kicked out and hit a wall last week when she was sedated for dentistry and a horse fly landed on her. She has never done that in the last 11 years I've had her, but I have not often seen horse flies around ours very often.

 

[paddy555]

my "drama lama" is yellow dun think skinned. We have kicking, stamping, back leg snatching and everything else when he gets a crab fly.
He is my only dun and out of every other colour horse I have he is always the one with problems. The others cope well with crab flies and most other flies. For him it is the end of the world.

I don't know if buckskin is your problem especially now in the fly season.

 

[FieldOrnaments]

I would imagine hormones/pheromones would have much more to do with it than color?

 

[Marigold4]

Wasps nest near stables, or maybe vermin?

Nothing that I'm aware of

 

[Marigold4]

I've had a hose with no feather with mites between his back legs before (really high up) so don't rule that out. It also caused him to rub his tail.

That's interesting to note. I didn't know mites could occur without feathers

 

[Marigold4]

He hasn’t got stinging nettles in his field has he? One of mine is like that if she ends up in them (the teeny bit of grass there must be worth it).

That's certainly possible. There are a few nettles although we did strim them down a couple of days ago

 

[Marigold4]

Possibly maggots in his sheath? Gross I know but a friends horse showed similar symptoms to yours last year and it was eventually found to be this, easily sorted with sedation and a very thorough wash/clean by vet.

I did wonder about his sheath and have been cleaning it regularly. I'll get the vet to check this out when she comes on Monday

 

[Marigold4]

Crab fly? No amount of fly spray will deter them. Locate and kill. Found on Dartmoor or New Forest or transmitted at shows.

I'm not sure we get them in Sussex but will check.

 

[Marigold4]

I would hazard a guess at pinworm. Check his anus. Does he have either of these, rub marks with hair loss along side head of tail and lower down. Also a yellow/cream colour (looks like birds poohed on him)?

View attachment 95387View attachment 95388

I did a test for pinworm a month ago with Westgate labs and it came back neg. vet had a look a couldn't see any signs of pinworm. Double dosed with strongid P anyway but it hasn't made any difference.

 

[Marigold4]

Has the sun burned his skin?

I guess that's possible. He's wrapped up in a big flyrug but it soesn't cover his legs. His skin is dark rather than pink as he's buckskin but I'll check it out!