Is it true that marmite is amazing for flies??Help for a horse with sweet itch...

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Samantha008

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My mare has sweet itch, and is a complete rug wrecker...so at the minute shes out on the grass naked, having ripped two fly rugs already. Shes on dodson and horrells itch free, but that isnt having any effect what so ever and wondering what i can try next!!!

Thanks!!!!

:)
 
Yes it helps but we found that after a while she wouldn't eat it so moved her on to brewers yeast and so far we have full mane and tail. We tried garlic but that seemed to make things worse so dont feed it at all.
LadyLuck
 
Yes, a dollop of marmite is very good, it's the yeast in it that is the magic ingredient! Brewers yeast as someone said is good too. Avons skin so soft is good also mixed with white vinegar, water and optional lavender oil(few drops, to soothe). It's quite greasy and the midges just slide off!! I use it as a fly repellent, there was an archived homemade fly recipes post on here with lots of the avon variations. Also try a Rambo Protector rug, very tough, only rug that's not been shredded!
You could also try giving a detox drink of aloe vera juice as a one off to help immune system (bit of a boost).
 
Gosh I'd forgotten this! Yes it works i used to use it. Our pony is a bit itchy this year must go and buy him some (tesco's own is cheaper than Marmite!)
 
Yes! It literally is amazing I've gone from hating it to loving it ;)
my poor boy was being bitten all over..especially on sensitive areas which he wasn't so happy about...tried vaseline, fly gel etc etc but nothing kept them away and then about 4-5 days ago i started giving in about a spoon of marmite...now..there is very very few flies biting him and only the old bites are healing and i can't see any new ones :D
 
It is cheaper to buy brewyers yeast - I get mine from Charnwood Milling in 25 k sacks, but I have two large horses and feed two large tablespoons a day to them. That sack lasts me a year.

Linseed is also excellent for skin health and I have found adding clivers also made an improvement to their itching. Again my linseed is from Charnwood and I get the clivers from Feedmark.

If you want smaller amounts, you can get BY and linseed from Feedmark.

I do not feed garlic as it can make SI worse.

If you want to feed marmite, you can put it in the feed or in a bit of bread. However when I offered Miss Delia my TB a bite of my marmite sarnie (I love the stuff) she spat it out and made faces for ages and would not eat anything from my hand for over a month - she is obviously a hater.

Not a problem with anything not wanting to eat BY in the feed.
 
TeresaF I Love that story- It sums bloody TB's up in one! (in the best possible way i am a big fan) they are soooo stubborn at times!
 
The reason garlic is bad for SI horses is that it is a known gut irritant (for humans, too, hence toxic farts after certain foods for those more prone!).

Have you tried reducing her grazing? Too much starch/sugar will affect her condition, too (similar reasons to garlic).

BY doesn't reduce flybites btw, it just tempers the immune system and so reduces the REACTION to the bites (lumps and itching). Lots of literature on it, now. :)
 
Marmite or Brewers Yeast both work really well to reduce the reaction to bites - I'm sure you'd be able to get the yeast from a store that does homebrew. Would Tesco not have it as a loose 'Pick your own' commoditity. We buy it here from the bulk food shop.

Yeast is also the best ingredient to deal with grass toxins - so super silly horses reacting to grass benifit from it.

Ensure that hard feed contains no molasses in it as this tends to encourage the flies and midges.

White vinegar applied to bites as soon as possible reduces the itching - great for humans too - I keep a small plastic jar in my car with cotton wool balls in it soaked in white vinegar.
 
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I give mine his Marmite in a marmite sandwich! Loves it, and licks his lips for ages after. Brewers Yeast is same thing really: we get ours from Mole Valley locally, or local tack shop (more expensive.

He wears a Rambo hoody plus fly mask when necessary. This year I've put Skin So Soft or pig oil mixed up with a few drops of Neem oil in it, and sponged that around his head and I've been able to turn him out without the fly mask, which is good as he's good at rolling and getting it off.

He has linseed oil in his feed, plus Cidar Vinegar and seaweed (not all in the same feed). I also pick some Clivers and put in his haynet - that way he can pick up what he wants of it; also much cheaper than buying it as a supplement as there's loads of it in the hedges this time of year. Its the sticky stuff that sticks to you!

I did try the Pagony sweet itch rug - bit of a disaster with it as somehow or other he got the strap that attaches the head-piece to the rest of it which goes along the withers, tied up around a hind leg. He was at livery at the time and they said that he was quite distressed and wouldn't let anyone near him with the rug to put it on again, so enough said. I did find the stitching and general quality of the Pagony left a lot to be desired.

Also, I stable him from dusk to dawn. Yes it costs a bit more in hay & bedding; but well worth it as you'd hardly know he's got SI to look at him.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
I give mine his Marmite in a marmite sandwich! Loves it, and licks his lips for ages after. Brewers Yeast is same thing really: we get ours from Mole Valley locally, or local tack shop (more expensive.

He wears a Rambo hoody plus fly mask when necessary. This year I've put Skin So Soft or pig oil mixed up with a few drops of Neem oil in it, and sponged that around his head and I've been able to turn him out without the fly mask, which is good as he's good at rolling and getting it off.

He has linseed oil in his feed, plus Cidar Vinegar and seaweed (not all in the same feed). I also pick some Clivers and put in his haynet - that way he can pick up what he wants of it; also much cheaper than buying it as a supplement as there's loads of it in the hedges this time of year. Its the sticky stuff that sticks to you!

I did try the Pagony sweet itch rug - bit of a disaster with it as somehow or other he got the strap that attaches the head-piece to the rest of it which goes along the withers, tied up around a hind leg. He was at livery at the time and they said that he was quite distressed and wouldn't let anyone near him with the rug to put it on again, so enough said. I did find the stitching and general quality of the Pagony left a lot to be desired.

Also, I stable him from dusk to dawn. Yes it costs a bit more in hay & bedding; but well worth it as you'd hardly know he's got SI to look at him.
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can horses eat bread???? after reading this thread im goign to buy some marmite tomorrow - but he has no hard feed (fatty) so can he eat bread?
 
All of ours have loved marmite, we serve it on toast or crispbreads just as a treat.
After my daughter took our mare down south, we told her that the mare liked marmite, resulting in a hilarious phone call as my daughter described spoon feeding the mare marmite, it didn't occur to her to put it on something
 
I have fed Marmite for years - all mine have loved it, and it seemed to help keep the flies away. Will never forget the time I was away for a few days and asked my working pupil not to forget the marmite as it was fly season. I came back to find the horses wearing marmite splodges round their ears, eyes and flanks! Still cracks me up just thinking about it - and it was ten years ago!
 
Never tried the Marmite thing .... maybe Im too mean with mine ... dont want to share !!! My sons pony had severe SI , she would rub her mane and tail off in 1 day , and her under-carriage . I tried every lotion and potion before I bit the bullet and got a tub of Camrosa which was excellent , her little face just said it all " Thank God that itching has stopped !" then I got a Boett rug ( this was 10 years or so ago now ... there werent any alternatives ) and problem sorted . Now there are quite a selection , Masta do one , Equi-Theme and someone on Ebay , I think she's in Wales so you dont need to pay out a couple hundred pounds ! If you can stop the little tinkers biting then you'll stop the itching . Fly rugs are not suitable for SI sufferers so dont waste your money on buying them . I know when you first turn your horse out in his new rompers the others in the field will snigger but it works and you'll have a happy horse . Creams etc ... anything with Neem oil in is great as its a proven midge repellent and I think Carr Day and Martin do a money back on their Kill Itch , but Im not 100% sure in that . Once you get the right combination its no problem ... a little more time consuming but worth it .
 
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