itchy horse help!!!

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racebuddy

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my main showhorse is very itchy at the minute, no signs of any sweetich , no marks on him just vert itchy especially on his neck, just in light rugs at minute but cant leave unrugged due to him rubbing as got qualifiers due soon, any ideas much appreciated ? allergies , xx
 
Try putting some piriton tablets in his feed (or tesco own allergy tablets) for a few days or until it stops.

For a 16.3 we put around 7 in each pm feed.

And make sure they're non drowsy :D:D
 
hi he is rugged all year due to being my show horse, never had sweet ich and now 17 years old, has always had sensitive skin but never any cocnerns.
 
My pony was 24, she had ALWAYS been itchy but never sweet itch, was alway a strange thing she just lived with and never really caused a great deal of issues. However, one day it became obsessive, she was so itchy all the time, I rugged her, clipped her, bathed her in products from the vet, nothing helped. Eventually they did a very expenisve blood test which showed her liver was producing a poison which was causing this over the top allergic reaction. She was put onto steroids which helped and eventally we found her maintanence dose and she pottered on. Unfortunatly the steroids over a long period of time cause laminitis and I lost her to this last winter.

Dont panic, but ask your vet to run a blood test. Better to rule it out
 
vet needs to check really.

need to rule out lice as well - apparently they're all over the place at the moment and cause intense itching
 
My horse developed a mysterious itch a couple of years ago. I spent 4k trying to find the cause. Found plenty that DIDN't cause it but never found what did.

He was skin scraped and allergy tested which showed that he is sensitive to wheat, maize, horse chestnut trees, house dust and dogs.

I kid you not I tried everything. Malaseb shampoo, cider vinegar baths, a wormer injection meant for cows and so on. He was on 60 prednisolone tablets a day at one point but they didn't help. A steriod injection resulted in an abcsess. I've covered him and I mean covered his entire body in Holland and Barret pure Aloe Vera gel (2 whole large tubes a day)and added 600ml pure aloe juice to his feed a day. All of it made no difference.

If one more person suggested worming him I would have thumped them!!!

Changed feed, bedding, field, new rugs, etc etc the lot. It took over a year but eventually he became a lot less itchy. He still has moments now though and when he does rub he will rub down to raw skin.

A lot of the key with him is not to over rug him. Despite being fully clipped (except legs) he was only in a medium weight rug and only when it got to -5 did I put a neck cover on. He is a pure bred arab and people would be horrified! I've seen unclipped heavy weight cobs in heavy weight rugs. A lot of the time I think it makes the person feel better rather than the horse needing it.

He is currently fed nothing with molasses or additives of any kind and nothing with wheat or maize in it.

Good luck with your quest and please let me know if you find something that does work as I fear my quest is not over with yet!....
 
Equidermis plus by Feedmark has helped my itchy mare alot. Also only using rugs with shiny linings, no fleeces and only rugging when necessary.
 
Syrah said:
Equidermis plus by Feedmark has helped my itchy mare alot. Also only using rugs with shiny linings, no fleeces and only rugging when necessary.
Click to expand...

I feed Equidermis Plus to my itchy boy, have done for about 2 years. Can't say is it helped or not really as I was trying all sorts of things to stop him itching. But he looked (and looks) fabulous on it so I kept him on it.
 
My mare was very itchy this winter. Vet drew small amount of blood and tests showed liver function problem she has a fairly cheap supplement now. Simples.
 
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