Itchy pony- what's your usual process of elimination?

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

I acquired a gorgeous little Shetland a few months ago. She's always enjoyed a good groom/scratch, but this past week she's got a bit frantic with it.

Mane and tail absolutely fine, she's not rubbing on fences. It's mostly just under her belly. I did notice last week that she'd started rubbing her back legs together so I did a fipronil treatment on just her back legs. Hasn't made any difference (4 days ago). She's only tiny so I used one "small dog" pipette shared between the two back legs - should I have used more? Is it too late to try again with a bigger dose?

Does anyone have a tried and tested time line they turn to in this situation? I was thinking a whole body spot on treatment (i use coopers spot on as prescribed by the vet) next in case it's lice or ticks- should I wait a certain number of days after the fipronil?

Or would you pursue mites more aggressively next? She's still ridiculously hairy- do you think a partial clip might help so I can get better look at what's going on, or might it just make everything worse? At the moment she has no raw/sore patches or anything, she just spends all day following me around nudging me to scratch her belly for her!

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

Oh Ps this isn't the one with laminitis, but she's also off the grass at the moment to keep her with the other one. She's having just unsoaked hay, a handful of blue chip lami light balancer and a handful of top chop zero. No horse flies around yet, midges not too bad.

 

[meleeka]

My mini is always clipped in the summer months. His coat will never be fine enough for our summers and he’s always late shedding compared to the others. Being hot makes him very itchy.

I’d do something like a blanket or chaser clip and give him a good bath when the weather allows. Mine loves to be hoovered so we get the scurf out that way ?

I would also do a couple of doses of Deosect to rule out lice or mites. You can get small amounts from your vet rather than buy a whole bottle.

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

Mine loves to be hoovered so we get the scurf out that way

As in an actual hoover?! Or is this some specialist horsey device? (I've got visions of blowing all the electrics in my house, exploding my hoover, causing hickeys a teenager would be proud of all over the poor pony, and me just standing in the middle of the chaos saying "but a stranger on the Internet told me it would be fine ?" ??)

 

[meleeka]

As in an actual hoover?! Or is this some specialist horsey device? (I've got visions of blowing all the electrics in my house, exploding my hoover, causing hickeys a teenager would be proud of all over the poor pony, and me just standing in the middle of the chaos saying "but a stranger on the Internet told me it would be fine ?" ??)

?. Yes, an actual hoover! Not the one I use indoors I hasten to add, for hygiene reasons. The scurf and hair is amazing for such a small pony. He’s also really good with clipping but I don’t think i’d attempt it if he wasn’t. I have a video somewhere i’ll try and find it, but I do hold the hose at an angle so he doesn’t get hickeys ?. My cob loves a hoover too and it saves hours of brushing.

 

[rabatsa]

I would go for too hot at the moment but also cut out the balancer. Balancers can make some equines itchy.

I had a donkey that would come into the kitchen for a good vacuum before a big do, such as Christmas or Palm Sunday.

 

[Ownedby4horses]

I agree to clip, I’ve just clipped two of mine as they were mega tickly and dragging themselves along stables and haynets. They both mini shetlands and I got 2lbs of hair off one and 2lbs 4 off the other (first year I’ve been sad enough to bag and weigh it as there’s so much.

I also would cut out the balancer, I’ve had tickly tinies on balancer before too.

A good medicated shampoo after the clip too, just to get rid of any short tickly hairs.

Then if the tickling continues, you can treat accordingly.

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

Thanks all, looks like I'm getting the hose out tomorrow! Four kids, one tiny pony, what could go wrong ?‍

I had a donkey that would come into the kitchen for a good vacuum before a big do, such as Christmas or Palm Sunday.

This has made me laugh so much! My mum was a vicar and she was always mega busy during holy week, and I can just imagine her saying "and I haven't even hoovered the donkey yet!" ???

 

[Equi]

Those shetland tails are very very thick and hot, heat and shedding really makes them itch. If you don't want to clip, she will need a really good grooming and hoover/air blower and brush the tail out totally and thin it if you can. If shes coming into season they can also get a bit messy/itchy from all the lovely mare goo..i have to wash my little mares back ends a couple times when they are seasoning cause..ew.

 

[Cowpony]

Second cutting out the feed. Any soya products make mine itchy and it's very hard to find feed which doesn't contain it!

 

[Gloi]

I'd go for clip, bath then treat with coopers solution or deosect and but if it gets worse as weather warms up consider sweet itch.

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

Second cutting out the feed. Any soya products make mine itchy and it's very hard to find feed which doesn't contain it!

I've already convinced myself that soya makes my dartmoor itchy- she definitely seemed to react to the top spec balancer. The blue chip doesn't have any soya in, but I can certainly cut it out to see if that helps.