Overnight turnout and sweetitch - advice please!

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Dreckly

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Evening all,

I am going to be turning my boy out overnight from next week.

At the moment when out during the day, he is suffering very slightly with sweetitch - nothing major - just a tendancy for a major rub but no real damage.

My concern is that being out during the danger times of dusk and dawn he will suffer more. Not having any experience of the fly rugs or sweetitch for that metter, do you think it would be advisable to invest in one before he starts his overnights?

As usual, all opinions gratefully received!!
 
If he's showing signs of sweetitch, I'd get him a fly rug before it gets worse. Stock up on fly repellent.

I think you can buy special creams and the sort and get a Boett rug, pony at the RS has one and he was really good last summer, was out at dawn but put out at about 10ish when the majority of flys were over.

There are lots of people on here with fantastic advice, better than mine anyway, and there are also help lines and websites if you need them,

Lizzie x
 
They were all stamping tonight from the midges

My horse with sweet itch wears 2 rugs 24/7 and in this weather I top up with a rain sheet & neck when its raining.

He is out full time as does less damage as otherwise he scratches when in.

I only have a small patch on his neck and sheath that is exposed and these get smeared with soothing cream, nettex Itch stop, sudocream or metanium and have copious amounts of fly spray applied twice daily.
 
Chancer wears a rambo protector which does well for him. He mainly gets mild SI on his belly/sheath and tail. I do remove the mane cover as he is not itchy on his neck and his mane is so thick and precious I would hate to risk damage.

I also feed him plenty of brewers yeast and instant linseed.

He is sprayed twice a day with my home made fly spray which includes a good amount of avon skins so soft and fresh oil.

I also coat this sheath and belly button area in sudocream.

This year by doing all this he has been good, slight rubbing of tail and belly but nothing like last year when he was on steriods for his sore and swollen sheath.

Have also started putting Cairo's rambo on as the midges are suddenly really bad at the moment, he has had all the other things that Chancer has this year too.
 
Definately invest in a rug - not a bog standard fly rug (they will NOT help), but a proper sweet itch rug. Boett is probably the best (if you don't mind paying out for one!!), if not then I find the Pagony sweet itch rug to work well with my sweet itch sufferer. It works out around £53 I believe, including postage (so cheaper than a lot of normal fly rugs). Check out www.divoza.co.uk and look under eczema rugs. My boy wears his 24/7.

It is much better to get it sorted before hand than turn him out rugless and have the vicious cycle begin.
 
huge difference this year with midges due to weather. my boy started getting sweet itch 10 days ago or so, i wasnt sure for the first couple of days but realised on sunday it most likely was so i hastily went sweet itch rug hunting (same day) and by god theyre expensive but alas thanks to lots of people on here i got one, at half price from premierinternational, highly recommend it and he is sssooo much happier. put him in the stable for an hours respite tonight and alas rubbed so i would avoid keeping yours in at all if you can as there is more to rub on in a stable, higher boredom factor so again, increases the rubbing. i also use the highly recommended nettex sweeit itch solve cream and that has helped, i rub it on from the roll on you can buy for £6, you shouldnt need more than that if you get a rug, oh and premier deliver next day for just 3.95. i nearly paid £100 for a rambo one and got the normal £70 one for £40 from premier and now everyone at the yard wants one!! good luck, i was devastated when i found he had sweet itch, see previous post, but its not the end of the world (apparently).
 
General response not directed at anyone in particular.


If you have a horse prone to sweetitch.....WHY do you wait until your horses have been bitten before you fly rug them....ITS TOO LATE.
 
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