Please help! Itchy horse and lumpy tail!

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indigosplat

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Hope someone will be able to give me some advice!

I have a 12 year old grey mare on loan and she's ITCHY!
She scratches mostly her tail head, shoulders and flanks on both sides.
Last year when she was itchy the girls at the yard decided to clip her tail but this didn't stop it. It did show that she had infected scabs on her tail but I have a feeling this might be from her rubbing it rather than what caused the itch in the first place. We cleaned the scabs out and bathed with Hibiscrub and let her tail grow back and it seemed fine. Now shes itching it again as well as her sides. as soon as her rugs or her saddle comes off she starts scratching with her teeth. she hasn't bitten herself hard enough to mark yet but its obviously really bothering her!

so.. i've tried bathing her tail with Hibi again and her itchy bits, i've tried cleaning her udder area but it doesnt seem to be having any effect! I was thinking of putting D-Itch or Scratch in her food but as they're both more for sweet itch then general itching I don't know whether they'd work! (She stabled all the time at the moment)

PLUS because she's not mine, I can't just get the vet out to do skin scrapes or change her food, the yard whilst they do care about her and her welfare don't think the problem is big enough to warrent a vet visit..

What can I do?! Can anyone suggest sometime to ease it? Sprays? Supplements? I've heard brewers yeast might be good for itchy horses?

Thanks!
 
Hi I don't know about the itching really if shes shedding her winter coat that can make them a bit uncomfortable especially if they are getting a bit warm like underthe saddle area.

Now for the tail bumps I would be willing to put money on melanoma's - Don't panic - I bought my mare as a 10 year old and she had them then and @ 19 I've had no problems Vets said it is rare to find a grey over 10 with out one !
 
well you see they don't look to me like growths or anything they're very even down both sides, it kinda looks like if you had a roll of plasticine and put some elastic bands around them at evenly spaced intervals. kinda like this

( )
( )
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l l
rest of tail
 
plus the shoulder bit where shes itching she'd been clipped there but she is moulting like a crazy thing which isnt helping but she's been mildly itchy all year.
 
Sounds a bit like sweeet itch to me, I had a pony with a tail like that once! I would certainly try brewers yest, I use it with great effect for my itchy pony (not sweet itch though). I have also used Global Herbs Skratch which is also very good but more expensive. If it is sweet itch your best bet is to get her a good sweet itch rug. Benzyl benzoate is good for soothing the itchy areas but you will need to cover her up too.
 
Can she get sweet itch even if she's stabled?, I thought it was more if they were turned out? and she has it all year round its just worse in the spring...

thanks for the help guys, keep it coming! :)
 
Definately sounds like sweet itch - flies can get in stables too! and then the midges attack!... Herewith a bit of background info....There are many different species of Culicoides midge, and each one prefers to bite a different part of the horse. The horse will then itch the area around where the fly has bitten. Most common are the “dorsal feeders” who bite, and cause damage around the horses ears, poll, mane, withers, rump, and tail head. The “ventral feeders” are less common, and tend to cause the itching around the horse’s face, chest, and belly. she may have both if she is irritated by her udders too....
 
I'm no expert! but could be any number of things? and difficult to get to the bottom of- from sweet itch, over heating, feed/bedding allergy, mites etc...

What bedding is she on? what rugs is she wearing?- do you feed her garlic as i was advised once that it can make them itchy! as can alfalfa if they are allergic to that....

If it was my horse i'd be tempted to work it out by process of elimination if need be,and apply deosect- also years ago my horse was itchy for no apparent reason and i was advised to wash him in dog mange shampoo - Seleen- which i use if they have any skin issues, also vets can prescribe skin lotions with steroids and anti inflammatories in as well which can be really good to clear it up if they are a bit sore.

One of mine gets a tiny bit of sweet itch on his tail this time of year and i have had this pot of natural cream i put on it which seems to calm it down- cannot remember for the life of me what it's called and I've run out and must have thrown the pot out last year, and need some more!
 
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Does your horse have any signs of gnat bites on the body? A friend of mine had a similar problem with her gelding and it turned out he'd managed to get fox mange, even though it looked like he'd been bitten.
She put a clean bedsheet on him under his rugs every day, and he had steriods to stop the itching - which was driving him mad, poor thing. Everything had to be scrupulously clean so his tack was cleaned constantly, she always wore clean clothes to the yard etc etc, and even with all that it took the best part of 3 months to clear up.
 
I'm 99% certain that its sweet itch. If you're not sure, get the vet out for a quick look over. My little gelding gets sweet itch with ridges in his tail. His last owners swore it was something else, but it isn't! It doesn't sound a bad case. Put a sweet itch hoody on him/her - even in the stable. Aloe vera gel soothes the itch. Equimins "Biting insect repellent" works really well.

And no, they don't get it as much when stabled, but even if stabled 24hrs, will be exposed to midges when out riding, so make sure you have cream on to ride. Our sweet itchers get it from late Feb-November, so it feels like all year! I also find that sweet itch ponies tend to itch at the slightest thing anyway - its almost like conditioning!

Speak to the owner about it - was there any problem like this before? Give your vet a ring for a chat - I'd have them out for a look personally...

Good luck.
 
ok, so she's on shavings and she has at the moment a fleece or nothing on in the day then a medium thick rug on at night, she does get quite warm so I could see maybe that causing her shoulders to itch maybe..

There are no signs of bites and she's had this lumpy tail as long as I've known her (4 years or so) I just thought some horses had lumpy tail, some had smooth ones!

She doesn't get garlic in her food just a form of mollichop and some sugar beet and ad lib haylage.

I would like to get the vet out but as she's not mine it's a bit of a touchy subject so thought I'd try other things first.

Would it be worth putting fly spray on her tail area to see if that helps?

When she had her tail problem 2 years ago she basically looked like some of the hair in the 'skin' of her tail so so speak was really thick and short and you could pull it out quite easily, bit like worms. was a bit gross. but not sure if thats related to the itching or if as she's rubbed it she's snapped her hair off. It didn't seem infected so to speak just, not right. then last year we had no worms but little scabs that if you picked off (she didn't mind) you could squeeze pus out of (sorry if anyones just had their dinner!)

They healed and this year nothing so far except for the itching but I dunno whether the two above problems were just caused by her damaging her tail by rubbing it! vicious circllllle! :0)

The only other thing i've noted is that on her shoulder and along her spine were she was quite a bit itchy she had soft lumps kinda stuck in her hair and on her skin which I pulled out and they didn't come back. Was thinking they are just the normal oily dirt (cant remember what it's called!) that might build up as she was rugged over winter

Hope this all helps!
 
Had another good look at her tail today and its really flaky, bit like dandruff, possibly dry skin? could this be making her itch? (i've been putting fly spray on her just in case it is sweet itch and she's still stabled 24hr)
 
if she was mine Id first douse her in lice powder for a couple of hours then wash her with an aloe vera or tea tree oil shampoo /conditioner and add 3 capfuls of jeyes fluid to the water (the wash and the rinse) keep it well away from her eyes !
Id then add BOSS -black oil sunflower seeds to her diet -about a cup full a day
that should condition her skin and her coat and kill bacteria and most bugs if it works repeat it every few weeks
 
Can you see lice if they're on them or are they too small? Was going to wash her with the Gallop medicated shampoo, would this be ok you think? it says.. 'High specification medicated shampoo and anti bacterial agent. Ideal for dry, flaky, itchy, scurfy and sensitive skin.
Ph neutral forumula is kind to skin soothes and calms irritated sore damaged or sensitive skin.'

if it does what it says on the tine we'll be ok :)

Never heard of adding seeds to her feed, something to look into though, I've got on order from Naturalhorsesupplies some herbal shine (contains brewers yeast for itching and linseed for her dry coat) any one used them before?
 
Sounds very like sweet itch to me! Ask the yard/owner if they'll supply a proper sweet itch hoody rug or a Boett and turn her out in that. It can't do any harm and might do a lot of good. Also in the stable some midges will be able to bite, so she might need to wear it inside as well.

April has been designated as "sweet itch awareness month" apparently - so a good time to get the yard aware of this.

IF they won't supply a rug, or authorise a vet visit to get a diagnosis, then perhaps they need reminding that untreated sweet itch can become a welfare issue? If the horse looks unsightly and is rubbing itself raw then infection can set in. Sorry not trying to frighten anyone, but no-one wants the RSPCA around their yard but this is what could happen if the condition remains untreated. Its an awful thing for a poor horse to be itching all the time, and so easily preventable.

The national sweet itch centre will have a lot of advice - they have a website, well worth a look.
 
i would suggest a good wash in seleen,(also sold as selsun, or selsun blue) cheapest to buy on internet, but can be bought from the pharmacist. i would also reduce her rug to a clean cotton sheet (itchy horses hate being warm/hot), and remove as much sugar from her diet as possible. you might have to wash her several times to keep the skin clean this will also help with the moult too., but selsun is sulpher based and has the correct ph for her skin. Good luck
 
Hi
I have a horse which use to itches its body like mad when you took the rug off. However we discovered she was getting too hot with what most horses need in the way of rugs. By using less rugs and she has stopped itching all together. She also used to get dermatitis on her skin and bumps but its all gone. I did also clip her out in January as the falling out of the hair does make them itch.

I've since discovered a number of other people who have found their horses stop itching when they drop the number/ warmth of rugs used. We like them to be warm an cosy, but they don't always need as much as we think, obviously considering condition of horse and weather.

A great natural product for itching of all types is Karen Ruggles product called Stop it ALL or Ruggles. http://www.karenruggles.co.uk/. When my horse used to get scaley skin I put it on which helped healing and stopped her wanting to itch. I'm sure if works on sweet itch too if that's what your pony has.
 
One more thing - the Karen Ruggles product not only help heal them also keep flies /bugs at bay too.
Might be worth putting something soothing on the sore skin rather than scrubbing too much with Hibi scrub which will dry the skin out and remove natural bacteria and oil.
 
Sorry me again! Just saw your horse has a medium weight rug on at night. This poss is not helping. My mares are x warmblood, are not skinny and in the warm South West but they are fully clipped out and I've not put rugs on for the last week as its been so warm (they are stabled at night). Not sure how weather has been where you are. If its frosty then now I'll put a thin one on them but they are quite happy and not cold.
 
Thank you all for you're replies! that sulphur shampoo sounds good and also she has sugar beet, could this be too sugary for her and making her itch?

Also when I was washing her feathers the other day I noticed she also has lumpy heels, mostly on her back legs. She doesn't itch these at all but its got me thinking that maybe the lumpyness isn't related and it's just a wierd thing about her?

Anyone else had lumpy tail and heels? Never heard of sweet itch causing lumpy heels!
 
indigosplat said:
Hope someone will be able to give me some advice!

I have a 12 year old grey mare on loan and she's ITCHY!
She scratches mostly her tail head, shoulders and flanks on both sides.
Last year when she was itchy the girls at the yard decided to clip her tail but this didn't stop it. It did show that she had infected scabs on her tail but I have a feeling this might be from her rubbing it rather than what caused the itch in the first place. We cleaned the scabs out and bathed with Hibiscrub and let her tail grow back and it seemed fine. Now shes itching it again as well as her sides. as soon as her rugs or her saddle comes off she starts scratching with her teeth. she hasn't bitten herself hard enough to mark yet but its obviously really bothering her!

so.. i've tried bathing her tail with Hibi again and her itchy bits, i've tried cleaning her udder area but it doesnt seem to be having any effect! I was thinking of putting D-Itch or Scratch in her food but as they're both more for sweet itch then general itching I don't know whether they'd work! (She stabled all the time at the moment)

PLUS because she's not mine, I can't just get the vet out to do skin scrapes or change her food, the yard whilst they do care about her and her welfare don't think the problem is big enough to warrent a vet visit..

What can I do?! Can anyone suggest sometime to ease it? Sprays? Supplements? I've heard brewers yeast might be good for itchy horses?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You should put a sweet itch rug on her.
 
Give her a really good bath with Nizerol Shampoo. You can buy it from the chemist. Dilute with hand hot water and lather up well working well into the coat and tail down to the skin. Scrape excess off and allow to dry. Repeat in a few days but this time rinse out.

My Clydie gets the same every spring and the Nizerol works really well.
 
I have a pony that did that and we watched for a few days and discovered that although she did not suffer sweet itch she just reacted badly to flies she would look pregnant by the inflamation caused by a bite we bought her a snuggy hoods fly rug you know the full monty things and that sorted that.
Then in winter when there werent any flies and she no longer wore it she got an horrendous rash everywhere we then also discovered that she was allergic to the soil in the field or the bugs possibly lurking in the grass either way it was that now she does not go out even on a cooler day with either her snuggy hoods on or a normal rug and that cured it :)
 
It is almost certainly sweet itch but even if its a dose of mites or lice the treatment is the same -Sweet Relief - its a cream or lotion and its the best thing for itch i've ever used. Its made by Bite-back producst and you can get it on ebay.
 
Thought I'd do a little update if anyone's interested. Been feeding Horse some herbal mixes from NaturalHorseSupplies and so far (fingers firmly crossed) they've worked magically! Now I know I can't say they definately are responsible but so far she's mostly stopped scratching she doesn't pull funny wobbly lip faces when i groom/scratch her on her shoulder and flanks anymore and even the mud fever on her legs is healing up nicely. I'm so pleased, just hope it stays!

The herbs I used were Herbal shine mix (linseed, brewers yeast, seaweed and spearmint) plus a cleavers and neem leaf mix. Really really happy :)
 
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