Really itchy face

[sugarnspice]

Well, since Monday my chap has a had a really itchy face. He is itching it on anything and everything, his muzzle area in particular seems to be quite bad but all over his head seems to be itchy. He managed to itch a small patch raw yesterday

and is constantly trying to scratch on things whilst he is in. It is only his head he is itchy on and he has never had anything like this before.
Any ideas on what it could be and anything advice on what I could put on to make it less irritable for him would be most appreciated

.

 

[Cahill]

my mare rubbed her eyes on the water container so i put sudocrem on and a face mask and it was better in 2 days and now the hair is growing back.i think it is different flies / midges and the weather conditions.
after that rain my mare has itchy legs.
always something this time of year!

 

[TractorgirI]

Hiya

My mare has been rubbing one side of her face red raw for the last week and I am assuming it’s sweet itch as she does suffer from it but I could be wrong as her mane and tail have been fine so far this year but that could be because I have to keep her in at night. I have been hibiscrubing the raw bits on her face and putting calamine lotion on when she comes in and then smothering it in udder cream containing fly repellent when she goes out in the morning and that seems to be working as it is clearing up nicely but yesterday afternoon when I brought her in her muzzle area had blood on it where she must have been rubbing so I have tried the hibiscrub and calamine lotion on that area and hopefully it will clear it up too.

Good luck x

 

[MagicMelon]

Does she have sweet itch? My sweet itch horse has rubbed his face since January..... he's also rubbed small patches off in places like just behind his ears, below his eye, on his cheeks etc. The vet said she thought it was just his sweet itch causing it. He's had a Boett on for the first time this year so I think his face has been targeted as its the only bit exposed (except for his legs). Ive just purchased a hood off the internet to cover his face and hopefully stop this damn itching!!

One of my other ponies did this last summer. It was really odd. All of a sudden he began itching his face like hell - he rubbed big patches on either side of his muzzle, below his eyes and his cheeks. And he rubbed them raw. I got the vet out, put him on anti-hystemines but it did nothing so we dont think it was an allergic reaction. I washed the areas daily with hibiscrub and tea tree shampoo's etc. put anti-itch creams on etc. (BTW, I did all this with the horse above as well but nothing helped) but nothing worked. After about 2 weeks, suddenly he stopped itching and everything went back to normal again! Then I heard a friends horse 2 miles from me suddenly started doing exactly the same thing and again, cleared up on its own after a couple of weeks! Neither pony has any sweet itch history.

So it might just clear up on its own!

 

[sugarnspice]

Thank you everyone

. I went out and bought something that kept the flies of their face and 'de-itched' them. Seems to have worked or he has suddenly stopped itching!

*touches wood*

 

[Nuttymanxmare]

My mare has this problem too.

She itched it soo bad the other day that when i came down to feed her her face was just covered in blood from where she had rubbed the skin off.

She wont wear a fly mask as she rubs that off too.

Im going to try putting the sudocream on first and then the fly mask and see if that helps her.

Its quite strange as she does suffer from Mudfever too

 

[ShadowFlame]

My lad has had this problem too for the past couple of weeks - sores and raw patches all over his face. I've tried all sorts, and the best thing I've found so far is Sudocream(sp?). One of the ingredients is benzyl benzoate, which is really good for relieving itching.