Rugging Dilemma Please Help

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Joyous70

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I need your opinions please, but i also need to give you some background, so hope your sitting comfortably :)

Last summer i thought my boy had developed sweet itch, so treated him for it along with a rambo hoody & other fly rugs, to no avail - he had in fact got a bacterial skin infection, which resulted in him knocking down his stable rubbing against the wall - consequently he had to be kept outside & rugged at all times as he was a danger to himself & the buildings :o

I have owned my boy for 5 years, and on reflection, seem to remember only very slightly the odd rub in spring/summers past - he was always unrugged for the spring & summer, but i noticed last year, he develped big lumps from fly bites, whilst they didn't seem to bother him, i did put a fly (mesh) rug on him to stop them, however, looking back i think the rugs made him too warm and therefore made the skin infection worse. :o

So my question is - should i rug him this spring/summer im in a real dilemma as i don't want him too hot to cause the skin infection to come back, but i don't want him plagued by flies either :(

Choccy biccys for getting this far
 
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What fly rug did you use? I have found that my boy gets hot in the ones that cling to the skin, like boet or snuggy (SI I know but they you will know what meterial I mean). He likes the silver ones with reflective patches - they reflect the sun and he never seems overly warm.
 
Can you fly rug him, but bring him in during the hottest part of the day? So he is brought in at say 10 am, then turned out again say 7pm? Then at least you can protect him from the flys, but also allow him relief from the heat. You could also consider clipping him through the summer if he is a hot type?
 
Does he have particularly sensitive skin? Would Deosect or Bone Oil irritate his skin? Might be worth considering doing away with the rugs and applying a good repellant instead.
 
I had an old marethat was like that, i useda lotion caled spot on (it is for lice in cattle) and i only had to use it 3 times over the spring/summer time and she was rug less and no prob with the flies.
As it is for lice it also gives off some strange smell and the flies hate it and it lasts for 6-8 weeks, so hence me only needing to do it 3 times, i now tend to pop it on all the older horses at the beginning of the fly season and then leave it till 8 weeks then do them again, seems easier to do them all and not have to worry about flies at all .
Just wish i could do myself in it to keep the horse flies away
 
Ludi-doodi - thank you i will have a look at that thread :)

Tasteofchaos - i used a mesh rug to bein with just a standard fly rug, then moved onto a rambo & rambo style rug, and also had a waterproof one with mesh at the bottom

ThePony - In an ideal world i would have him in like you suggest, but then his field buddy would be all alone :o and he doesn't do well standing all day, i might see how his summer coat comes through & possibly clip it off again, he is a hotty ;)

Clippy - Yes he has very sensitive skin, the slightest thing seems to rub him, he has a lot of dead sheep to stop his skin being rubbed :rolleyes: I tried lots of fly repellents last year, but mainly went for non chemical types to try and avoid any further reactions.
 
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