Showing a pony with sweet itch?

[faerie666]

Right, so my boss has got a new pony for her kids on loan. Pony is 4yr old, sort off broken in and very cute and chilled out.

She's a Welsh Partbred, but she has sweet itch

I'd quite like to show her in-hand over the summer as I think it would be good practice for her for when the kids do lead rein on her

I know she should be shown "au naturel", untrimmed and unplaited, but do you think I could get away with plaiting her to make her look tidier, as her mane nad tail is a scraggly mess at the moment? I'm only planning to do a few local shows, and maybe the Cheshire (just for a laugh, as it's literally across the road from us

), and I'm not expecting to win anything

This is the beastie in question, when she arrived last autumn:

As you can see, she has no mane in the picture and a scruffy tail as she rubbed it off. It has grown back a bit over winter, but still not a full mane and tail.
Also, what headgear should she be wearing? In-hand bridle or halter?
Or is it just not worth it?

Thanks for your replies

 

[Deefa]

i would pull tail and plait mane as best you can

 

[claireross]

Try Megatek by Tailgaiter I think. It helps the hair regrow, i've been using it on both my horses.

 

[zigzag]

If she is a Welsh part bred she needs to be pulled and plaited....

 

[faerie666]

Oh ok, I thought they were shown like natives

Shows what I know

That'll make my life easier anyway

 

[marieE]

could you hog her? then at least it would look deliberate? i know its not ideal but i know how awful their manes look with sweet itch, and i dont think anyones invented stick on pre rolled plaits yet!lol - hair extensions, suppose you could weave some other horses mane in with hers for plaiting, though this is a real faff.
shes a pretty little thing shame bout the sweet itch!

 

[Theresa_F]

Part breds should be pulled and plaited. What you could so is try some megatek to encourage growth and take a little hair from her tail to make false plaits.

Basically you take a small bunch of tail hair and plait it into the short mane plait and then roll up the plait as normal. If done carefully and you have enough mane to start it off it doesn't show. I use to donate hair to a friend's horse for this from my very hairy cob's mane.

From her pic, when you shorten her tail you should be able to have enough from the end for this.

She looks a pretty little thing and I would use an inhand bridle on her.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[faerie666]

Well, at the moment her mane is just about the right length for plaiting, and I'm hoping to keep it that way with a boett rug, copious amounts of fly spray etc., so I don't really want to hog her if I don't have to, but I get what you're saying.

 

[sallypops]

the top of her tail looks a wee bit scruffy, but i think her mane will look fine when plaited, i would use something to promote hair growth particularly on her tail.

she is a real cutie, what height is she??

 

[equinim]

we rescued a shetland with a really bad mane.
we hogged his mane and within 4 mnths he had a really thick mane that was 7"long.
at the beginning of the winter hog her off and give her mane a really good bath and then rug her in her boet rug or a lycra to stop rubbing by spring she will have a fantastic mane.
neem oil is fantastic for sweetitch wand is a fly repelent e trialed it and it does work.

 

[sallypops]

theres also a kind of liquid, my old YM used on a sweetich pony at my old yard, benzo benzsomethin can't remember the name exaclty someone else might kno, worked wonders on that pony

 

[zelli]

benzyl benzoate, trouble with that is, many humans turn out to be allergic to it.... just a warning! lol

 

[faerie666]

She's about 12.1-12.2hh

That picture was taken last November, her tail actually looks a lot better now, just hoping I can keep it that way

She's the most confident little thing I've ever met.

She's boss out in the field, over all the 16hh+ TBs, and the other day there was some plastic wrapping from the shavings bales on the floor in the yard, she walked up to it, stood on it without hesitation, and then tried to eat it.

 

[Natch]

Boett rugs are the best thing since sliced bread and provided she wears it all the time with a good dose of fly spray when its off for ridden etc I don't think you'll have a problem.

She is just SO cute!

 

[conniegirl]

I currently show a connemara who has sweetitch. All i can say is fake plaits are your friend, learn how to do them!
I have a fake mane for my lad.

 

[PennyJ]

Well I'm going to be having a try! I have the Boett, her mane is now a respectable length, the tail of course looks like a pulled tail being grown out, but we shall see how she does. In the peak of sweet itch last August with a lively colt foal at foot (the rug had to come off), she managed 3rd out of at least 10 in a broodmare class at a county show, so I'm reasonably optimistic...

 

[Tiggy1]

Boett will help mane and tail re grow too