Still have an itchy horse :(

olop

olop

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 May 2003
Messages
1,584
Visit site
Some of you may remember that back in Nov/Dec I posted a thread about my boy being really itchy.

Had some really fab repsonses & after trial and error I still have a really itchy boy :(
I have to say he isnt as bad now, the itching is just around his stomach & back (I would say its confined to between the shoulder & rump area)

I have cut down his cereal intake to virtually nothing (I give him a handful of oats as he is very lazy when ridden!) & he gets a full scoop of chaff with seaweed added as somebody had suggested.

This has been going on for a month now & although he is no longer itchy all over he is still very itchy in the the area I mention above.

I should mention that his skin is very dry & he is covered in scabby areas in various parts of his body, none are bleeding or weeping.

Is it worth getting the vet out for something like an itch?? He is very itchy so much so that you only have to brush your hand past him & he makes that "ooo" face as if I am reliving him (again only in the area I mention above where as before it was literally all over his body he was itchy)

Thanks all :)
 
Have you tried adding oil to his diet? Either bog standard sunflower oil from the supermarket or some microionized linseed.
Does he run a little warm? Have you tried rugging him a little less?
My itchy mare gets def worse if she is rugged up to a 'normal' level, a bit less rugging and she isn't cold and gets much less itchy. She also has a go in the lunge pen each week to free school and she always has a good roll first - a good roll without a rug seems to make her v happy!
 
p.s. just wondering, from your description it sounds like it is itchy around his saddle area? What do you wash his saddle cloth in? Oh mare is super sensitive and we only wash her stuff in non-bio eco washing liquid and rinse it an extra time after washing. Anything else she reacts to.
 
i get itchy when im really stressed (yes, the doctors diagnosis was exactly that-im allergic to stress, which is a bummer)

All my scars bubble up and i cant stop scratching, especially my belly.

may not apply to your horse but worth a suggestion.
 
I have tried adding oil in the past but to be honest it made very little difference, his skin is very, very dry almost like he has some kind of eczema like a human can get?
I rug him according to the weather-in the snow he had his heaviest on but now he is out in a middleweight with a neck. He is in a fleece at night so practically naked at night (he is fully clipped)

I wash his numnahs in water only as have had the unfortunate experience of washing in detergents before & he came up in hives, so just tend to stick them in the wash with nothing added.
 
Goodness, he really does sound like a sensitive boy. If you have tried a load of things perhaps it is time to get the vet out and see if they can shed some light on it - perhaps he has an allergy to something in his environment or food?
Does a bath sooth him at all? I know it's far too cold atm, but I have excema and find oilatum v soothing. Perhaps something like this could help?
Is he only like this when clipped? Any chance of it being a prob with clipper oil?
It's a bugger as there are so many possibles.
 
I havent really tried bathing him as like you say the weather is awful so I wouldnt know if it helps or not. I need to get some moisture into his skin & see if that helps but not sure how I can do it without bathing him??!!
Not sure RE the clipping thing, he was a little itchy in the summer but not like he is now, summer I think its the flies that causes it & it was suggested that he may have mild sweet itch but he shouldnt be getting in the winter which is why I think it is more like excema than sweet itch.
Thanks for all your suggestions so far :)
 
Try moistuising the skin from the inside out with something like linseed?

Also, last year was bumper for buttercups, maybe there is something like that in his hay (lage) which he is reacting too? If so try various homeopathic companies that supply horse remedies to try that, can't harm.

Would suggest switching from oats to high protein grass nuts (such as the red bag nuts from simple systems) to get rid of cereal completley.
 
sounds like he has an allergy, vets can do a skin biopsy.. painful for the horse and expensive, or run bloods, Ive used both options and the bloods showed up that the horse was allergic to rather a lot! ..
 
I second about having the vet out if you have tried lots. A pony at the livery was very itchy, he rubbed his entire mane off. It was thought he had sweetich but when it carried on the owner had the vet out and they found out he is diabetic (can remember the medical name!!) so if what your trying isnt stopping the iching maybe the vet is the best bet to be on the safe side. Hope you get it sorted soon. Nothing worse than an ichy pony!
 
Thanks for the suggestions everyone will get the vet out & see what he has to say about it & will explain what I have done etc.
kirstylou-tell me about it sometimes just looking at him makes me feel itchy, the poor little mite, I just hope I can get him sorted.
 
My horse was really itchy and scabby and the vet took blood samples. Turns out she's allergic to 2 out of 3 types of house dust mites so is on antihistamines at the moment while waiting for a desensitisation jag being made for her.
 
I have the contact number for a homeopathic practice if you want it. They will test a urine sample and tell you what he's deficient in, otherwise it might be worth trying sulphur powder.
 
i would give him a good wash in seleen (you can buy this on line cheapest as selsun blue buy the higher % one.) a good rinse, a final rinse with warm water and vinegar to get the ph back to normal. scrape and towel dry. light rug and a 10 min jog on the lunge to warm/dry him off. its not too cold at moment about 8 to 10 degrees. on areas that appear very dry i would rub some aqueaous cream in. if still itchy after a week i would either talk to your vet or get him to visit. what bedding is he on? i would change his fleece rug for a plain cotton sheet. Fleeces make me itch tooo.
 
What was his fleece washed in? what is it made of? maybe a cotton sheet underneath would help.

Would continue with oil/linseed.

Get vet to run allergy tests and advise
 
My boy became VERY itchy last summer, I bought a wash (sorry I cant remember what its called) but they do a small jar of cream for sweetitch sufferers, this was in a tall white bottle, its herbal. You just add 1 capful into a bucket of warm water and sponge over the horse. You dont wash it off so dont have to worry too much about the temperature as you dont drech them, just a wipe over. It worked really well and brough immediate relief. Wish I could remember the name for you as it was fab x
 
OP did you find out what was making your horse itch, my mare sounds very similar and we've had itchy skin since winter. trialled and errored a lot of thing but we're (inc vets) still none the wiser
 
nlt5000 said:
My boy became VERY itchy last summer, I bought a wash (sorry I cant remember what its called) but they do a small jar of cream for sweetitch sufferers, this was in a tall white bottle, its herbal. You just add 1 capful into a bucket of warm water and sponge over the horse. You dont wash it off so dont have to worry too much about the temperature as you dont drech them, just a wipe over. It worked really well and brough immediate relief. Wish I could remember the name for you as it was fab x
Click to expand...
Google is a wonderful thing:
http://www.pureneem.co.uk/equine_neem_products/Neem_sweet_itch_wash_for_itchy_skin
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top