Sweet Itch and paraffin?

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gillwright

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My father in law (now 82) used to be a jockey many many years ago, and he said they used to put paraffin on a rag and wipe it over the horses to stop the midges (and he said it made the coat shine). Has anyone heard of this - we have heard of liquid paraffin being used but not the fuel paraffin he thinks he used.
Perhaps he has got mixed up - it was over 60 years ago but would appreciate opinions on this or if anyone else has heard of it.
Thanks.
 
Yep I've heard of this too; many years ago when I was in Pony Club our neighbour then was an ex-MFH and told me about it for not only keeping flies away but also it was something he did if he was showing a horse to bring up the coat really nice and shiney.

From memory, I think it was the ordinary bog-standard paraffin that you'd use for lighting/fuel etc. Dunno if you can buy it nowadays like you used to...... Elf and Safety have probably banned the stuff??
 
Liquid paraffin (as used for constipation and equine colic) is used in SA to keep midges off. Not so sure this would be a good thing in full sun though.......
 
Anything that acts as a barrier will have some effect against midges, but there are much better products available now than liquid paraffin - unless you particularly want to fry your horse in this weather?
 
Would be concerned about
- frying
- fire risk
- it *could* cause chemical type burns too if horse turns out to be allergic (or at least I guess it can as I believe it can in humans!)
 
Tickles said:
Would be concerned about
- frying
- fire risk
- it *could* cause chemical type burns too if horse turns out to be allergic (or at least I guess it can as I believe it can in humans!)
Click to expand...

Yep, probably so. By god, things were different in the old days!!! :) For instance, it was commonplace in the hunting field to see horses that had been "fired", as well as docked.

But hey, that was then, this is now........
 
Unfortunately horses still get 'Fired', when I mentioned that it was now illegal (our 12yr old TB has been done) the YO, from a racing yard told me that she could take a horse and have it fired anytime, my lad has very little hair on his front legs due to this practise.
 
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