Sweet Itch - information would be gratefully received......

alicedove

alicedove

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I am looking at a lovely horse, to buy. I have been doing digging and discovered through his trainers, DC etc that he may well have sweetitch. I know he worked through the summer and he looked pretty hairy and has a tail as far as I can see from the pics. He is hogged though.

Does this get worse each year?
Do some have it more/less than others?
Can they look and feel pretty normal on a steroid jab?
Would a boett type rug help at all?

Any information will be most welcome thank you.
 
If you are looking to take on a horse with sweet itch you should make sure you are not keeping it near a water way or that it is not stabled near a muck heap as these areas have more midges.
I feed them garlic from april onwards to help repell flies and coat them in fly repellent that contains a soothing property twice a day. Boet rugs are brill, you should also use fly repellent with them, I find that if you do the above and make sure they are in at night you will get very minimal problems from the sweetitch.
I know some people view sweet itch horses as hard work but it only takes about 10 mins to do the above, you have to be religious about it though!!
 
Some definately get it worse than others - we have a few at our yard... and it varies from just mane and tail itching to almost full body itching...

The horse I had on loan over the last year has it and I bought a boett rug for him - which seemed to do the trick - plus we used Itch Stop salve whihc was fab. Others used the same stuff and it really kept the sweet itch under control.

Mine was not very bothered by it this year and I know he has had more trouble in the past when all he was having was fly repellant and Benz - Benz...

I have found it manageable without too much effort - but I think it would depend how bad they are?
 
Sweet itch is an alergic reaction to midge bites. So keep the horse midge free and problem solved... but it is not quite that easy!

Some horses suffer from sweet itch, some don't. Where the horse is kept and how it is managed affect the extent of the problem.

Sweet itch horses do better on dry land, away from water (ponds, streams, bogs etc) Clean out troughs regularly coz the little beggers can breed in them too. If the horse is somewhere breezey the midge don't hang about in the same way they do in a shelterd spot. A hill top would be ideal!

Stabling at dawn and dusk when the midge are most active also helps.

Electric fencing leaves the horse nothing to rub on, but does nothing for its discomfort. It has an itch it can't scratch so the minuite it gets near a scratching post....

Boet and other rugs are very sucessful. However, you are rugging an itchy horse in a net rug. Don't be suprised if the very expensive rug gets shredded!

I know a few people who have bossed sweet itch.
One used a combination of CDM Killitch and Avon Skin So Soft Dry Oil Spray. The SSS made my Shire go from a mane that looked like it was hogged to a full mane in 2 years. We have never looked back.

I know someone who feeds the horse a marmite sandwitch every day, and their shire has also grown a full mane back.

If the horse in question is hogged it will be more a case of making the horse comfortable than achieving a lucious full mane for native showing so I woudl say that the condition would be manageable.

It could be a good point of negotiation as far as price goes. Bear in mind the cost of the lotions and rugs, as well as the faff factor. The horse MUST be rugged and/or have lotion and fly repellent applied EVERY DAY from April-November. Missing even one day can result in the horse rubbing till it bleeds. This all makes for quite a high maintainance animal.
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Thank you both

Do you know whether they get worse, because their immunity reacts more each year? Much in the same way that a human (for example) nut allergy can become worse each attack?

Or is it like hay fever, similar year on year?
 
Thanks yorkshire lass. I must note down those preparations you have mentioned. i was hoping to try and grow the mane as it is not really a proper cob.

As it happens I have an old and unworn boett blanket in the right size and colour just waiting in my store which seems like a bit of fate to me! Certainly I shall use this for negotiating price. But I have had such a fantastic load of feedback from DC, trainer, etc about this horse who was lent to camp and has been with a dealer/riding school for six months. I have a good feeling about him.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Thank you both

Do you know whether they get worse, because their immunity reacts more each year? Much in the same way that a human (for example) nut allergy can become worse each attack?

Or is it like hay fever, similar year on year?

[/ QUOTE ]

Am not sure - so perhaps someone with more expertise in this can say for definate. But we have had one horse that suddenly got really bad last year, but fine this year with the Boett/ salve combo. It seems as though it is more about how you manage the sweet itch - because once the horse starts itching it is a difficult cycle to break.
 
I bought my 8yo as a 3yo with rigorously-managed sweet-itch. Since then he's lived in a Rambo Sweet-itch Hoody (much better than Boett IMO!), and I use copious amounts of Skin So Soft and home-made fly repellent. He does rub his mane occasionally but has a fairly full mane and tail. I think the degree to which horses suffer from sweet-itch does vary quite a bit.

I think his susceptibility has been reducing year on year but maybe the midge population has been fluctuating.

I wouldn't let sweet-itch put me off a horse that was otherwise what I was looking for.
 
I've got a 17 hand warmblood with chronic sweetitch. During the summer I keep him in during the day and out at night but I do this with all my others anyway - just make sure you avoid the midgey times of just after dawn and evening. I use fly rugs on all my horses but on Forever I use a Rambo Sweetitch hoody as I find this much more effective than the boett blanket (which also makes him sweat). I ride whenever I choose to during the day with plenty of midge and fly repellent. I can plait him and do competitions during summer. It does take a bit more management than a horse without sweetitch to keep him comfortable and with a mane and tail but I follow the same regime with all my horses just to keep them comfortable with flies.
 
Thanks Panda. I think, with us having only the one ridden horse to work, and the companion not suffering from that. Between my teenage daughter and myself, we shouldn't find it too hard to work on, since the companionship and handling would be good for him anyhow, whatever it is we are doing to him, whether it be grooming, trimming, or the sweet itch stuff.
 
Id first make sure the horse actually has sweet itch. I went 3 years thinking my Welsh D had it but in the end I had him allergy tested and turns out he's allergic to most grasses, dustmites and moulds in hay! He didnt react to the midge allergy thingy at all! He's had a vaccine made for him which he's on now for the next 6 months. Just hoping it works!

If it is SI:

Apparently it does get worse each year.
Yes, horses have it in varying degrees. Some might just itch a bit, others take out all their mane and tail and hair elsewhere.
I was warned off the steroid jab due to all the side effects that come with steroids...
A Boett is MEANT to help and I believe often does in most cases.
 
My horse was on the sweet itch vaccine trial this year - 3 jabs two weeks apart and then a capsule once a fortnight. I would say there was about an 80% improvement in his condition, and he was a much happier boy. I bought him knowing he had sweet itch - there are much worse problems!
 
Chancer has mild sweet itch.

I feed two heaped tablespoons of brewers yeast a day, linseed, this in his case makes a huge difference. I keep him with a rambo protector but no neck attachment in the summer when he is out 24 x 7 as it is only his tail and belly that he rubs.

I smother him in my home made fly spray which contains a lot of Avon Skin so Soft and Fresh bath oil. I also put sudocream with a little sulphur and tea tree oil mixed with it on his sheath and belly to help with the rubbing.

Have managed to keep his tail in show condition - he is a traditional and his belly not scrubbed this year.
 
i have heard that garlic can agrivate sweet itch so be aware of that if feeding it, we used benzol benzoate(sorry bout the spelling lol) and coopers fly repellent on an old pony and it worked wonders on him, however dont work for everyone. keeping their weight normal helps a lot too, i personally try and stay away from horses with it as can cause a big head ache for you.
 
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