sweet itch running in the family?

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Hi, has anyone used the stallions Renkum Englishman or Renkum Eireann and had a foal end up with sweet itch?
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No - afraid not (as in haven't used the stallions!)

But I DO have a mare with Sweet Itch and I also own her mother and 4 other half-siblings and none of THEM have sweet itch. The other four are by a different stallion - but the stallion my Sweet Itch mare was by definitely didn't have it either.

I don't THINK sweet itch is directly hereditary. I DO think that a tendency to allergies IS hereditary. Strangely enough, the SI mare tested negative for sweet itch - but positive for allergies to sheep sorrell and horse flies. But she DEFINITELY has sweet itch.
 
Hi. I have a 3 year old gelding by Renkum Eireann out of a TB mare. He shows absolutely no sign of sweetitch at all. It has been very interesting watching him grow - out of a very fine 15.1hh TB mare, he has turned into the splitting image of his Dad!
I would be interested to know however, if anyone thinks that crib biting is inherited? Amazingly we have not got anything that cribs, his mother did not crib and we know her family quite well and there is no cribbing on her side. Yet, at only a few weeks old he walked up to a post and rail fence and cribbed! He is the most laid back, self confident, placid chap you could imagine. He never cribs in the stable, and only very occasionally in the field. Could this be innerited from his Dad's side?
 
Both sweet itch and crib biting show some signs of being inherited, but management seems a much stronger factor. Crib biting in foals and weanlings has been studied quite extensively and seems to be at least partly attributable to a high cereal, low fibre diet, which causes gut acidity meaning the horse cribs to swallow saliva and neutralise the acid.
You should try feeding your youngster just hay/haylage, and turn him out 24/7 with company if possible.
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Hi,

I have a 4yo colt by Englishman and he has no sweet itch at all. He lives out in a very midge-plagued Scotland! His foal has no sign of it either.

I think it depends on the individual horse &amp; don't think its linked to genetics.
 
I have a 5 year old by Renkum Valentino (based at the same stud) that did in his 2nd year show signs of sweet itch. He was however at that time stabled near to a canal, we put it down to excessive amounts of midgets.

We take precautions every year now and make sure it doesn't even start, and fingers crossed have had no signs so far. He lives in a fly rug and mask, looks like Zorro.

I don't think that sweet itch in itself is hereditary, I think as JanetGeorge has stated, a horse can inherit allergic sensitivity from its parents and is then intolerant to certain bites which becomes sweet itch.

If I get bitten by a mosquito, I blow up like a ballon.
 
Hi,I have just read your email which has prompted me to register with horse and hound so i could reply.I bred RA 6 yrs ago out of my warmblood mare who is now unfortunately deceased.He is exactly like his sire and until he begins competeing i have not pulled his mane which is very full as his is tail.I like it like that it keeps the flys off in summer and keeps him warm in winter! Im sure Penny Roots who owned and adored Englishman would not have used him as a stallion if she thought there were problems with sweetitch.When i saw him 6yrs ago he was magnificent.A true ENGLISH GENTLEMAN
 
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