Sweet itch, what age

Very mild but my boy started at 7 yrs old. Hes rising 9 now, vet reckons it will get worse
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mine was 8.the first year was worse cos i just put flyspray on and that wasnt really good enough.when she was 9 it dawned on me it was s i so i got the fly rug ect and took all the precautions early on in the year.i have managed it and she is 11 now.just had a couple of scabs this year from gap in rug and that is all so you wouldnt know to see her.she is out all the time with leccy fencing.cant use stable cos she will rub when in.
 
Cant really remember exactly, just that he got really really itchy. Never rubbed his tail bald or mane raw, more his hocks bald til they bled and the dock of his tail. He is miserable when the flys are out but I suppose they all are. I had him blood tested this year as I was going to buy a boett and thought 'what if it isnt the flys' and was just hoping something would show up but it was all very borderline including the culc whatya macallits!!! the sweet itch midges
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. I changed his feed to rule out the borderline feeds and then it warmed up, the midges were back and he started itching again. So next year Im going to get his fly rug on early and if that doesnt work I think I will try the jabs that are supposed to desensitise sp! but Im sure its mild sweet itch as changing his feed has done nothing.
 
My ponys been on the trial this year, it has helped him a little but he suffers from it really bad, im going to go with it again next year so hopefully it will build up in his system and he'll improve a little more.
He got it when he was two, i went to see him in the field and he was covered from top to toe in huge lumps, his face was swollen, his eyes, he was in a terrible state.
The vet gave him a steriod injection and from then on he scratched on everything till he bled, it was horrible, so sad.
He wears a boet also and it is all under control now im glad to say
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Tells you all about the trials..
http://www.sweet-itch.co.uk/trials.html

My horse was 2 when he first started scratching. He'd been in a VERY wet midgy filed all winter and I wonder if that triggered it or whether he would have got it anyway..I guess the latter but I can't help wondering.

He has it really severely to the point that I did at one point consider PTS. He was miserable, even with a Boett and every lotion and potion known to man. If I hadn't moved I may well have gone ahead with it but I did move and it was the best thing ever for him. He now no longer even wears a Boett. He's in a field high up the valley overlooking the sea where its almost always breezy. He'll still scratch if I bring him down to the yard or if he can find something to scratch on but other than that he in one piece. He's 10 BTW so I would necessarily agree that it gets worse with age. I think it just depends on management. If my cob had stayed where he was it would have got worse and worse I'm sure but it can be kept under control in the right conditions...
 
My old mare was 29 when she started. First signs just rubbing her mane. As it got worse I tried various potions and in the end the only thing which really worked was a Boett rug. I know they are expensive but the people at Boett were really helpful and when I explained that I wanted a rug for a geriatric ILPH pony they put me in touch with someone who had a second hand rug. This lady had lost her old pony and sold the rug to me at half its price.
 
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