Sweet Itch. What should I be doing? Lots of qs!

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billylula

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Lady who came to clip pony yesterday said he definitely had sweet itch as he has rubbed his mane right down, the top of his tail and has fence marks on his coat.

We knew he was itchy (he demolished the paddock fence by scratching his bum on it) but was hoping not sweet itch.

What is the best course of action to give him some relief and hopefully start regrowing his mane? We've been giving him supplements and regular baths. He's terribly scurfy as well. He absolutely loves being bathed and groomed and now I think that is because he is getting a bit of a scratch. Poor boy. I know the Boett rug is supposed to be good but how to keep them warm and dry in one?

And do you think the hunt will mind as it is impossible to plait him :(
 
When i hunted my horse last year he only had 3/4's of a mane so the top bit was just a tuft, they just laughed at it and said its a new trend thats bound to catch on! I plaited the rest of it though so they could see i'd made the effort!!

As for treatment, i use Benzyl Benzoate which is really good. Relieves him instantly, i put it on every 3-4 days during summer as he has been ok this year. He has it on once a week at the moment because there are less midges, he probably doesnt any now but not risking losing my hunting mane and tail now!! haha x It all depends on the individual horse and how itchy he is x I also used pure vinegar this year as a fly spray and it worked better than any other ones i used! X

Sweetitch season varies because of our rubbish weather so its more of an all year thing now, where it would of been from April - August ish time! x

You can also use a supplement but i haven't used one so maybe someone else can suggest one ?x
 
Thank you! Where do you get the benzyl from and how and where do you put it - just on the mane and tail? Do you use special rugs at all?
 
When i lived in france my horse had sweetitch really bad i washed him in tea tree shampoo in summer fed linseed and wore mark todd fly rug 24/7 And fed him nothing with sugar in it. Moved him to England he no longer has it result its hard keeping on top of it but once you find what works it gets easier.
 
billylula said:
Thank you! Where do you get the benzyl from and how and where do you put it - just on the mane and tail? Do you use special rugs at all?
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You can get it from the chemists but I buy mine from the Equine Pharmacy (Hyperdrug.com). You rub it where ever they are itchy but don't put it on broken skin or let it get into the eyes and I only use it 2/3 times a week. The midge season will be over shortly so hopefully your horse will have an itch free winter once the midges have died off.

However, next year prepare for the midge season early (I start mine in Feb). The trick is not to let the horse start itching in the first place so you don't get the itch/scratch cycle. I put a fly rug on him while he is turned out which offers quite a lot of protection. You can buy rugs (Boet Blanket) especially for sweet itch and I did have one but my horse trashed it in no time.

Now I don't know whether this is a myth or not but I do it and it does appear to help - I give him a good teaspoon full of Marmite on a slice of bread every day, again starting in mid Feb and throughout the summer months, I also use double strength garlic in his feed. As each horse is different it can just be a case of trial and error. There was a vaccination programme a few years ago that I tried but that didn't work for Max at all and yet it worked for my friend's horse.

Good luck
 
Sweet itch is awful :( My old boy had it, managed it by keeping a boett-style rug (I used a Pagony) on at all times bar when being ridden, from October to April. If you need to put turnout rugs on, stick them on top of the Boett. I bathed his crest / dock on a weekly basis as it kept the scurf down meaning he was less itchy, buckets of fly spray (Leovet Power Phaser, only stuff that works IME), sudocream on any sores that appear, and keep your fingers crossed! Marmite / garlic is supposed to help, but I didn't find it to make a lot of difference.
 
Dodson & Horrell Itch Free and Feedmark Equidermis are good supplements to feed. Boett used to make a waterproof version of their rug, or you can use a turnout rug on top in winter. Creams on the itchy areas which contain DEET help, or anything thick and oily that the midges won't want to bite through. Human Head & Shoulders shampoo or Aloe Vera gel both helps take the heat out of sore rubbed skin, helping to reduce the itchiness. Some horses are allergic to benzyl benzoate so watch out for the skin flaking/peeling off. There are fly sprays containing DEET or benzyl benzoate. I use Barrier Animal Healthcare Super Plus Fly Repellent or their Parasite Repel , which contain neither ingredient but work fine. Tea Tree shampoo is good. I saw a pony with no mane and tail grow both under a Boett rug. Or hog it to look neat for hunting.
 
Feed "Sweet Itch" into the search facility on here & you'll find LOADS of advice.

Main priority is to keep the midges (which cause the problem) off him, you'll need to get a ""sweet itch hoody" rug which covers the whole body including the poll area.

That done, you can then apply topical preparations like Killitch (Benzyl Benzoate) to deal with any itchy areas.

You may need to stable to cover the "dawn to dusk" period (when the cullicoides midges bite).

If riding on say a summers evening with no wind and the midges are biting, use a ride-on cover: Horseware do a very nice one. These things are a godsend, don't know how I managed without one.

Avoid garlic (stimulates the immune system, not what you want as SI is an immunosupressant disorder); and avoid sugar in feeds as much as you can, so cut down/eliminate mollasses etc. Mine has one scoop of Brewers Yeast & a trickle of linseed in his feed every day; also Clivers (sticky stuff from hedgerows or as a supplement) in either his haynet or food occasionally. Also cider vinegar and seaweed occasionally, say every other day.

You could also try Pig Oil: I mix in a few drops of Neem oil which midges hate the smell of, and sponge that over his coat. Some people will recommend Pig oil and sulphur: be careful to patch test it first as mine has pink skin & white legs and came up very sore when I used it, so care needed!

Sweet itch IS manageable. My boy has a lovely flowing mane & tail and you'd never guess he's got SI. Its really a WHOLE management package as opposed to one quick "fix". There is something called "Bio Eos" which the National Sweet Itch centre mention on their website. No personal experience, but its supposed to be good (but not cheap). But worth a look on the website.

Good luck with yours. Basically, the "sweet itch season" runs roughly between (my calculation) the February schools half term break through to about now (next week, half term), BUT you'll still need to be vigilant any time of the year - last year it was so mild I was out on Christmas day running around with a fly-rug! Basically if feeding supplements you'd need to certainly have started by mid-Feb to get it into the horse's system. Also make sure you've got sweet itch hoody rug(s) well ahead of time (buy now if you see them for sale anywhere) as manufacturers don't seem to realise that people need SI hoody's as early as March!!! Infuriating but true! You can't beat the Rambo SI hoody IME; not the cheapest but will last well and do the job.
 
That is so helpful. Thank you. Interesting about the garlic, he gets that every day. I've just bought some leovet No Rub that we are putting on his mane and tail and some Omega oil to add to his (small) feed. He gets a scoop of happy hoof if he is doing a lot of work (half term and hunting!!) but usually he just eats grass he is an extremely good doer. I was looking for a rambo rug today but they only had tiny sizes left in the shop. Will look online and get now in readiness for next year.
 
I've recently taken on a SI pony so have been on a massive learning curve and taken lots of advice from here.

I've had him about 2 months now & when he came his face was raw and bleeding and his ears were bald and badly thickened. He also had a plate sized patch on his bottom which was bleeding due to him having a huge rip in his fly rug & his previous owner not doing anything about it.

I bought him a DeMeulenkamp rug ( very similar to Boett but slightly smaller size ), put him onto Feedmark Equidermis Plus and covered his face and ears in Camrosa. I also took all molasses and garlic out of his diet. He really needed a mask but I thought he would itch it to pieces because his face was in such a state.

He now has no sore patches on his face or ears, and the patch on his bottom is now just a bit crusty and scurfy and not sore at all. I am hoping that over winter I can clear this up completely.

I haven't been too impressed with his DeM rug, mainly due to sizing as he is tiny, so I've ordered a Snuggy outfit including mask which I will put him into very early next year. I've also been recommended KillItch which gets great reviews on here, so I will be putting that on any naked bits ( legs etc ) and keep him on the Feedmark supplement. Brimicombe do a Think Itch supplement now which I've been told is very good but I'm hoping with the rug going on early & the Feedmark powder I won't need it.

I'm still very new to all this so I read every SI thread with interest hoping to pick up some new tips! Good luck with yours, it's so awful isn't it :(
 
I have to say we've had loads of success this year with Kill Itch - benzyl bezoate - not cheap at all but combined with weekly mane and tail wash has meant a full mane and tail kept all summer. We have even dispensed with the fly rug on windy days !! ideally keep in at dawn and dusk too - the midges have been vicious this year !!
 
I had my old mare Angel put down 3 weeks ago at the age of 17 because of her sweet itch. Benzyl besoate should only be put on before they start itching as once they have rubbed themselves raw it burns like hell(I know). They say it only happenens from Mar-Sept not true,it's all year round now because of mild winters.Get as many rugs as you can if you want to keep them out during summer, otherwise you are restricted the year round to keeping them stabled during certain hours.Stress, don't let them get stressed out,this is what happened to my old mare,if they stress out they get hot and sweaty more itching. My old mare was catched round her field by gypsy lads with their lurchers, overheating ripping rugs and you couldn't get anywhere near her with any potions of any sort.
 
I can only say stable between 3-30pm-10am that worked most of the time and keeped rugged up all the time. My mare was a nightmare to handle because of her sweet itch,because I wasn't able to help with the itching,she was paranoid about smells and would either turn her back end on you or keep rearing.
 
billylula said:
That is so helpful. Thank you. Interesting about the garlic, he gets that every day. I've just bought some leovet No Rub that we are putting on his mane and tail and some Omega oil to add to his (small) feed. He gets a scoop of happy hoof if he is doing a lot of work (half term and hunting!!) but usually he just eats grass he is an extremely good doer. I was looking for a rambo rug today but they only had tiny sizes left in the shop. Will look online and get now in readiness for next year.
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Yep avoid garlic. It won't help and will make the thing worse. Yes good to look on-line for sweet itch rugs. Don't be tempted by the cheapie versions by certain big equine on-line wholesalers (mentioning no names) which do their own brand of sweet itch hoodies as they just won't last. Although they are fine for use if just standing in the stable - I always use one if mine's in as midges can and do find their way into stable buildings and will bite, so I always just bung one on to be safe & sure. Its a bit of a pain to start with but you'll just get in to the habit of thinking "sweet itch" and will soon just be doing it without thinking.

Also - don't know where yours is kept, but if you can the ideal place is the highest field you can find which catches the wind (keeps the midges away); worst place is low-lying fields with standing water and/or a stream running through. Even moving location just a mere mile can make a huge difference to a SI.
 
Sorry but putting highest point doesn't work either,I know as my small field is a hill and she was on it, also she was this year put out on 9 acres with just the companion,started off ok rugged up with her boett and mask and the expensive capsules I bought from them. But as soon as she got runabout by the gypsy lads and their dogs, she was stressed out and that made her sweet itch many times worse,that she came uncontrolable, the second time she slammed me into the wall, I realised I could no longer put her through what must have been agony for her.
 
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