Sweet Itch!

N

Nakita

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 February 2010
Messages
299
Location
Scotland
Visit site
Well my little friesian filly I bought last week is fab but today I noticed she had a slightly bumpy neck, not round bumps & you can't see them so it really isn't too bad at all, just can just feel her skin is king of bumpy just under the roots of her mane! She has also been itching her tail - haven't seen it but her tail was everywhere today!
So due to friesians being prone to sweet itch I'm guessing this is the culprit!
Was just wanting to hear peoples experiences with this, if it is possible to have a horse with a nice mane, how to prevent it worsening etc!
 
I head Avon skin so soft is good, I was just on the site and there are billions of skin so soft products! What one am I looking for?
 
My chaps stable mate is prone to sweet itch and is incredibly sensitive to midges etc. His mum has done a lot of research and now adds marmite to his feed as apparently it is now thought that feeding garlic can make the problem worse but feeding marmite really helps. I'm going to try it myself this summer as my chap hates the flies and he certainly seems to love the taste of marmite!
 
My horse has very very very bad sweet and after taking Teresa f advice on here he is doing very very well, i feed marmite sandwiches everyday, have stopped the garlic and now put brewers yeast and clivers in his feed and use Teresas home made fly spray(which is on this sire and you can get the oils cheap from a lady on ebay between 1.40 and 1.70 a bottle, much cheaper than i have seen anywhere else ) formula along with Pig sulphur. Usually he would have started to rub raw by now and he is hardly itching at all. I real break through for me as he is 24 years old and has had it all his life and i have tried almost everything else going x
 
I've got a couple of horses with sweet itch - the best cure is preventing the flies from biting. We have a pony who suffers particularly badly - but with proper management - good fly rug and daily fly spray/cream she's fine, even doing some shows this year.
For both of them I use snuggyhood rugs (http://www.snuggyhoods.com) -similar to boet's. They're a little pricey but in my experience last much better than normal fly rugs and give better coverage. I also use the black NAF flyspray -has the highest conc of deet available (aparently) and a deet anti-itch fly cream for those bits not covered. My horses look and smell ridiculous!
It depends how badly the horse suffers. You could consider bringing the filly in during the day (before dawn-out after dusk) if it was that bad.
For the best results you ideally need to rug them up before the flies start - I was late last year with my gelding and he destroyed his rugs - lettting flies in and starting a vicious circle!
You can also use anti-histamines -I've heard somebody talk about a new one thats available that might really help. But so far I've managed to control it with good management *touching wood!*
 
I never have lumps with my lad and he has extremely bad sweetitch.
That said, this year he hasnt started his scratching campaign yet!

This year I have him on global herbs Skratch - the liquid version!
 
Thanks everyone!
Well it isn't really lumps, more like ridges you can feel but she has had no scabs prior to them, they just appeared!
I'm soo worried I'm going to have a stressed, baldy sore horse :( Want to make her as comfortable as i can however it is going to be hard to get a rug to fit and last her the summer! She is one at the end of june so going to be growing!
 
Nakita, I know it sounds silly but have you thought of rain scald or a fungal infection.
My arab got a fungal infection last year around this time, Vet said it was something they see quite often in spring perticularly if your horses spend alot of time standing under trees. his problem consisted of sweetitch like symptoms with raised lumps on his spine area. It took about 3 weeks for the lumps to turn into scabby rainscald like sores on his back and then it went away (with massive amounts of antifungal shampoos and creams).
 
I think we need a sweet itch section on the forum hehe. Could we have a sticky in Vetinary though? It is a very regular subject and a lot of us seem to have neddies that suffer with it.
 
conniegirl I haven't really thought of much else! I was told friesians are very prone to sweet itch and she has been itchy since I got her (not dementedly so) I didn't worry due to casting time of year etc. Anyway when I went up this morning her tail was all bushy at top where she has been scratching it and I noticed the ridges on her neck and first thing that popped into my head was sweet itch! Yard owner says it does feel like sweet itch. I'm just concerened if I do nothing about it and it does turn out to be sweet itch, it will be too late and she will be sore!
I went to Tesco tonight and bought marmite and tcp to dilute with water as I read in a previous post on here that diluting tcp with water and spraying on mane and tail helps.
I will just use these atm and if it worsens i'll need to look into flly rugs etc!
 
Go buy yourself some dermoline insecticidal and anti fungal shampoo. it will not do any harm to wash the pony in it a few times.

I personaly would be getting the vet out to confirm sweet itch. As I said my lad with very severe sweet itch hasnt started scratching yet. I also have anouther pony who for many many years we believed he had severe sweet itch untill one year he didnt stop scratching even in december. We found he actualy had a feed allergy. since removing all cereals from his feed he has completly stopped scratching.
 
Thanks, yeah I was thinking of getting the vet out, it really could be a million things! Might be a silly question but how does the vet test for sweet itch?
 
Nakita said:
Thanks, yeah I was thinking of getting the vet out, it really could be a million things! Might be a silly question but how does the vet test for sweet itch?
Click to expand...

There is a blood test which is run against a battery of possible allergens. Mysweet itch mare tested negative though - it appears the assay is American and perhaps the variety of midge involved is slightly different.:confused:
 
We had him tested against allergens that were around in december, so not midges, we started with his feed as that was the only thing i had changed compaired to other years, I had intended on competing him over winter so kept him on competition mix, normaly at the end of show season he gots turned out int he field and left to chill, he got minimal feed and then it was normaly just redi grass and carrots. Turned out that the pony was allergic to practically all cereals. i popped him into allen and page sugar and cereal free and we have never looked back.
 
My gypsy cob and clydesdale suffer from SI. However, I could sell them tomorrow and you would never know until you got them home and put them in a stable or near a wall when they would start to rub.

My routine is:

From March, I start feeding clivers and brewyers yeast, they do have rugs on, and I spray them before they go out.

From start of May to end of October they live out 24 x 7. The field is taped off so they can't rub on the fences. I do give them an hour a day without rugs to get some air to their skins and allow them to give each other a good mutual groom. When they come in at night in October I stop with the BY and clivers but do keep with the linseed and black sunflower seeds as they are great for coat, feed, joints and digestion.

Once living out, they wear snuggy bodies with the sheath/udder covers to stop their bellies getting raw. I do use the hoods when it is very midgy, but am not inclined to leave them on 24 x 7 for weeks on end as their manes are very long and they do get scrubbed up and I think they could get rubbed.

Anything sticking out of the rug is sprayed twice a day with my home made mix of essential oils, skin so soft oil and dettol mixed with water - PM me if you want a copy of it. I also apply megatek from Equss to the roots three times a week to (a) strengthen and encourage hair grow (b) it also seems to repel midges.

Finally, I feed them brewers yeast - a table spoon twice a day, instant linseed - coffee mug twice a day, black sunflower seeds - coffee mug twice a day and finally and this really seems to help with itchy skins, clivers - three tablespoons a day.

Combination of the supplements, good spray, rug and not having them where they can rub themselves really helps. I also wash the mane and tail with the shampoo from Equss which also seems to help with the skin.

Other thing to double check is diet - mine are on a non cereal, non molassed diet, just fed fibre products, and again this has helped with itchy skins.
 
Last edited:
My boy's an Itchy and I'm trialling him on the new Eos tablets, will let you know how it goes.

Also, ditto Marmite sarnies (he loves them) + linseed. Save your money on trendy supplements coz in my experience they don't work!

Yes, ditto cover up. Boett apparently good (never used it on mine, bought a Pagony which OK did the job but stitching wasn't up to standard and the daft thing has an elastic strap thingey which attaches the hood to the rest of it, which Nis Nibs got his foot tangled up in and got himself in a state, and wouldn't let anyone put it on him again).
 
Nakita said:
Well my little friesian filly I bought last week is fab but today I noticed she had a slightly bumpy neck, not round bumps & you can't see them so it really isn't too bad at all, just can just feel her skin is king of bumpy just under the roots of her mane! She has also been itching her tail - haven't seen it but her tail was everywhere today!
So due to friesians being prone to sweet itch I'm guessing this is the culprit!
Was just wanting to hear peoples experiences with this, if it is possible to have a horse with a nice mane, how to prevent it worsening etc!
Click to expand...

Nakita...if this is sweet itch you really need to get your horse covered up. This is the only real way of preventing it from progressing.
Invest in a good rug and you'll save a fortune on lotions and potions.
My lad has severe sweet itch and has not even started itching yet due to getting his rug on in good time plus a spray with Coopers Extra every few days and a regular fly spray in between.
This is the rug I use...its from an ebayer who makes them to order. I'm really pleased with it:
050520105473.jpg

050520105474.jpg


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SWEET-ITCH-RU...t=UK_Horse_Wear_Equipment&hash=item3a51d0c126
 
Nakita said:
Thank you everyone!

I've bought a few wee bits and bobs and will just try them and if she shows any other signs of sweet itch I will look into rugs etc!

Has anyone heard of or had any experience with this:
http://www.sweet-itch.co.uk/trials.html
Click to expand...

Yes I had one on the trials for a couple of years. I'm now just waiting for them to become mainstream as I got a placebo in the final year I took part and the pony scratched his mane off.
 
friesians are known very well for sweetitch , myself has a mare who is 8 and has severe sweetitch to a point she cant be ridden throw summer . she is rugged up , she has deosect on here everyday , brewers yeast and is washed once or twice every 2 wks in a shampoo .
the key to help min it is to rug early . stopping the midges before they bite .
but firstly i would get vet out to give you a proper diagnoses . before you go and spend way to much on sheets and potions and it turns out not to be .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top