sweet itch

megsowner said:
Hi
I have just bought a mare with sweet itch. What can i do through winter in prep for next year and then in spring??
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Not a terrible lot really. Keep her rugs on until the end of October - they still itch even then. Any hair that has been rubbed out will usually grow back over the winter. Again, get rugs on early, before the sweet itch starts. We have a sweet itch hoody on ours from the end of Feb. People will suggest allsorts of feed suppliments, but I've never found one that worked.

We always have aloe gel around to soothe the itch - Matalan has done aloe aftersun that has insect repellent in it this year, which has been good. Equimins Biting insect cream smothered on works well too.

I dont think that mild S I is too bad - you just have to cover them and keep an eye out.

Enjoy your new horse!
 
During the winter months you can relax a little, tho' even on a milder winter day you can get blimmin midges so you have to be ever vigilaint.

I tend to feed a maintenance amount of linseed and brewers yeast throughout the winter. Plus keeping the horse clipped does seem to help coz then you just bung on a rug and the coat doesn't seem to get so hot and itchy.

Round about the spring half term, i.e. mid-February, is when you really need to start being vigilant again; and this is the time of year when its nearly impossible to buy sweet-itch rugs - tack shops don't seem to think that people want these rugs till its too late - grrrrhhhh!

So really, come the end of January, it wouldn't be too early to start upping the amount of supplement and get it in the horse's system. Apparently Clivers (the sticky stuff that grows in hedgerows) is good for sweet itch; so if you can find any growing put it in the haynet or you can buy the supplement from somewhere (can't remember where, sorry, coz I tend to just pick it as it grows and feed it naturally). Personally I've wasted a lot of money on brand name supplements and have gone back to the old fashioned simple ones.

Also, make sure you've got plenty of "Killitch" or benzyl benzoate in stock ready for the spring; there's no time that's cheaper to buy these things than the present!
 
Start feeding brewers Yeast throughout the winter and persevere with it throughout the SI season and next winter too. Start applying Nettex Itch Stop Salve to all previously affected areas around March (before midges appear) and apply twice a week throghout the SI season. In my experience you will notice a huge difference each year you persevere. Feed 25g every 24 hours for every 450kg of horse. It must be at least every 24 hours as the B3 remains active for that time. If you feed twice a day split it in two. Good Luck
 
My Pony had sweet itch. I used to keep his fly sheet on under high rug until the temperature drops sufficiently enough for there to be no midges. Then just to ensure good protection I used to by winter rugs with necks. I know this wouldn't stop the midges but I just felt it would give some protection.

I used to by boet like rugs from a lady who makes them and sells them on ebay for a fractions of the price. They also lasted a lot longer than the boet rug I originally bought. If you are inteterested the lady was called cornerstonebrowbands. The rugs come almost to measure with a face mask which gives full protection from head to tail.

During the summer time I used to mix up my own concoption of neem oil (which stops the midges) and obviously keeping on the rugs. This was good enough to let me be able to show him at county level when previously he had bold patches and no mane. Poor thing.
 
Oh, I also used to feed linseed oil daily. Smells nasty but does improve the coat and seem to help. As mentioned in previouse posts I would try the brewers yeast.

I also agree that the more you perserver the better it gets year after year but sadly one impact can have a large impact. I also read that making a cream from plantain can help stop the itching. I used to use alovera as well. Anything to cool the skin will help.
 
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