Sweetitch rugs and hot weather?

[santas_spotty_pony]

What are those of you with sweet itch sufferers doing in this hot weather?

My mare gets really itchy and sore if she has her sweet itch rug off even for a few hours but I’m worried she might get too hot. She has got some shade in the field if she wants to get out of the sun but I’m not sure what’s best to do. Even if I cover her in lotion and fly spray she still gets itchy and I’ve only just managed to get the sore area behind he ears to heal over.

What’s everyone doing?

 

[Hormonal Filly]

I’m having the same issue.

The last couple of days I was putting SI lotion on (Biteback is fab!) and leaving her naked during the day (midges are more likely out dusk, dawn and night) which seemed to work well, no more itchiness than normal.. but today due to her having no shade, she is stabled without a rug.

She will go out in a couple of hours with her SI rug and fly mask on, but I’m going to hose it all down before turning her out.

Her coat is getting thicker so considering clipping.. but then worried she might get sunburn if left naked in the sun. If your mare can’t go without the rug, I’d clip her. Definitely keeps them cooler as I clipped my mare start of summer.

 

[smolmaus]

Rug stays on rain or shine. Mine is a dark bay so if shes wearing a white SI rug she is noticeably cooler in the direct sun with it on. I was chucking buckets of water over her or hosing her down in the rug the last time we had that very very hot spell.

 

[dottylottie]

both of mine came in sweaty yesterday with their fly rugs on, but they both have a really bad reaction to fly bites and come out in hives, so they’ve both had a bath today in preparation of a clip tomorrow! first for all 3 of us, so not sure how well it’ll go, but they’ll be cooler, but perhaps not “cooler”

 

[Carrottom]

I had to take the fly rug off my bay tb for half an hour this afternoon to sew up a tear. He wasn't sweaty when I took it off but had started to sweat in the time it was off.si I do think a white (or dirty off white) helps to keep a bay horse cool.

 

[Surbie]

Mine is out today with fly mask & muzzle but no rugs. There is at least a strong breeze here today and I'll be up in before dusk to put the rugs back on.

He's black - I wobble between the lighter rugs being more reflective and the fact that his new coat is coming through fast will mean wearing them = hotter horse.

 

[saddlesore]

I leave it on regardless of weather

 

[Gloi]

Don't take it off whatever you do. You can hose it down to help keep her cool if need be. The hot days are the worst for bites.

 

[Hormonal Filly]

Don't take it off whatever you do. You can hose it down to help keep her cool if need be. The hot days are the worst for bites.

When I looked into it, midges feed most at night and don’t like the bright sun. On the SI Facebook page a lot keep in over night as that’s when they’re most likely to get bitten.

 

[Gloi]

When I looked into it, midges feed most at night and don’t like the bright sun. On the SI Facebook page a lot keep in over night as that’s when they’re most likely to get bitten.

If you have one with bad sweet itch it is pretty much impossible to stable them in midge season as they destroy themselves on the stable walls, unfortunately. The electric fence is vital. There are more midges dawn and dusk but still enough at other times to set off reactions.

 

[Bobthecob15]

One at our yard is wearing hers come rain or shine, it was super hot but she didn't seem too fussed today, she had a bath part way through the day which I'm sure helped!

 

[smolmaus]

I checked all the mares today, thinking of this thread and mine with half her winter coat grown in and her SI rug on and her fly mask was less sweaty than any of them.

Wouldn't matter even if she was sweating tbh. Hot is better than tearing her ears and face to pieces.

 

[santas_spotty_pony]

Don't take it off whatever you do. You can hose it down to help keep her cool if need be. The hot days are the worst for bites.

Yes it’s not coming off - she actually wasn’t as hot as I thought she would have been tbh. I know mushed are worse at dawn and dusk but she seems to react at what ever time of the day. I do take it off for a bit when she comes in in the day because luckily she isn’t terrible for rubbing in the stable. But if she is in overnight for any reasons she wears her sweet itch rug in the stable too.

 

[poiuytrewq]

My old horse kept his on 24/7 in every type of weather. When it was boiling hot he was hosed regularly and I had a few rugs so would wash and put back on wet.

 

[tda]

Hijacking thread slightly, but which proper sweet itch rug do people prefer. Have mainly just used fly rugs but needing something a bit more coverage underneath.

 

[smolmaus]

Hijacking thread slightly, but which proper sweet itch rug do people prefer. Have mainly just used fly rugs but needing something a bit more coverage underneath.

I always rep the Shires highlander. The newer ones this year seem less durable but still repairs easy.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Mine stays on right through the spring and summer. I do use a lighter weight zebra fly rug when it is so hot she is dripping, they are good to keep the flys away but not great for midges to be honest. Today she is sweaty but I have left her proper Rambo fly rug on as we are plagued with midges at the moment and she is quite swishy tailed and stressed despite rug and all lotions and potions. They have lots of shade on a very windy spot that the air wooshes through even on the hottest day, but she is out in the middle, in the heat of the day grazing. The sensible donkeys are in the shade.

 

[santas_spotty_pony]

I always rep the Shires highlander. The newer ones this year seem less durable but still repairs easy.

That’s what I have too. It may need some repairs come the end of the season but I’ve not had it long as started with a fly rug - only bought horse last autumn and didn’t realise how bad her sweet itch was but so far I’m pleased with it and she seems much happier wearing it.