Sweetitch

Irishcobs

Irishcobs

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Am I right in thinking it is a reaction to the midge bite that causes the horse to rub?
If a horse is stabled during the day and out at night with a sweetitch rug on should the horse have the rug on in the stable as well?
 
Yes, and yes, basically.

Its the cullicoides midge that's the problem, when they bite the horse they inject saliva and the horse then produces histamine in reaction to this which is what causes the itching.

So the first thing is to (if you can) stop the midges biting in the first place and the best way is a hoody rug.

Mine wears his Rambo hoody when turned out (and a fly mask with ear covers if necessary), then when I bring him in he wears a "Premier Equine" fly rug (no hood on it), which IMO is more comfy for him; then I put Killitch (benzyl benzoate) around his ears and head & poll area just in case there's a stray midge around!!!

Sometimes with a sweet itch you're better to bring them in to cover the period from dusk to dawn; they quite often are quite relieved to be coming in if the midges are particularly nasty.

Also if you can avoid low-lying fields, esp where there's standing water or trees, it will help. The best field for a SI is high up so it catches the breeze or near the sea even better :)

Worse places are damp fields in valleys with lots of trees or common land around. Moving a horse to a different location can either improve OR make SI worse for this reason.

Have a look at the National Sweet Itch Centre website, lots of helpful stuff there.

Personally I'd avoid expensive supplements: mine has Brewers Yeast (same stuff as marmite) and Linseed - one scoop per feed, plus Clivers (sticky stuff in hedges) in a haynet or in feed is supposed to be good.

Oh and avoid garlic. Ditto sweet things like mollasses (avoid like the plague - remember, SWEET itch, that's the key). You'd be surprised just how much sugar/mollasses is in proprietory brand feeds. Mine has Dengie Hi Fi Mollassess free.
 
Evenings are the worst time to turn out, although my mare is turned out 24/7 but with her Boett rug on, last year was really bad,but this year she's been better, but she is on the capsules that I bought from the National Sweet Itch and that has been a help.
 
What I have found very successful with sweet itch is to A) Start feeding NAF D-tox early in the season (Feb/March) before the midges start. This alters their immune system. Feed in high quantities, two scoops X 2 a day when the midges start.
B) Get some Neem Oil (Neem Team)
Mix 5 ml of neem with 5 ml shampoo and make up with 1 L of hot water and sponge that over the horse. This is extremely effective in keeping the midges and all other flies away.
 
Echo Bravo said:
Evenings are the worst time to turn out, although my mare is turned out 24/7 but with her Boett rug on, last year was really bad,but this year she's been better, but she is on the capsules that I bought from the National Sweet Itch and that has been a help.
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Hi - I would be really interested to know more about your experience of the capsules. My cob has sweet itch and lives out in his Boett rug during the summer. I have been thinking of trying him on the capsules but would only do this if I thought I wouldn't have to rug him.
 
Remember dawn and dusk are the worst times and it is important to cover under the belly
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