Sweetitch?

[Ravenwood]

I have never had a pony with sweetitch - and I have certainly had a few!, so I have no experience of this.

Went to look at a 14.1 pony for daughter today and to be fair I went knowing it had a mild case of sweetitch (ie full tail), but OMG, poor pony, what a mess. It was kept in a field with no shelter at all, no fly rug or anything to protect it. It had rubbed its mane and forelock very badly and there were open sores all over its back where it had been able to get under the branches and rub. Half its face and ears were bald too. All the sores were covered in udder cream, so they had no chance to dry out. The coat on the top half its body looked like a clip growing out because of the rubbing and it had made the coat grow in a strange pattern around its bottom. Poor pony was receiving absolutely nothing and even I know that there are plenty of lotions and potions on the market to help with sweetitch.

I am pretty sure this is hereditary and the dam (there also) has sweetitch with lovely foal at foot but will probably have it too.

How controllable is sweetitch? I am pretty sure that where we live, and the fact that my horses come in in the day time, and with special creams etc, I could control it but obviously if we ever sold it on I would have to tell any prospective buyers of its sweetitch problem.

How much does that effect the price and would any of you touch a pony with sweetitch?

I am almost wondering if perhaps it had another skin complaint on top of the sweetitch to cause such excessive skin damage.

What d'ya think?

Should add that pony was no show stopper, but very nice natured and willing to please. Went out on its own no problem and although only 4, with little work done to it, carried itself naturally and was light and responsive.

 

[Cahill]

dont buy it.
my mare has it and i cant put her in cos she would rub.
she has a rug and cream and i have stopped her rubbing this year.
she is out with electric fence but we have had bad mud this year

 

[parsley]

I have had a pony with it and to be honest I wouldn't knowingly buy another one. We didn't know he had it when we bought him but once the vet confirmed it I bought a Boett blanket, he was on a coffee cup of linseed oil a day, three different fly sprays and Benzole bezoate and he still scratched like mad in the stable - I think it was ingrained in him. He did have a full mane and tail but one bite if we were riding him without the blanket would be enough to start him off and I couldn't bring him in and just leave him in the stable a bit. His field was also scratch proof - nothing but electric fence!

I know that some people manage horses and ponies with sweetitch very well and really enjoy having the pony but personally I found it a bit of a night mare. It is supposed to get worse as they get older and this pony was 13 so perhaps this was the problem.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I have had a pony with sweet itch, and although we managed it with a Boett rug I would not be too keen to have alnother. I also thinkit sounds as if this pony is being neglected if it is in such a mess with its sweet itch, did you pass any comment to its owners? It could be the sweet itch was mild but the fact it doesn't appear to have been managed properly has made it a major problem.

 

[samp]

My mare has it and it is controllable with rugs and lotions although she has some mane missing. I knew she had sweet itch mildly when I purchased her and my vet thought she was a bargain price for her breeding etc. I know I probably can not breed from her and she is quirky. But for a horse with the same talent, less quirk and no sweet itch I would be looking at paying 3 - 4 times more than I did for her! You have to weight it all up

 

[sikaran]

My horse has been on the sweet itch vaccine trial this year, and I would say there is about an 85% improvement on his sweet itch last year. He still rubs a little, but last year he had no mane and tail, and trashed at least three fly rugs. I think it has cost about £300 altogether, but worth it in my opinion.

 

[juliebrewer]

I owned a pony with sweetitch and it was a constant battle to cover her up and put potions on. Then I discovered the Boet rug and my pony was brill. Didnt even need any potions and she had a full mane and tail.. I did breed a foal from her and sold her for £1000 (with Boet rug) She was worth about £3000 with out sweetitch. The lady that bourght her had a pony already with sweetitch and was managing it fine (full main and tail). ... The vaccinations I understand have been very successfull, especially with mild cases... If the pony is good in other ways I would buy another providing the price reflected this...

 

[ticobay831]

My pony has quite bad sweetitch, i have it under controll with a boet and lotions and potions. He is proving to be one hell of a good pony its so sad he suffers from it. But in saying that it hasnt stopped him from spending the whole of last week at pony camp and joining in with all the activities which he thoroughly enjoyed and did very well in

Its sad to think that a pony wont be given a chance because he suffers from this condition, im not sayin it is easy to controll but with allot of TLC and good managment it can be and theres no reason why you cant get all the enjoyment from him that you would get out of one that didnt have it

If the pony is what your looking for, is a reasonable price and you are prepared to put in the extra work time and money, then go for it.
Sounds to me like it needs some serious attention, poor little mite

present owners can be done for neglect.
I wouldnt be able to just walk away and leave it, im too soft

Debs x

 

[Tiggy1]

I have a pony with sweet itch and to be honest it's not that much of a stress.
He can be really bad gets down and scratches his tummy on the ground but with a boett or similar it's a lot better.
Don't let it put you off too much if the pony is what you are looking for but make sure it's reflected drastically in the price.

 

[Bossanova]

I cant sell a really nice 14.1hh pony atm for just under 2k as it has very mild sweetitch. And I mean very mild- she has scratched the very top of her tail and a tiny part of her mane.

So if youre considering selling the pony on I wouldnt recommend it and would only buy it very cheaply

 

[Ravenwood]

Thanks for all your replies everyone. I have spent some time deliberating and have decided against the pony. The main reason being the high maintenance, which wouldn't really make any difference to me but it would be one of those ponies that you couldn't chuck out in a field for a couple weeks if something happens, like I could my other two. Also I would have to sell it eventually as daughters grows, currently about 1ft/month!!

So still looking - 14-14.2hh either a been there, done that, got the T shirt pony (preferrably for loan) or nice sensible pony who likes to do a few local shows, pony club but not too old if its for sale!!

 

[wizzi901]

avoid if you can.....have one with severe sweet itch, although I have just started using a product called NETTEX Summer Salve, it wont cure the condition but is the only thing in 7 years I have found that relieves it to the point we dont have any sores, just a lot of bum rubbing at night in the stable! - I keep a fly rug on all the time to prevent him rubbing himself sore but he still gets some relieve by having a little scratch. Its expensive but worth a go if you have severe sufferer...

 

[ShadowFlame]

My loan gelding has sweet itch, it is reasonably managed with the use of a boett type sweet itch rug and plenty of fly spray, but he never looks perfect in the summer (mainly his face that suffers as he won't tolerate a fly mask). It does take a lot of maintenace, and there aren't any short cuts. Personally, if I were to buy my own horse, I would avoid any with sweet itch - full stop. However, it does tend to knock a zero or two off the asking price.