Very itchy horse and over heating?

Perissa

Perissa

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I really hope that I am not speaking too soon but all of you with seriously itchy horses where the cause appears to be unknown you may be interested in this.

My horse developed a mysterious itch last year. I spent 4K trying to find the cause, treatment included steriods, anti histamines, malasab baths, camera up the bottom, wormed - wormed and wormed again, change of diet, rugs and bedding etc. He ended up with a massive abscess from a steroid injection.

About a month ago he started to itch again - last year it was December time so this time a month or so earlier. He broke out in intensly itchy little hot lumps under his dock - exactly like he did last year. I have immedately clipped him, everything off apart from legs, he is only rugged with one 200g rug. The little lumps have completely gone. He rubbed for about a week, and now hopefully hasn't rubbed for a couple of weeks.

I am seriously wondering if it is heat related. He's just got to the stage where he was getting very sweaty working and hey presto rubbing. I've wondered if the little lumps on his dock are like a heat rash?

So those of you with itchy horses and you've done all the usual checks for lice, worming etc it might be that you are keeping your horse too hot.....
 
My girl was similar - a really itchy soul. I now rug her v lightly and she is trace clipped - happy horse! She is drastically under rugged compared to others on the yard, but she is happy and always feels warm and appears comfortable.
So glad you found a way to keep him more comfortable!
 
I know what you mean, people are horrified at how lightly I am rugging him. I take him to a posh dressage yard at the weekends to be ridden and their clipped horses are already in heavy weights and some with blackets too!
 
I do think I am seen as cruel! My girl is comfy and happy though so I don't care! Many are in several rugs at night - some are even turned out in the day with heavyweights and stable rugs underneath! Are we in the arctic, are they ill? NO!!
 
That's very interesting to know, I might try it with my Welshie who gets a bit itchy sometimes.

And ignore the people who are shocked at your under-rugging - most people over rug IMO!
 
I have to admit that I did worry as he was turned out during the day with a 100g rug with neck on (Rambo California) and in at night with a 200g rug without neck (Schneider cut back stable rug) - my fields are open with no shelter hence the neck cover.

This cooled his skin which had become hot from the rubbing. He isn't at all cold judging from feeling his ears and under his rug. He has plenty of forage too, to keep him warm from the inside.
 
What feed was she on just out of interest.

Seaweed supplement is very good for itchy skins, ok so it might caused by over heating and blocked sweat pore but it something that will certainly help.
 
That very interesting as my horse is very itchy at the moment, as soon as i take his rug off he cant stop scratching and comes up in a rash. He is clipped (blanket) and has one medium rug on - is this too much?
 
So many people over rug, im on a yard full of fat furry cobs and all are in chunky full neck middleweight rugs during day already, my araby type fine coated skinny legged mare is in a lightweight stable rug with a shower sheet over it at mo coz if i put her 180g high necked turnout tug on she sweats up!!!!
They all looked at me like i'm cruel for turning my horse out in such thin rugs but she genuinely doesn't need them i'd love to wrap her up in snugly full necked heavy rugs but its pointless she will jsut sweat and become uncomfortbale ive never known a horse like her for being so warm in the middle of winter the 180g high neck is the heaviest rug she needs and she only wears that in bitterly cold icey snow days if the sun is out she has to wear a sweat cooler under lightweight turnout to keep he rcool enough.
Rug as required every horse is an individual dont be forece dinto something just becasue othewr people may think your mad :-)
 
This is why my full clipped two are still in nothing heavier than a 200 g fill rug, no neck cover and if is goes above 8 they go into 100 g rugs and only wear 300 g fills if it is 0 or below. If they get anything other than warm they rug and itch.

There is no way I could put some of the rugs on that other people use on them - my TB loved thick warm rugs, but these two are better kept tepid.

This is also why I full clip - they get far too hot with their thick coats on Farra still thinks she is in Scotland. Essex is normally fairly mild and they sweat up at just a walk most of the winter.
 
Sounds like too hot as I see horses over rugged who just itch terribly when put in their stables. Needless to say my ISH is fully clipped and in a sheet and no sign of itchiness at all :p
 
My horse is fully clipped apart from legs and half a head and she's only in a 100gram, she'll be staying like that until its freezing :)

I had a pony who got very hot and itchy and I put her on seaweed and scratch from global herbs, it worked a treat.
 
Perissa said:
I really hope that I am not speaking too soon but all of you with seriously itchy horses where the cause appears to be unknown you may be interested in this.

My horse developed a mysterious itch last year. I spent 4K trying to find the cause, treatment included steriods, anti histamines, malasab baths, camera up the bottom, wormed - wormed and wormed again, change of diet, rugs and bedding etc. He ended up with a massive abscess from a steroid injection.

About a month ago he started to itch again - last year it was December time so this time a month or so earlier. He broke out in intensly itchy little hot lumps under his dock - exactly like he did last year. I have immedately clipped him, everything off apart from legs, he is only rugged with one 200g rug. The little lumps have completely gone. He rubbed for about a week, and now hopefully hasn't rubbed for a couple of weeks.

I am seriously wondering if it is heat related. He's just got to the stage where he was getting very sweaty working and hey presto rubbing. I've wondered if the little lumps on his dock are like a heat rash?

So those of you with itchy horses and you've done all the usual checks for lice, worming etc it might be that you are keeping your horse too hot.....
Click to expand...

Try putting rock sulpher in his water supply. You can get it from pet shops it comes in a little box. My Sec A used to get over hot just being a Sec A and the sulpher does the trick.
Bryndu
 
I have one that gets very hot very easily. It never needs heavy weight rugs, no matter how much hair is clipped off. I also find that heating foods bring her out in itchy heat bumps - sugarbeet is the main culpret, and haylage can do it too...
 
Oh this is very interesting! My big girl has been really itchy this year for some reason and I've been pondering about it and this might be the answer. She's not allowed near the fencing, it gets taped off cos she's going to break it!

She gets warm in general, is fairly hairy with something between a bib and trace clip and at the mo she is wearing a 180g rug. She gets the rug taken off if theres no sign of rain though.

She does suffer with arthritis and lives out full time. In the past she's either worn the 180g rug and had more of a clip usually a blanket and she had last year off so was left hairy with a no fill rug when it rained.

In peoples opinions would she be ok without the rug or just something with no fill? Or should I stick with the rug and clip more off as she is still getting hot when ridden. I originally clipped less cos she's living out this year. Cos of her arthritis I'm paranoid about her getting cold even though I guess the rug makes no difference to her knees, just her in general!

Thanks!
 
I posted this last month but thought I'd do a quick update.

My boy is still only in a medium Amigo with hood (no fill) during the day and a medium stable rug at night with a medium neck cover. This despite being up to -9 and fully clipped (legs on). The good news is that there are still no signs of rubbing. He's still warm to the touch under the rugs, not really toasty but then this is what I think the problem is. We like them to be toasty and they don't want to be!
 
My chap too ( a 3/4 tb! ) has the same problem. Anything more than a lightweight in the winter ( he is not clipped but has a very thin tb coat ) results in a very itch lumpy rash, which he rubs and rubs until he has bald patches and looks like he has the lurgys!

This year I purchased a bucas power turnout ( the lightweight version ) as this has a wide temperature range as it reflects his heat back, and although probably not necessary makes me feel a whole lot better when it is -10 outside, and he is toasty warm with no rash :)
 
My mare is allergic to her own sweat and I think has various allergies. She came up in severe lumps on the side she laid on and also under the saddle. The lumps looked like bites with scabs on and really nasty it took me a long time to work it out because she lives out in Summer but even in a Boett these lumps were still there. She was on Nedz Bedz and this was awful for her because I think she got too warm I have put her back on wheat straw. Also this year I have kept her on good quality hay and mineral lick and she is a different horse. I think sometimes you have to look at more than one thing like people if you get one allergy then you are often susceptible to others I think she may have also had a food allergy but for the amount of work she does I thought it best just to cut out all the hard food for a while and it seems to work for me when its particularly cold I feed her Hi-fibre which I soak and put it with a bit of Hi Fi light and Vits she is a big horse 17.2 does mean I get through a lot of hay but she is sane and gleaming. Hope this helps
 
Mine is fully clipped and out in a heavy when - temperatures but soon to go back to her medium full neck (lives out 24/7). She gets very hot and sweaty and very itchy with it, always has done so I rug as minimal as I can for her.

Her biggest problem is her HUMUNGEOUS tail. No matter how much I pull it it keeps coming back. Not a problem in the winters but in the summer you would think she has sweat itch or pin worm. We tried everything bearing in mind I work for a vet! Only thing sort of worked was to keep thinning her tail, washing her dock daily and having a UV fly rug with large UV tail flap. She has so much hair that she just overheats at her dock bless her.
 
My mare is a hot miss too! She only needs lightweight rugs, and never shivers when standing around unrugged and clipped when riding. She gets heat bumps sometimes too - heating foods brings it up as well, such as sugarbeet or rich haylage.
 
Horses for courses- my (we think) WB x TB was wearing about half the rugs my TB x COB! mare did. He was just a warm horse. One time he was overrugged when living out (rug cleaners sent me back some one elses rug) - he was put into the 450 when I really wanted him in a 300.

Next morning he had managed to rip a virtually new heavyweight rug in half. Very expensive lesson.
 
-20 here right now , i ve just this miniute put a fleece on under her 200 gm fal , as this is the 1st time in all the years ive owned her shes felt cold . and we have , - temps for around 5 months of the year .
 
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