Sweet itch - tell me more please

Laura_107

Laura_107

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Oct 15, 2010
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Before the big horse hunt starts in earnest I want to learn as much as I can about things I am yet to come across in any detail.

So, sweet itch. I know it's a reaction to midge bites, I know it can be from mild to severe, and I know it can be managed by rugging....but thats about it.

Can anyone tell me more? What are the signs (I'll be horse hunting in April if that makes any difference)? When is the seaon? What are the management options? How would you manage a mild case in comparison to a severe case? Is there anything it stops you doing?

Thanks :smile:
 
lots of people have success with different things, it depends on the horse.

For my Rosie, the best thing has been to have her in a non-boggy paddock, no trees and nowhere near any standing water of any kind (except her trough of course). She wears a rug from March through to October and wears it all weathers. That is all i have to do. I would say she has a moderate allergy, in that she really cannot cope without a rug on, but she doesnt need to have stabled periods or supplements.

My trimmer has managed to extremely reduce his Friesians sweetitch by streamlining her feeding using Thunderbrook feeds.

For me, i knew nothing about sweetitch when buying rosie, we bought in October, she was hogged (often sweetitch horses are hogged), and she did have scabby bits in her mane and along her back, i thought it was rain scald, it wasnt until the following summer that i realised.

In April, i would be wanting to see the horse tied up outside (if lots of flies/midges around at the time), as if rosie is tied up outside without a rug on she tries to rub on everything, stomps/kicks/bites a lot, you can tell she is very unhappy. Whereas my other two may do the occasional kick of the belly at a fly.

all that being said though i wouldnt be put off buying a horse who had sweet itch, at least they stay clean wearing a sweetitch rug all the time :)
 
Thanks Julie, and good to know that you wouldn't be put off buying a horse with sweetitch.

One question, what happens with the rugging when it's raining? Do you leave it off when it rains?
 
Nope leave rug on 24/7, only off for riding or grooming. Rosie does get very very annoyed with flies though so I ride her in a ride-on fly rug when hacking.

I never take the rug off in the rain because the moment the rain stops the midges come out like mad and unless your there the moment it stops then you can't put it on to stop them rubbing. The material the rug is made from is pretty showerproof anyway and dries really really quickly.

It would be much much easier to have a horse without sweetitch, but certainly not the end of the world in my opinion.
 
def don't fall for 'mild sweet itch, easily controlled' - it reallt depends on where you keep them etc how bad it can get. bought one of mine as 'mild' - cue blood on the stabble walls etc. and that was WITH a 24/7 boett, supps and various lotions and potions ...

it's not one to be easily brushed aside and can eg. hamper showing etc. and you might end up with a horse with half a mane/tail despite your best efforts (my little one hasn't had a forelock for years ....).

management can be costly if they trash rugs etc (SI rugs are not that cheap and a 'normal' flyrug might not do as the necks tend to be too short, belly cover not enough etc).

in terms of signs - probly not that many if you horse hunt in april, to be honest. a rubbed, scurfy mane/tail could mean SI but might not ... unless the seller tells you outright (which they really should!!) you might not know exactly what's going on.

all in all, i would not take it lightly or as a 'minor hitch' as it might not be (environment can play a huge factor here ... one of mine, who used to have blood on walls, no mane etc. is now 'easily' managed with a rambo since we moved to the coast!). if you're massively into showing I nwouldn't 'go there' either.

saying that - both of mine have it, which I knew about when I bought them ..
 
notpoodle said:
all in all, i would not take it lightly or as a 'minor hitch' as it might not be (environment can play a huge factor here ... one of mine, who used to have blood on walls, no mane etc. is now 'easily' managed with a rambo since we moved to the coast!). if you're massively into showing I nwouldn't 'go there' either.
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totally agree with the above!
 
No such thing as "mild" sweet itch. It can start as an itchy bum and a yerar later you are looking at a Rhino skinned horse who is in desperate suffering.

Personally I would not buy, or even go and look at a sweet itchy horse......says she who has a termianally sweet itchy horse.!

(we don't have sweet itch here)

But he can NEVER go south, he can never even go to the mainland for a show.

No such thing as "mild sweet itch"
 
I have a young mare with sweet itch and can only echo the comments above that you shouldn't be deceived by the "mild sweet itch, can be controlled" line. It varies massively from horse to horse and also the location can have a bearing on the level of the allergy, as notpoodle mentions. So what might look mild where the horse is living when you go to see it, might not be mild when you move it to where you will be keeping it. My girly was terrible when in Essex, much better when in Surrey and is really suffering again now we're in Suffolk, I think this is because the clay soil holds more moisture and attracts more flies.

I would currently class her as a suffering from it severly so lives in her snuggy hoods rug from March time onwards, she gets bathed regularly, is fed marmite sandwiches (I will also be trying brewers yeast next year) and gets Deosect applied every 2 weeks. She also gets sudocream on her udder area to act as a barrier against the flies, I then put Nafoff Fly Gel over the top.

I find the toughest times of year to manage are when they are moulting, so they scratch from under the rug because the hair is itching and you can't take the rug off otherwise they get bitten and scratch from that too.

This winter, I'm going to be giving a full clip to minimise spring itching and see if that makes much of a difference.
 
bitsnpieces said:
I find the toughest times of year to manage are when they are moulting, so they scratch from under the rug because the hair is itching and you can't take the rug off otherwise they get bitten and scratch from that too.

This winter, I'm going to be giving a full clip to minimise spring itching and see if that makes much of a difference.
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which of your mares has it? is it Inca?

I was also debating giving Rosie a full clip in spring to ease the moulting itchiness...just a little worried as she is fully fluffy through the winter as out naked, then suddenly clipped naked when then having the sweetitch rug on, do you think she would cope ok?

Rosie was awful three years ago when kept on a farm with a pond next to their paddock and surrounded by trees....she is far far better since having a completely exposed paddock with no trees or standing water.
 
I would not consider buying another horse with sweet itch. It can get progressively worse, and horses can suffer terribly with it. Once I knew Charlie had sweet itch I was happy to deal with it, and we managed, but I would not have another with it. Buyers do have to tell you, and can be prosecuted for not telling you. It is listed as one of the conditions they have a legal obligation to tell you about. Ask to see photos of the horse on the field grazing. We all have a hundred of those! If he is rugged up like a caped crusader, be suspicious!
 
juliecwuk said:
which of your mares has it? is it Inca?

I was also debating giving Rosie a full clip in spring to ease the moulting itchiness...just a little worried as she is fully fluffy through the winter as out naked, then suddenly clipped naked when then having the sweetitch rug on, do you think she would cope ok?

Rosie was awful three years ago when kept on a farm with a pond next to their paddock and surrounded by trees....she is far far better since having a completely exposed paddock with no trees or standing water.
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Yep, it is Inca, which is odd as neither of her parents have it? What doesn't help with her is that she is very easily frustrated, so part of me wonders whether the allergy itself is only mild, but she has a very low tolerance to being itchy and so rubs herself raw given half a chance.

I've had to work out my summer grazing schedule to make sure that she's in the most exposed field at the height of the season, which is fine for me as the girls are at home, but might not be so easy for others who are in livery.

This year will be the first time Inca has ever been clipped so was debating whether to gradually take it all off, so bib then blanket then full. Or just to take it all off, put the snuggy hood on and heavily rug over the top. Will be clipping just after Christmas so also want to encourage as much summer coat through as early as possible.

She makes a right mess of herself if she's left to her own devices so am keen to try as many different tactics as I can to see what works and build up an arsenal to use in my war against sweet itch :ninja:
 
Hmmm, all very useful info. Thanks.

The yard I am on is on a hillside and windy, but also surrounded by trees and can get pretty boggy down the bottom when very wet.

Obviously I wouldn't choose a horse with sweet itch, but temprement is key for me, so it's worth figuring out if this would be a compromise I'm willing to make. I'm not into showing so that's ok and any horse I own would live out 24/7.

Food for thought and interesting stuff to know.

Thanks :biggrin:
 
Laura_107 said:
Hmmm, all very useful info. Thanks.

The yard I am on is on a hillside and windy, but also surrounded by trees and can get pretty boggy down the bottom when very wet.
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Windy is good, trees and standing water are a big no-no, I am another who had a really bad sweet itch case and would not buy another. Up here on Shetland as Wally says there is no sweetitch (too windy and treeless) and he is a very happy pony, I had the same success with him down south by moving him right up onto the moors in Northumberland, we had no sweetitch there, but in lowland grazing near water he was terrible, despite everything we tried he would rub himself raw and canter round and round the field trying to outrun the flies on bad days :(
 
Rosie is worse in a stable, but then again around my stables can be boggy and also the muck heap nearby, in the field there are far less midges around, so in our situation she is better out. If in and runs out of hay she will rub away for hours in the stable.
 
I half suspected Dolly might have SI went I went to see her (February) - but I knew immediately I would buy her regardless, and owner agreed to my having her on 2 weeks trial so that my own vet could come out to vet her.

My vet also thought she might have, but we both thought probably only mildly. How wrong were we! But I now how a very strict regime with her and it is relatively easy to control. She has only managed to rub herself raw a couple of times when I led my guard drop.... I treated her to a cold and windy day without her rug on.:redface:

Would I still have bought her knowing how bad she could be with it? Probably not because I didnt know her well enough then....I would now though because she is absolutely perfect for me in every other way. :inlove:

So unless you are 100 per cent sure you have found your once in a lifetime perfect horse and will happily deal with all the faffing about to help them, then I wouldn't buy one with SI.
 
Laura_107 said:
I always thought it would be worse in a stable as then they have something to rub on?
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If they are itchy they are worse in a stable as they have more to rub on. But stabling at high-midge times of day can help to stop them getting itchy in the first place.
With SI you really want to prevent it, not treat it!
 
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