Sweetitch

This is the start of the Itchy season for many horses.  Sweet Itch can be the bane of many horse’s lives throughout the spring and summer months. If you have a horse or pony that suffers from sweet itch, there’s actually quite a lot you can do to help. 

First of all what is sweet itch?

Basically it’s an allergic skin disease.  Certain horses are allergic to the saliva in the bite of a species of midge called Culicoides.  This means that once a sensitive horse is bitten by a Culicoides fly, it will have an allergic reaction at the site of the bite.  This will cause a localised irritation which the horse will try and rub.  Self- inflicted damage will occur as the horse itches himself. Due to the life cycle of the flies in question, this is a seasonal disease, occurring only between April and October.  It is characterised by itchiness, which can be severe.  The horse may be restless, keep rubbing himself against trees or fences, and keep swishing his tail in an effort to keep the flies away.

There are many different species of Culicoides midge, and each one prefers to bite a different part of the horse.  The horse will then itch the area around where the fly has bitten.  Most common are the “dorsal feeders” who bite, and cause damage around the horses ears, poll, mane, withers, rump, and tail head.  The “ventral feeders” are less common, and tend to cause the itching around the horse’s face, chest, and belly.

There are three separate approaches in treating this problem.

Firstly, and most importantly, you need to decrease your horse’s exposure to the Culicoides flies,  Secondly, you need to kill the flies that do attack your horse,  Thirdly you need to stop the horse itching.

Here are some ideas for treating these problems:-
Stable horses one hour each side of sunrise and sunset, as this is when flies are most active. Try using sheets and hoods to rug the horse with when he is turned out such as the Rambo Sweetitch Hoody.     

                                  

Insect-proof stables using fine-mesh screens. Clean the  water trough regularly to prevent flies breeding here. Apply  Insect repellents, such as Net-tex Stop Itch Salve, which will keep flies away, but needs to be constantly reapplied. Use a herbal remedy such as the Global Herbs product Skratch, or feed garlic.

All of  these measures will help your horse during these difficult months.

This is a link to the  national sweetitch helpline where you can get  some more advise.
www.sweet-itch.com

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