Very itch horse?

[Margaret D NLI]

Finnigan has[glow=red,2,300][/glow] been very itch for a few weeks now. He is clean, no greasy coat, no dusty scrurf, has nothing living in his coat, I've checked thoroughly. He was itching so badly at the beginning of the week he actually fell over, in his stable! Now he is a 17'2" pedigree grey irish draught so that is not something I ever want to witnesss again. I am also thankful that we are in brick built stables and not wood as it would only be fit for match sticks So today he has had a full clip, and up to him going to bed tonight he is still itching.

The man who clipped him says he is very clean and there is definately nothing obvious as to the itching, even did it while being clipped as well as some of the most amazing face pulling ever witnessed, positively orgasmic when the right spot was touched..

So the next step I feel should be the vet to check for abnormalities in his blood ie liver and kidneys not shifting a build up of toxins for whatever reason.

Anyone give me any other avenues to explore?

Regards MD.

[tammy68]

Was he rugged at first when itching as could be due to excessive heat. Once they start scratching it often makes them itch even more.

I just love some of the faces they pull - I know exactly what you mean! ;D

[pip]

What rug has he got? It is quite mild at the moment, perhaps he is a bit hot? How much was clipped off?

Last year I had my horse partly clipped and he still only needed a "waterproof" rug, no filling, as if I put on a thicker rug he started itching as well.

[Margaret D OP]

All clipped off, mane and tail left untouched.

He has a full neck medium weight rug on at night and a high neck medium weight on when out in the field through the day. If he is stabled through the day he has a regular medium weight on. He is not at all sweaty in any of them.

Thanks for your replies, keep them coming, great photo tammy68.

Regards MD.

[KoLaTo]

Have you changed his feed in any way? Even the tiniest different bit of food or titbit can cause an allergic itchy reaction, or have any of his rugs been washed recently or has the bed changed at all, changed supplier of straw, new bag of shavings? Different hay? It could be any number of things that he may have come into contact with that has caused the itching, even contact with different plants, flowers, tree sap?

Poor lad, there's a couple of us on here with mentally itchy ponies and it is heartbreaking to see them scratching and not be able to take it away for them isn't it.

[rosie]

I too have had problems with my mare itching all through summer. (Thankfully it has stopped for the time being). I have owned her 11 years but its the first time shes been like this. My vet reckons its related to midges, although thankfully it was nothing like a true sweet itch case. She has been on a prescribed human antihistamine all summer, which did control the itching to some degree, but did not stop it all together. She is a black cob. She mainly rubbed on her back and on her bum, above her tail, but more or less left her mane and tail alone. In autumn I slowly reduced the dose of the antihistamines and contacted Equus Health(homeopathy for horses) after someone on here recommended them. The lady spoke to was really helpful, I explained all the symptoms and also said that I wasnt convinced that it was sweet ich. She suggested I try sulphur tablets as these can help with various skin problems when you arent sure exactly what the problem is. She suggested 2 tablets a day and said if they were going to help I would see improvement within 2 weeks. After the 1st 7 days , we then had a full week with no scratching at all, which was excellent saying she had been itching on & off for most of the summer. I am continuing to use the tablets. My horse is fine at the moment. I know its not the same for your horse but perhaps sulphur tablets could be worth a try. you can also get them from Boots - sulphur 30c.

[definately anon]

I had an pure irish draught that did this..... what breed line is your guy by the way, they are wonderful horses aern,t they.

[pip]

When my horse was itching he wasn't sweating at all. He was in a very "exposed" stable so I put on a thicker rug and every time I took it off to change he was bite, bite all down his side. When I put on a lighter rug he was much better.

[Bay Mare]

I've got an IDxTB and had a similar problem. It got so bad earlier in the year that she wouldn't even be touched. I found that taking her off mixes/hard feed and leaving her with just grass, hay/haylage and some alfa-a and a couple of apples a day has done the trick. She improved almost immediately Apparently it's not uncommon for mixes to have this effect. I had her on pasture mix at one point which sent her psycho and then on cool mix which she did better on temperament wise but still wasn't as good as she is now!

She's definitely a 'good doer' and hasn't suffered at all from not being fed hard feed. Even now as it gets colder she's doing well on just forage and has energy to spare! It's definitely worth considering along with the other stuff

[Margaret D OP]

Dear All,

I went for an interesting hack with my friend yesterday. We got part way round and you know when something is just not right, well I got off and we walked home. During our walk home Finnigan itched, and then some. Then as we crossed a field he lay down, fully tacked up, at my side and rolled, I was impressed, initially as he has never rolled at the end of a lead rope let alone at the end of the average bridle. Impression short lived as I mentioned before, fully taked up. Free'n'easy saddle muddy and ground in grass but seems ok. Hubby will check it thoughouly at the week end when he is home and I will give Les a call and eat humble pie if there is the slightest doubt.

Then a bit further through the field he thought he would do it again. At that point I turned into a wailing banshee and he thought perhaps best not.

Anyway once back at the stables and untacked he took his itching out on his hay net. It was so sad to see him so uncomfortable. He could so easily have been driven to distraction and done something really stupid with me on his back, for the restraint I am truley blessed and thankful that he was rso estrained.

I turned him out in the afternoon, naked and rugless and the herd groomed him, well.

When I went back to bring him in I took a container of hot water and he had a wash down with hot water and hibiscrub, I also took a couple of towels and dried him off. He was so cool after not an itch, twitch, flinch or scratch it was so nice to see.

When I spoke to hubby he asked whether the itching had started when the liverey had changed haylage suppliers? Could be. It is very rich, smells it if you know what I mean, so we have been buying hay in to lessen the effects and this is very good hay too. My daughter's TB has projectle diarrhoea. We have taken him off the haylage completely and this has somewhat sorted him out . Now I am thinking that it is way too rich for Finn and this is what's causing the itching. So we have decided to buy the poor quality hay from off the yard for both of them and see if that stops the diarrhoea completely with the TB and calms Finn's itching.

Thankfully both are good doers, and the hay and haylage suppliers are, the only thing that I can think that has changed in the period of the itching, so fingers crossed.

My drop dead georgeous lad is Foxglen Adare, out of Foxglen Diamond Queen by Rakish Paddy. And yes, they are fantastic horses.

Many thanks for all your suppport, I will let you know if and when things settle down. I will try changing one thing at a time so that I know wich has the best result.

Regards MD.

[emmab]

we've just had our pony blood tested due to major itchy problems and now have a list of various things she's allergic to - one of them being rye grass (of which most haylage is made). be interesting to see of your horse stops now he's been taken off it and it does sound like it probably is the haylage causing it - but if not, may be worth getting a blood test done so you can definitely eliminate all things he's allergic to.
good luck

[Mrgaret D OP]

The very good hay we have been buying in to lessen the effect of the haylage is rye grass, how spooky! We have also had a couple of bales of Timothy grass as we were finding the rye too rich as well. Oh well no matter, going to buy the livery crap from now on and hopefully alll will revert to being fine.

Regards MD.

[Margaret D OP]

Completely off the haylage and weaned off the nice hay and now completely on the livery crap and he is so much less itchy.

Hubby has checked my saddle and all appears well in that department.

Went for a short hack with my daughter on her TB the other evening, I seriously don't do the dark, but went anyway and it was event free, so happier than I have been for a while.

Regards MD.

[emmab]

thats good margaret, sounds like it was the haylage that was the problem then.
lets hope he stays 'itch free' from now on.
have a gd crimbo