Sweet Itch Review 05/09/2008

This is the worse I've seen his back! I was shocked when I toke off the rug and it was over night!

His belly.... Poor baba

Itchy legs as you can see... The rug doesn't cover this part and ran outta fly spray so thats the only excuse I can give :(

Full mane no problems the top just isn't lying right because of the rug!

Little damage done to face only a little hair loss if you look closely.

This is the first to a series of weekly reviews of Vic's sweet itch progress. Firstly I need to apologise for the extent of his sweet itch at the moment! I had it completely under control until recently when some how (I'm thinking of pointing fingers at my sister's mare) he's scratched himself raw in a field with only electric fencing and beauty (my sisters mare) in it!! But I gave him a huge groom and toke off his rambo sweet itch hoodie and put on his boett which he hates btw (by the way). I also put aleo vera on his sores so hopefully that will help a little bit just to heal them. This is the worse his been all this summer definately but I don't think he got his bad last year but I could be wrong. This is the thing with sweet itch, people, one day you got a totally gorgorous horse the next a half raw one... even though you didn't change any techniques! I was also wondering if anyone would be interested in how I groom Vic because I found that the way I groom really helps get rid of all the itchiness for the day and helps you bond with your horse so much more. The grooming technique isn't a huge lot different from any other grooming technique but I'v added a few things to help the horse relax plus its very simple... so would anyone be interested??? By the way the products I'm using to try control the situation is benzyl benozate (sp?), aleo vera and avon so soft!

JustJas's Profile

Name: Amanda
Username: JustJas

Name Of Horse: Jazzmyn
Age: About 11
Breed: Arabian
Height: 15'1hh
Compete Or Not: Hope to start endurance next year.
How Long You Have Had The Horse: Bought 23rd October 1992
Areas Affected By Sweet Itch: Mane and tail
History Of The Horse: "I loaned her for a few months from July 2002. I found her on a IHDG. She had been badly abused and was needing a home to bring her on and break her. Jazz and I bonded at once so I took her on. Her sweeet itch flared up so she had to go back to her loaner. I said I would work her from her yard. Owner bought a stallion so I offered to buy Jazzmyn. She is now a happy and relaxed but a typical arab! This was her last October after a Summer in her Rambo rug."

The Beautiful Jazzmyn

Showing that sweet itch hoodies can be worn with style!

I'm Back!!!

Hi guys! Sorry I havn't undated in ages... I hope I didn't leave ya's too lonely :( anyways I'm back now and ready to get more info back up.... I need for guinea pigs for reviews of rugs at the moment because thats what I am going to focus on for a little while! I want to find every rug on the market that has been used for sweet itch and find out your ratings out of ten so we can get an overall average for people who are at a loss or a newbie to SI (sweet itch). Saying that if a rug gets 9/10 from a review here it might not work to the same effect for a different horse because all sweet horses have a different reaction to the disease so its hard to find the best product for you and your horse that relieves him from the constant itch.

Sweet Itch Proofing Your Yard

1. Fence off fields with electric fencing- don't use barbed wire under any circumstances.

2. Try not keeping itchy horses in wooded areas, near ponds or boggy marsh wetlands where midges breed. Breezy exposed fields especially by the sea may even stop your horse’s sweet itch if it’s mild enough

3. If choice of turnout fields choose chalk-based grassland will have fewer midges than heavy clay pastures.

4. Fields should be well drained and away from muck heaps, rotting vegetation, rotting leaves and old hay-feeding areas.

5. Put up fly repellent tape which you can hang up in the stable so all the flies get caught in the tape.

6. If horse is stabled at dawn and dusk (recommended) make sure you muck out every day and no rotting hay is left in the stable. Plus don’t discourage cobwebs... spiders are our friends ;)

7. Use a fly repellent all over the stable, for example my instructor uses powered garlic and water on the sweet itch riding school ponies but I hate the smell so I would recommend as a safe repellent for the stable uses this or rubbing elderberry all over the stables which will send the flies running... if flies could run haha

8. I know everyone hates it but muck out the field as regularly as you can... and try to keep your horse with nothing he can scratch off I know it sounds mean but SI (sweet itch) is not an easy disease to deal with!

9. The yard should be swept as often as possible i.e. once or twice a day this helps reduce poo, dusk and dirt which attracts midges.

10. Make sure you worm horses regularly because some studies have shown that SI could be linked with thread worms! Shock I know!

11. Invest in some stable toys because when some horses get into a routine of itching just because they’re bored. A stable toy could be as cheap as an apple in a bucket of water or turnip hung up on a piece of string or you could just buy a commercial one!

12. Rubber tyres could prove could prove useful as “bumper” on concrete blocks or wooden posts and they’re FREE!!

13. Install strong ceiling fans in stables to fly the little buggers out of it!

14. Use insect-proof mesh on the windows and door of stables where possible.

Regular Sweet Itch Owner Routine:

The following are steps how to give some relief for a sweet itch horse:
1. Sweet itch should be wore at all times on ALL horses (inc. very young horses)! Some owners prefer not to exercise in them however in which case other protection should be used while exercising.
2. If face gets affect used a mask aswel
3. If sweaty after exercise hosing is necessary (sweat attracts flies)
4. Bath your horse regularly with a very mid shampoo for dry sensitive skin.
5. Use fly repellent/oil eg baby oil, naem oil for areas that rug doesn't cover or while exercising with no rug.
6. Wash rug regularly (your nose should tell you when) with mild washing powder (no harsh washing powders please!) because midges are attracted to dirt
7. Steriod injections are available however I don't personally recommend them but they have been successful for some horses.
8. Sores could be treated with oil based creams designed to help regrowth of hair and skin quickly also helpful with added fly repellant.
9. Supplements can also be added to food to help condition.
10. Stable at dawn and dusk when midges are at their peak.
11. Use an insecticide eg Benzyl benzoate found in chemist.

Rug Review: Rambo Sweet Itch Hoodie

Here's what rambo say about it:

• Can help reduce the effects of sweet itch in 85% of cases

• Offers complete coverage from head to tail

• Features Horseware’s revolutionary Rambo Leg Arches™ and third surcingle

• Super tough, 1000 denier Polyester

• Offers excellent UV protection

The Rambo Sweetitch is made from tough 1000 Denier Polyester, making it extremely durable yet fully breathable throughout the summer months. It incorporates a silky mane & shoulder liner and Horseware’s revolutionary Rambo Leg Arches™ and third surcingle - this allows the rug to wrap around for added coverage. With a Fully integrated neck cover and Super Size Tail Flap the Rambo Sweetitch Hoody offers complete head to tail protection from biting insects. Horseware are convinced they have help reduce the effects of sweet itch by up to 85%.
Rambo Sweet Itch Hoody Outer: 1200 denier polyester.

Fill: None.

Lining: None.
Sizes:Horse 5'6" - 7'3" Pony 4' 3" - 5' 3"
Colour:Mint with green detail

PRICE: £90/ approx 120 euroish

notpoodle's review:

pros: very tough material, some belly coverage, nice long neckpiece. you can potentially strap a flymask on with a fieldsafe headcollar and put ears through ear holes.

cons: not a good fit for horses with big chests and shoulders. I had to basically take out the existing (non-adjustable) clip fastening at the front and replace with with longer straps because i could not close the darned thing (even though lenght wise the rug was the correct size ...).
belly coverage not sufficient.
the neckpiece didnt stay in place very well (even with fieldsafe headcollar), leading to an exposed poll again.

JusJas's Review

Pro's: I have now used the Rambo Sweet-itch hoodie for 3 years on Jazzmyn my arab. She does not mind wearing it in even the hottest weather. It has been excellent at stopping Jazz rubbing. She has more mane and nearly a full tail. The under sheet is great too for those wet days. It is quite expensive but a much tougher rug compared to many cheaper ones. It can be repaired as jazzmyn managed to rip hers on barbed wire on the field. A plus is the very long tail flap that covers the length of the tail.

Con's: ON the negatives- Her rug can slip because of her high tail carriage and the fillet string D rings have broken. For an arab an elasticated section on the tail flap may help.

Out of 5 I would happily give this rug 4.5. Jazzmyn has kept her mane and tail except for a small section about her withers.

My Review:

Pro's: Its durable, I've had it two years and only now has it got a rip and it gets constant abuse off Vic! It did definately help his mane and tail but not really his belly. And I liked how long the neck and tail parts of the rug was! It was a good buy for someone with mild SI definately and is fairly new to the disease and that has a slim chested horse like a TB. Only seen Vic sweat in it once after messing with some of the other ponies galloping around the place so its fairly breathable!

Con's: It was slightly on the expensive side but not really compared to the boett. However, the fit is not to my liking... Vic is quite stocky because he's a connemara pony and the shoulder area seemed to be very tight and especially around the chest. I had to buy two rugs because he kept getting his dirty and needed one on while I washed the other one so that was expensive. The ear holes also kinda messed up Vic's forelock and made it lie funny.

From me it would get a 7 out of 10!

Links to other reviews on the web:

http://www.horsetackreview.com/review-display/2439.html

http://www.dooyoo.co.uk/sports-equipment/horse-riding-equipment/1108061/

notpoodle's profile

Name: julia
Username: notpoodle

Info on horse:
Age: 16
Breed exmoor
Height 12.3hh
Build: Typical stocky exmoor build
History: "From what i know of her history, she already had sweet itch as a foal : she was sold to me as a 'mild sufferer' 4 years ago - not quite the case! the vet has since confirmed she is more of a severe sufferer and it seems to be getting worse with age as well"



Our first model of the De Meulenkamp rug


Obviously not a fan of the boett rug haha

Getting rid of that itch in those hard to reach places!

The Cure!!!!

If I have to keep saying this to people I am going to scream: THERE IS NO CURE FOR SWEET ITCH!!! I remember going to a new yard and a girl coming up to me and commenting saying how cute Vic was and I replied yeah its such a sweet heart such a pity about him having sweet itch. Her reply was oh my uncle has a cure for that... Put black tar on him all over and him in a cold dark stable for 5 days with no sunlight at all! It toke every once of moral dignity not to knock the girl one there and then! People get so hung up on how to fix the problem with horses a lot of the time when really if they spent half their energy on preventing the problem from happening or managing the risk i.e. no barbed wire in a field with sweet itch it would save a lot of time and effort for everyone! The management page will give you all the info you need to handle sweet itch :)

The Victim

Bodan Park Victor (Vic) is a reg. connemara gelding standing at 14.3hh. He was born in 1990 in Bodan Park Stud with sweet itch. He suffers sweet itch on mane, tail, face (ears mostly), legs and belly so its quite severe. Products used so far are Nettex, benzyl benzoate, carr and martin fly spray, homemade fly spray, DEET fly spray, sudocream, cider vinegar, cod liver oil, D-itch, garlic, aloe vera gel, sweet itch association shampoo, boett rug and fly mask, rambo sweet itch hoodie, Amigo bug rug, Bucas Buzz-Off Fly Sheet. I have had Vic for 3 years and although Sweet Itch gets worse each year I think I cope better every year with it!

The Effect

Signs are seen between ages 4-6 years usually and becomes worse as the animal gets older. Symptoms include serve itching, hair loss, skin thickening and flaky dandruff. Severe Sweet itch results with dermatitis (weeping sores with yellow crusts) and secondary infection. Areas most affected are mane, tail and rump but in some cases belly, legs, sheath, face are also damaged. For relief horses swish tail, roll frequently and scratch off everything. In electric fenced fields some horses resort to scratch out their manes with their hind feet and drag themselves along the belly to try get rid of itchiness along the belly. The neck will also thicken and ridging of the skin will develop. It can also affect temperment by the horse losing their sparkle, becoming lethargic, impatient and losing concentration easily.

The Enemy

Culicoides commonly known as "no-see-ums", is the species of midge that affects sweet itch sufferers. Its a body feeder and rests mainly among herbage and most are active in warm calm conditions but strongish at twilight . They breed in moist or wet conditions (i.e. ponds, marshy land, muck, poo etc.) and decaying vegetation (i.e. ditches, trees etc.) from march to october but can only fly a short distance (100mish) due to there tiny wing length of 2mm (can also pass through conventional mosquito netting). Males are nectar feeders but after hatching females require a blood meal (our ponies). They cannot fly in strong winds, heavy rain or bright, clear sunshine, and dislike dry conditions.

The reason I'm even making an effort!

Hey guys!
There are two reasons why I am making this blog: one is that I love my horse without question, he is like my baby and is unfortantly a sweet itch sufferer so by making this blog I am educating myself as best I can so I can help stop the heart ache that sweet itch brings. As I have been dealing with this disease 3 years. The second reason is that I am headstrong and stubborn and refuse to be beaten down by something like this so the aim is to post my personal experiences with the disease, provide as much information about sweet itch to offer some guidance, to clear up any confusion about this disease. I am proud but shocked that this is the first sweet itch blog so I'll try my best to make it as useful as possible and to find enough information so that I am only one spending hours researching and not you guys! Hope this helps and your comments would be greatly appreciated! xxx

So what is sweet itch anyways??!!

Sweet itch is an immune system disease where the equine has an allergic reaction to insect bites and saliva when the bitten will rub himself injurying the skin. However it only occurs from March to October and is not life threatening but is unsightly and very distressing for the equine. 5% of of the horse population in UK are effected including all breeds from shetlands to draft horses. It is also known as Summer Seasonal Recurrent Dermatitis (SSRD), Queensland Itch, Sommer Ekzem, Kasen and is caused by the Culicoides midge (see "The Enemy" post) and rarely the Simulium Equinum which are ear feeders.