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.
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3 comments:
I found adding brewers yeast to my horses feeds made a huge difference -not only did fly bites not swell up as much (even with fly spray, fly rugs etc, he still manages to get a few bites!), but he was much more chilled and less aggitated and itchy!
Thanks for the comment darksecret! When I am doing my reviews of supplements I plan to include a post on brewer's yeast to find out how effective it was for other people aswel. Out of curiosity do you use a rug when now when you feed brewer's yeast?
Midges are not very good at flying. Wind can repels midges. Fan are not only good in horsemanship during summer but this will be a great help to combat midges that creates sweet itch to horses.
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