# Very itchy horse



## olop (25 November 2010)

My boy is extremeley itchy & miserable & I'm not sure what I can do to relieve him.

His coat is ever so dry, even though he has a high oil mix (he is on Baileys endurance mix) with a cup of outshine twice day.

He is so itchy that you only have to run your hand down the side of him & he pulls that "ooo" face.  He looks really miserable with it & I'm wondering if this could be the cause of his reluctance to want to work.

Has anyone got a horse that is very itchy??  What is the best way to relieve it??
He doesnt have mites or anything, but his coat is incredibly dry.

He is part stabled & part turned out (roughly spends about 8 hours out the rest he is in (overnight)  He is also fully clipped as he does do quite a lot of work & when I had him half clipped I found he sweated far too much.

I hate seeing him like it & I'm debating whether to get the vet to look at him as it really is that bad


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## teddyt (25 November 2010)

i would get the vet if he is v bad


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## LaurenM (25 November 2010)

I'd get the vet out. It's better to be safe than sorry. I wouldn't work him in the meantime as it sounds pretty uncomfortable.


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## Joyous70 (25 November 2010)

does he have any scabs or any weeping patches on his skin? 

My boy has been itching, mane & tail area all spring & summer and i have had him rugged & used fly sprays etc., foolishly thinking it was sweet itch  after being fully clipped he developed weeping patches on his skin that scabbed & he rubbed so hard that he knocked his stable wall down 

The vets have been out and a skin scrape has confirmed he has a bacterial skin infection, which is now healing up nicely with anti biotics, cream & Malaseb shampoo!


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## olop (25 November 2010)

I wouldnt say they were scabs, just patches of crusty skin in places on his body.
Glad you got a diagnoses for yours you must be so relieved (and the horse!)


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## huntley (25 November 2010)

He may be too hot! Try putting fewer rugs on and see if that makes a difference. We have one allergic to his own sweat which is difficult to manage! I would get the vet to have a look in case it is an infection, but alot of horses get skin problems from being over-rugged. Also try to not use washing powder for anything that he wears, i.e. rugs, numnahs etc. Water will be sufficient. I would try a different feed as  it is not making any difference to the way his skin looks. He may be allergic to something in the feed. Talk to one of the feed manufacturers.


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## Kao (25 November 2010)

Mum's little mare had this, though her coat was healthy and hydrated.
She had the vet and was told to clip and bath in Maleseb anti-bactirial shampoo. Definitely helped.
Though she gets lumps and gets worse when she has rugs on with the shiny insides, so we think it's an allergic reaction.


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## Lotty (25 November 2010)

My daughters pony was very itchy to the point she would scar herself itching on things, she also had scabs and some were bit weepy. I had the vet out but nothing worked, she looked awful. In the end I rang global herbs and spoke to their vet, they told me what to use I think it was seaweed, scotch and restore. Within2 weeks she looked great.


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## olop (25 November 2010)

I change his rugs according to the weather so he is always out in different weights so I dont think its the rugs ( he has various lightweights that I can add underugs to, a medium weight with & without neck & a heavyweight with & without a neck) he is currently fully clipped & out in a mediumweight with a neck on (I tend to use turnouts as stable rugs so however cold it is I judge it on that for when he comes in)
Thanks for all the replies, will get the vet out for his advice & see what happens from there, hopefully its just a simple remedy or change in management.

As for the feed I give him the outshine to keep his condition as he is quite a poor doer in the winter & last year he kept his weight throughout so thought I would use it again this winter.  I have had a bit of a nightmare with his mix as he is so lazy & has no energy so having been swapping around for something to help.  I am thinking that the itchyness could be something to do with it if he is so miserable though.


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## Kenzo (25 November 2010)

Seaweed supplement, give it a few weeks to kick in, works a treat on horses suffering from the same problem as you've just described, certainly has done with the ones I've looked after anyway, for the cost of it, it's worth a go, also make sure your horse is not too warm.


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## olop (25 November 2010)

Thank you both for the seaweed suggestion, will definately invest in some


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## kibob (25 November 2010)

One of my horses has always been an itchy boy.  Last year I changed his feed and he no longer gets any cereals - just a fibre based diet with very low sugar.  He gets Fastfibre, Speedibeet and AlfaAOil (only when he needs a little extra for weight gain - he's very old).  I supplement him with seaweed, brewers yeast and linseed.  Since changing his diet the itching has stopped completely.

Don't know if it is just fluke but may be worth a try.


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## olop (25 November 2010)

He has quite a high cereal mix in his diet (but has access to as much hay as he needs so he gets more fibre in that respect)
Only thing I would be worried about is that I rely on the cereal as my form of "energy boosting" (he is very lazy!) but then if this is due to him being miserable from the itching then I am wasting my money!
Thanks for your suggestion


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## Kenzo (25 November 2010)

Forgot to add as well, don't panic if your horses coat changes colour slightly, for example chesnut to a more liver chestnut, it's quite normal for the shade to alter when you put them on seaweed, however you may not notice as it takes a few months and it won't be as noticable to the owner, couple I've looked after had dry flakey skin and within a month all the itching stopped and no dandruff, I wouldn't say that the coats were dull on the horses that suffered, just dry skin etc which soon changed once put on the seaweed.


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## olop (25 November 2010)

The dry skin you are describing is exactly like his so I'm hoping the seaweed maybe the solution to our problem 
He is black so I doubt I will notice any colour change to be honest


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## pricklyflower (25 November 2010)

My old boy (RIP) was very very itchy, he was also a very hot horse and even when fully clipped wouldn't need rugging that much.  We stopped feeding him garlic (after suggestions on here) and that worked. We also couldn't put him in any type of rug that that didn't have a smooth lining. Any type of fleece rug would drive him mad itching. Hope you get it sorted, it was horrid to see my horse so itchy.


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## Oberon (25 November 2010)

I would agree with Kibob's diet.

The linseed (I feed micronised from Charnwood Milling) will condition the coat and give him omega oils.

Brewers yeast is good for the gut and also helpful with skin problems.

I also feed blends from Equinatural, I like the idea of feeding herbs and plants like they would get if they were free roam grazing, instead of penned in fields of a livery yard and eating the short, stressed grass with no variety.

http://eshop.equinatural.co.uk/epages/BT3755.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/BT3755/Products/005

If the horse needs more oomph then I would just go for oats - depending on how they are fed depends on the starch content, which is what causes problems - not the oats themselves.

Allen and Page also do an Intolarance mix, plus you could look at Thunderbrook feeds.

I would certainly steer clear of mollassed feed as well as cereals. 

Other causes of itching are liver problems, worms and Cushings - but let's just try feed for now


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## **Vanner** (25 November 2010)

Can garlic cause itching?


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## Perissa (25 November 2010)

**Vanner** said:



			Can garlic cause itching?
		
Click to expand...


It doesn't 'cause' itching, but if they are itchy it often makes it worse.  You must never feed a horse with Sweet Itch Garlic.  

OP - I spent 4K last year trying to find the cause of my horse's mysterious itch and never found the cause.

I posted this a coupleof days ago - Very Itchy Horse and over heating...
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=416605


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## Theresa_F (25 November 2010)

I have found feeding a fibre only diet with linseed, brewers yeast and clivers has really helped as I have horses that are inclined to be itchy.  I also rarely have more than 300 fill rugs on them unless it is below -4.  I full clip in winter as if they get sweaty they get itchy.

Cairo used to really rub his sides, and I sprayed his legs, tail and sides with frontline on my vet's advise and this really helped with him rubbing.  Sometimes they can get mites which can go up above the stifle and onto body which can make them itch.

If I want more energy, red bag grass nuts from Simple Systems - more energy than oats and they really give Stinky a perk up if I want lots of sparkle when he is showing.  I also feed Just Grass and Green Gold with a little speedibeet.

Finally Equidermis from Feedmark is excellent though expensive for skin problems.  I have used it with very good results, but now find that cliver, linseed and brewers yeast do the trick and they are in Equidermis.


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## Perissa (25 November 2010)

Theresa_F said:



			I have found feeding a fibre only diet with linseed, brewers yeast and clivers has really helped as I have horses that are inclined to be itchy.  I also rarely have more than 300 fill rugs on them unless it is below -4.  I full clip in winter as if they get sweaty they get itchy.

Finally Equidermis from Feedmark is excellent though expensive for skin problems.  I have used it with very good results, but now find that cliver, linseed and brewers yeast do the trick and they are in Equidermis.
		
Click to expand...

Totally agree with this, my boy is on Speedibeet, Alfalfa Pellets, Graze On and Equidermis.  You can keep the cost of Equidermis down by buying in bulk when the offers are on like I do!  He also gets a joint supplement.

Earlier in the year he had soaked whole oats instead of the Alfalfa pellets but we've found he doesn't need them.

Last night the temperature was -1 and he had a medium 200gm rug on and a neck cover and was still warm and toasty.


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## jhoward (25 November 2010)

**Vanner** said:



			Can garlic cause itching?
		
Click to expand...

any thing can cause itching if a horse is allergic to it.


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