I need some adviced

[Kilkenny Farms]

I need some advice. Several of my mares are scratching terribly this summer. They are tearing up their manes and making bloody sores on their necks, face and ears. It has been VERY hot this summer, averaging well over 100 degrees almost every day. I know that my horses all scratch more during the summer, but never like this. This is terrible and they are rubbing on everything they can find. Here are some photos of necks and manes:

Here is a close up of one mares face:

and here is what is happening to the ears:

Does anyone have any ideas how I can ease their scratching? Flys are bad, but I am using Fly preditors and have traps up all over and spray the horses on a regular basis. The mares aren't stalled they have free run of a pasture with trees, and come in the barn and stand in front of a huge fan anytime they want.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Barbara

 

[LAZY J MINIS]

LOOK TO SEE IF THEY HAVE LICE. THAT WILL CAUSE INTENSE ITCHING. CHECK THE MANE AREA VERY CLOSELY, THAT'S WHERE THEY ARE EASIEST TO SEE.

 

[Riverrose28]

I can understand your problem as I'm going through the same thing here. I have midges and knats that terrorize my mares, they rub their faces and necks on the run ins and the water tubs. Best way to help them is with swat, it's a paste and lasts longer then fly spray, just rub in on these areas and it will help to keep the pests off. You can also rub in some baby oil or sarna lotion to sooth the skin then apply the swat. Good luck, Terry

 

[cretahillsgal]

Im dealing with the exact same thing here in SW OK. When I've had itching like this before it has always been lice. But this year is totally different. No lice to be found. My vet has told me that she has seen over double the number of "itchy" horses like yours this year. She thinks it is knats. We have flies here, though not a whole lot of them. But the ones we do have hurt when they bite. More so than past years.

Anyway, the best way that I have found is to bathe them in an antibacterial shampoo at least once-twice a week. When they are dry, cover the sores and bare spots with desitin. Then keep them sprayed down with a good fly spray (i use pyranah) every day. I have also used swat ointment. My vet told me the best thing would be a fly mask and sheet. We did have to give Dex shots to 2 of the horses because they were rubbing so much that they would cause bleeding sores. But they are lots better now. I have several mares with no manes left at all. Gotta say, its embarassing when your horses look like some of mine do.

Last night I saw some deer near here and they had bald patches on the same places that my horses do (face, neck, back) so I guess they are bothered by it too.

 

[Lindi-loo]

Id say its an alergy from the biting midgees..petrolium jelly works well at keeping them away from the skin also keeps the skin supple and stops the itching but you do have to apply it a few times a day if they roll in the dirt

..best get it checked out by your vet though for a proper diagnosis

 

[supaspot]

Im not sure you could do it with your high temperatures but if you cover the itchy areas with a bath/body oil it will help to soften the skin and deter the flies , they dont like to land on a greasy horse

 

[Kilkenny Farms]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

I checked carefully for lice and couldn't find any. I am not real sure what tolook for...I have seen head lice on children so I was assuming it would looksomething like that.

 

I went out and tried to buy some "swat". I couldn't find that brand,but I found something that must be the same thing for $18 dollars called WarPaint Insecticidal Paste. Hopefully it will work the same way.

 

The areas that have been rubbed are so dry that I think the baby oil and/or petroleum jelly will help with that dryness.

 

I also called my vet and took by pictures to see what he would say....He saidworm them with Ivermectin, give them 1/2 gram of bute once a day and 1 tsp ofTri-Hist Granules 2 times per day. That is supposed to be like a Benadryl fora person.

 

So with that and the other things that were mentioned, hopefully I can give my mares some releif. Plus...we finally got an inch of rain! And the temperatures have cooled slightly.

 

Thanks again,

 

Barbara

 

[rubyviewminis]

Been lots of threads about this including mine. I have had the itchiness this year and never have before. So I took a lot of suggestions and here was my solution, they showed no signs of bug bites but I scrubbed them and let them soak in SOA antiitch bar soap. It works great, then used Swat for their ears, an udder balm salve with Lanolin for their tails and manes and bag area for extreme dryness. This helped almost completely. Now they get the weekly bath, and I put together a concoction someone else's vet suggested which coincidentally was very similar to what my vet in AZ suggested for the midge bites. Mix equal amounts of bag or udder balm, Swat and add 3 to 6 drops pure tea tree oil, then add in anti fungal foot powder, mix it into a paste and plaster it on the midline, I put it under and on their little tail heads, mane and chest. It massaged in well since they had had their bath. When without the SOA soap any medicated shampoo or Microtek or even Head and Shoulders shampoo will get rid of itches and anything lurking on them. Mine are on a dry lot and this year they have itched terrible. Ihad to to shave off Gem's long mane because he rubbed off sections of it, but mine never rubbed like the photos you posted.