Sweetitch and mare with foal

[Jo]

Hi

My mare has mild sweet itch - she rubs part of her mane out if she isn't well dosed on the latest fly repellents. I have managed to control it very well for three years but only with careful management and fairly heavy dosage of repellents.

The problem I now have is that she has a fortnigth-old foal. He's a well advanced colt and is tugging her mane and nibbling her all over. He suffered from bout of scouring a few days ago (probably foal heat) and I am afraid to put anything on the mare that he may ingest.

Any suggestions? She is getting very worried by midgies. Boxing her during the worst times is not practical as she is field-kept and the colt is enjoying the company of the other babies, which I wouldn't want to deprive him of.

[Bebe]

What about putting a fly sheet with a neck cover on? The foal might make a bit of a mess of it but if you get one of the tougher mesh ones (Aerborn, Weatherbeeta, Rambo are the ones I know of) he shouldn't be able to ruin it. Whilst they don't claim to prevent sweet itch they do seem to make a big difference to horses who only get it mildly.

My mare has a Kingshead Protecta. It's soft mesh and moulds to the body, has a neck rug as part of the rug itself. It's from EBT Saddlery and cost £45. The Aerborn runs to about £65 with the neckpiece (I have one of those too but my mare won't wear the neck piece) and I think the Weatherbeeta is slightly cheaper than that.

Amanda

[Wally]

There is a cheaper alternative now to the Boett rug. The Icelandic Horse Soc. have a supplier, They are comparable in quality and performance but half the price.

Everyone I know who has a sweet itchy horse has abandoned all the fly potions and are using rugs as they are the only things that really, truly work.

These rugs can be worn by nursing mares without problems. The good thing with them is they are elasticated and are a snug fit so the midges canot get under them like most fly sheets on the market.

[Mehitabel]

has anyone else had any bad experiences of the boett rugs? we got one for a mare who has very severe sweet itch, and she hated it. she went out in it and came back in after an hour dripping with sweat and very unhappy. admittedly she's an extremely awkward mare anyway, so she may have just got a bee in her bonnet and got in a strop. we haven't used it on the other mare we have who has sweet itch because of polly's reaction, but if she's the only horse in the world who doesn't like it (entirely possible) i'll suggest we dig it out again.

[Fifteenbobber]

I have not had any experience of using an boett rug but having seen them on the Icelandic web page though they look very good.

Here's the link - hope it works:D

http://www.ihsgb.freeserve.co.uk/ihsshop.htm

[Miriam]

Had a look at the site it is a really good price. I paid £53 for mine and it does not have the belly flap. Looks like I will be investing in one of these.

[tasha]

Wer had 2 sweet itch ponies that had the Boett blankets and I must say they are fantastic. They are a definate must for sweet itch ponies/horses. Please try it again Es!!!

[Jo]

Thanks all! I hadn't considered a rug but I will now look the web site up and give it a go - luckily the weather hasn't been too warm to date and there haven't been so many midgies!