Sweetitch- When?

[MissMare]

Albert really suffered last year but I found a supplement which seemed to help towards the end of the season. I don't know if it was just coincidence though. He has been on it last 2 months and I haven't seen him itching yet. Midges were out today and not bothering him. When do I know we have found a solution rather than it just being too early still. Have other SI sufferers started yet?

 

[Cortrasna]

The midges have been here on and off for a good week or so. I do keep Dolly on brewers yeast, linseed and covered all year round now. So far she seems fine.

Last year she was also relatively OK so long as I kept her covered at all times and applied plenty of Naff Off when we rode etc. and first thing in the morning.

The two previous summers she was so bad I had to resort to giving her steroid jabs, which of course bring other risks, but it worked for us but I am paranoid about keeping her off too much grass because of both the lammi risk and I believe that sweet grass makes her itch more. So last summer no steroids and just the above regime seemed to work fine 99 per cent of the time.

I think it is probably just experimenting with various options to find what works best for your particular horse. Sadly I don't think there is any one sure fire method of dealing with it.

 

[popularfurball]

I put madams rug on on Monday as she was irritated on Sunday night - it's been pretty late this year especially considering that we had such a mild winter! I need to get my Skratch plus out and start the sandwich duty!

 

[notpoodle]

mine have the best thing is to NOT wait until they start itching but start rugs/supplements etc before it gets to that point.

 

[Wally]

mine have the best thing is to NOT wait until they start itching but start rugs/supplements etc before it gets to that point.

^^^^ this, with Brass knobs on

 

[MissMare]

Yes I started this supplement a couple of months ago. He is only on a quarter dose but when I spoke to the company they said it should prevent any problems which I thought was a bold move. I can't use rugs on him, he hates them so much he just removes them and I have always struggled to get Skratch plus down him. Fingers crossed he keeps more comfortable this year. It's Equifeast Fight Back if anyone is interested. I will report back if it keeps working for us.