subject: It's Itchy Horse Season Again! [print this page] It's Itchy Horse Season Again! It's Itchy Horse Season Again!
Well it's that time of year yet again that horse owners on the coast dread, the climate warms up and the horse begins to itch! Queensland itch or summer itch is starting once more and it pays to get on top of it early.
The first skin reaction is due to an allergic reaction or hypersensitivity to the bites and insect saliva from small biting Culicoides brevitarsus, a common sand fly or midge, that lives in tropical and subtropical areas. The midges breed in humid, scrubby and bushy localities along the coastal fringe and inland in tropical areas with summer rainfall, or northern areas with monsoonal rains.
Secondary skin issues occur due to the continuous itching that result from the allergic component of the condition. This results in trauma, hair loss, irritation and thickening of the skin especially over the tail and mane.
One midge could be surprisingly horrible and bite a horse up to 100 times per hour.
By mixing pesticides and good quality horse rugs, you will be able to achieve the management of Queensland itch. A full body horse rug and neck combo is helpful and in extremely sensitive, chronically affected horses, a covering over the ears and a fine fly mesh over the forehead is recommended. The Recovery horse rug is a horse rug impregnated with pesticides and has shown to offer very good relief. Alternative full body horse rugs, such as the DeMeulenkamp rug is a great horse product, with a flap to hide the belly it has given wonderful results.
Several insecticidal lotions, repellent lotions and creams containing permethrins are available.
Midges seem to be somewhat resistant to repellents based on DEET and citronella. Washing a sensitized horse in a permethrin based wash, such as Swift, Permoxin or Brute, once a week could help control the biting and reduce the itch.
Other alternative therapies, such as Aloe Vera, Lavender, Sulphur paste, garlic, seaweed meal and rosehip seem to have unpredictable and usually restricted results.
If a good horse rug and pesticides don't control the itching, as a last resort highly allergic horses can be moved to drier or colder areas where there are not any midges. Your vet could also provide immune suppressing drug, such as cortisone to alleviate itching. This should be a final resort as using cortisone does have some hazards.
A probable future treatment is vaccination as a form of immunotherapy. Results at this time are variable, however analysis is continuing.
Horse supplements that improve skin health, such as Kohnke's Own Energy Gold, Kohnke's Own Cell-, Cell-, Aussie Sport, Palomino Gold for Palominos (and Donkey Supreme for Donkeys), may facilitate in improving the skin condition when utilized in conjunction with pesticides and rugging.
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