[QUOTE=rcloisonne;7644717]
I don’t know why anyone would move horses to the southern states except for the winter months. So many things to deal with never mind the relentless heat![/QUOTE]
Well, some of us actually live here. 
When we moved from the semi-south of Virginia to real-south South Carolina, of course, the horses came with us. You deal.
OP - Did you by any chance switch feeds when you moved?
Just a random thought, but the only time I had trouble with summer sores was the year I switched to a ration balancer. My guess is the horse with the issue had a sensitivity to the food that was making her more attractive to the insects because she never had a problem before and has never had one since. But that summer… :no: The flies ate her. Multiple sores per leg all summer long. We dealt with episodes of hives, as well.
UPDATE: She’s allergic to Midges/Sweet Itch
Well, we beat the summer sores!! Just had the two; one on her face, and the one on her FL fetlock. The vet was out this week, and confirmed they’re no longer a “summer sore”. Her face is ALMOST completely healed, but I’m still wrapping her fetlock. I was using those cotton rounds you use to take off makeup, but then had the idea (thanks to F-SIL) to use a panty liner since they keep stuff dryer. Made the switch and she started to heal faster.
But then…
I’d come out and she’d have these huge sores everywhere. I have her on night turnout, thinking it’d be cooler for her, she’d get more hours out, etc. WORST IDEA EVER FOR HER. I started to freak out that she was getting MORE summer sores, and of course my vet was on vacation for 2 weeks during this. I found 2 unopened jars of Nolvasan, so I started slathering that on spots followed up by swat. I did have to give her another 5mL of Dex and Banamine one night, because she was SO miserable. He told me this week that it looks like she’s allergic to midges. Now, I’m hitting Google and COTH to research this. I’ve heard of “Sweet Itch” before, but I’ve never dealt with it. She did start to get scratches on her hind legs which are white, and her nose was peeling like a sunburn, but on the black areas. Someone told me that’s “dew poisoning”.
So, now it looks like I’ve got to find a way to combat the midges and sweet itch. He gave her a shot of some longer acting steroid the other day, but not sure it helped, I went out yesterday and she was very welted. We are going to start putting her out on day turn-out (8:30am-3:00pm) soon. What can I do for her topically, or feed through? I read a few places that garlic can cause anemia, so I’m hesitant to start that. I did have her on AniHist for a week; took her off because I felt like maybe I was doing TOO much, and was causing some kind of immune system freak out. Going to consider putting her back on it.
I apologize for not reading the whole thread to see if you have said anything about fly sheets, but that was my solution for a horse I used to have that was miserable with a gnat allergy. Made a huge difference and I figured any discomfort from the flysheet was far outweighed by the relief from itching.
I have a new horse whom I was told had a gnat allergy at his old home. He seems fine here, but I feed ground flax every day, so you may want to try that.
It’s a bit out there, but you might try and see if you can find a NAET practitioner that works with animals in your area. From the recent reading I’ve done, it seems pretty amazing, but scientifically sounds almost like voodoo.
Our vet has a different homeopathic protocol, but it has mainly been used for cuculoides allergies that involves taking blood during an outbreak, spinning it with special homeopathic beads that you feed back to your horse twice a day. It takes a few weeks to work, but “cures” the allergy. They can give the protocol to your vet, but I think the original study was done on Icelandic ponies.
Threads like this amaze me as we have so few of these things up here in beautiful B.C.
[QUOTE=ToTheNines;7682843]
I apologize for not reading the whole thread to see if you have said anything about fly sheets, but that was my solution for a horse I used to have that was miserable with a gnat allergy. Made a huge difference and I figured any discomfort from the flysheet was far outweighed by the relief from itching.
I have a new horse whom I was told had a gnat allergy at his old home. He seems fine here, but I feed ground flax every day, so you may want to try that.[/QUOTE]
Adding you should change to day turnout. Prime feeding for gnats/midges is from 4pm to around 9am. Yes it is the hottest time, but fewer bugs and my horses have adapted well. Best bonus is my gelding has healthy skin, very few bug bites plus full mane/tail - which he used to rub off/raw.
You will see a huge difference with day turnout.
Tucker is horribly allergic with sweet itch and the best thing I did was to stop the night turnout. It sucks in the summer, because it is too hot to leave him out all day, not to mention the storms. He goes out first thing after breakfast and I bring him in to ride at 10am. He is rinsed off thoroughly after our ride, and is in his stall for the rest of the day, with 3 fans blowing on him, even during the night.
By mid July he has usually rubbed his mane and tail out, has crusty sores on his belly and sheath, and has lost hair on his face. This year, he looks fantastic and actually grew out a full mane for the first time in years. He has a full tail for the first time too! He gets Hilton Herbs Bye Bye Itch supplement and I apply the lotion to his face daily. I was just reading an article by Dr. Kellon about sweet itch and she attributes sweet itch to deficiencies in magnesium and Vitamin E and other minerals. This is the first summer that Tucker is on mag and high dose of Vitamin E, for his EPSM, so maybe that is also contributing to his looking so good.
He developed his summer sore from hell because of the allergies, so be diligent! I have spent most of his life micromanaging his allergies and summer sore!
Endure repels the midges we have here. I have Jet on pasture and at night the midges are awful. A boarders horse had tons of oozing bumps from their bites all over her chest and abdomen midline, while Jet had no bumps. I spray him each eve with Endure.
When the boarder went out of town she asked me to keep an eye on her horse so I offered to spray her each eve. I did, and the bumps disappeared.
Try Endure.
(I’m in TX as well. I know in different parts of the country, some repellents seem to work differently. I swear by endure for flies and midges, and Mosquito halt for Mosquitos here.)
I dealt with one for the first time last year with my Paint guy, that started with a tiny nothing nick on his coronet band. A week later a am dealing with a sore that was at least an inch across and growing daily.
My vet reccommended cleaning it, then using Schreiners Herbal Solution, followed by Special Formula ointment, then rubbing ivermectin based wormer in for good measure and keeping it covered as much as possible. With this regime it was gone in less than a week.
For allergies try blue green algae aka spirulina. It smells like spinach thats been cooked in a fish tank but its great for that kind of thing.
Another thing you can try if you are not comfortable with the idea of the Dr Reckeweg R17 is baking soda - 1 tablespoon twice a day mixed in with her feed
Good luck!
My chestnuts get them. Best thing is to clean thoroughly with Nolvasan and apply Wonder Dust while still wet. The Wonder Dust will absorb dampness and dry to a hard scab to prevent flies from taking advantage. Keeping flies off is the most important thing.
OP, I sent you a pm about the copper deficiency and what I did for a very bad sweet itch case but I found a website that has a little more info. Second link is most interesting re: iron deficiency as a result of copper deficiency. Get the horse’s blood tested.
http://forageplus.co.uk/sweet-itch-and-how-forageplus-minerals-can-help/
http://horseandponydirect.com/2012/04/how-copper-and-zinc-affect-a-horses-coat/
This stuff is amazing: http://www.platinumperformance.com/Platinum-Skin-Allergy/productinfo/ESKIP1/
Another tip - I use Repel XP concentrate (make slightly stronger then directions suggest) and I add an extra 2 ounces of straight 10% permethrin (from Tractor Supply). That’s per bottle of spray.
When the horse is in the stall, make sure their are fans on, as many as the BO will allow. Midges are not strong fliers and blow away easily.
Agree with day turnout but NOT at dusk or dawn.
My attack method for anything that walks, crawls, or flies is flyspray. I use :sigh: the Absorbine Ultrashield, and I coat them daily. I heavily dose tail heads as the devils will crawl through the hair to bite.
It is expensive but works.
[QUOTE=Calamber;7686198]
OP, I sent you a pm about the copper deficiency and what I did for a very bad sweet itch case but I found a website that has a little more info. Second link is most interesting re: iron deficiency as a result of copper deficiency. Get the horse’s blood tested.
http://forageplus.co.uk/sweet-itch-and-how-forageplus-minerals-can-help/
http://horseandponydirect.com/2012/04/how-copper-and-zinc-affect-a-horses-coat/[/QUOTE]
^^^this, this, and this. My 28 yr old Arab has dealt with chronic sweet itch the entire 21 years I have owned him. Until this summer.
This summer his sweet itch is 95% under control, he’s not had any rain rot, his reaction to tick bites went from swelling up like a candy easter egg to barely noticeable, I haven’t seen any reactions to Neck Threadworms.
I put him on a vit/min Lix tub when he comes in his stall at night.
It does not have added iron.
It does have:
220 ppm of copper per serving
750 ppm of zinc per serving
30,000 IU/lb of Vitamin A
I have never seen this Arab’s coat and skin look so clean. I know full well it is due to feeding him a supplement that is high in copper/zinc, Vitamin A and does NOT have added iron.
Iron depletes copper and zinc. Feed makers need to stop adding iron to everything they produce. Horses get enough iron naturally, in grass, hay and even some water, depending on the water source.
I should have that Arab’s entire belly line slathered in diaper rash cream clear back and including his belly button. He only has a few dots, an miracle for this horse.
He is also on a ration balancer that does not have added iron. While “Ferrous Carbonate” is listed, it’s nearly last on a long line of ingredients so the amount is minimal.
This is interesting as this summer I increased my mare’s zinc and copper, which I supplement individually anyway. Her sweet itch went away entirely. I thought it was because I had started using Vicks on her midline, chest, tail and groin area as per Dr. Kellon’s recommendation for culicoides (biting midges). But, now I wonder…
walkinthewalk, what is the name of the supplement you are using?
Vit/Min Lix tub.
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