Very itchy horse- rubs head and legs raw

[crackerjack]

Posting for a friend!

My friend has a horse who seems to be suffering from some kind of skin allergy. The horse is so incredibly itchy that she rubs her face raw and bites her legs raw. She’s itchy all over her body. If you run your hand down her neck, shoulders or tummy her nose starts quivering. If you rub her hind legs she almost falls down. Here’s some of the treatments friend has tried: Dex, banamine, hydroxizine, generic reactine, sulfa antibiotics, allergy serum and various allergy supplements as well as different creams and shampoos.

Any ideas for other treatments or any ideas what could be causing this. Horse is pretty miserable. She’ll even try and take off her bandages that are protecting the raw skin.

[GraceLikeRain]

Unfortunately I’ve got the same horse. Rinsing twice a day and stalling in front of fans is the most effective thing I’ve found. Mine failed the apoquel trial but that’s the next big gun to consider. The loading month is horrendously expensive but for most horses it is pretty transformational.

Personally, I wouldn’t wrap legs since that keeps in heat and sweat. I’d use shop fly boots and an equivisor fly mask to protect the face.

Any raw skin I gently clean with hibiclens and apply a thin layer of antibiotic ointment followed by desitin.

From allergy testing mine is low but diffuse, which some think could be hind gut. She doesn’t have any other symptoms and hind gut treatment is several hundred dollars in proprietary ingredient supplements without the ability to test pre/post. I haven’t hard pursued it but I’ve seen it mentioned a good bit.

Ultimately, sweat seems to be the biggest itching trigger for mine so the cleaner, cooler, and dryer I can keep her the better. That would be my biggest recommendation.

[Mersidoats]

Reach out to Gloria at Whole Horse Herbs. My trainer has two who have itched themselves raw, but her herb mixture seems to be helping immensely. No more hives and scabs. Fans help as well as a no-grain diet. I also knew a stallion who ended up with mites and that made him horribly itchy. We had to do two treatments with prescription mite shampoo and he was no longer itchy himself into a bloody mess. Is that a possibility?

[Demerara_Stables]

Where is the horse located (State/region)? My mare was like this in Florida because of a culicoides allergy. Topically, preparation H was the best solution, and she also got diatomaceous earth in her feed which helped a ton.

[GraceLikeRain]

@Mersidoats

Reach out to Gloria at Whole Horse Herbs

I haven’t worked with her but did want to add I dropped like $150 on this product called external wind for mine. It’s probably a similar product. Didn’t make even 1% improvement

External Wind Concentrated 90g Powder - Default Title - TCVM Pet Supply

Acupuncture and equistim are essentially the last two frontiers unexplored for mine. Hope your friend finds answers!

[crackerjack]

Maybe but likely not. I will let her know though. She’s in Ontario so I’m not sure how easy it would be to get a herbal mixture over the boarder.

[crackerjack]

@Demerara_Stables

Where is the horse located (State/region)? My mare was like this in Florida because of a culicoides allergy. Topically, preparation H was the best solution, and she also got diatomaceous earth in her feed which helped a ton.

We are in eastern Ontario…so not so close! Our summers have been very hot and humid lately. I’m not sure whether this happens in the winter or not. I’ll mention the prep H and earth to her though.

[crackerjack]

@GraceLikeRain

Acupuncture and equistim are essentially the last two frontiers unexplored for mine. Hope your friend finds answers!

What’s equistim?

[GraceLikeRain]

My understanding is that it’s used for respiratory allergies. I don’t know much about it but my vet said we could explore it more if things get worse.

[TWH_Girl]

My late gelding had several instances of this- most of it was in his tail and face.

A few questions- is fly spray being used? She could have an adverse reaction. Diet- any grain with soy? Health- age of horse? Cushings is often responsible for skin infections.
Have prior treatments worked only to have the condition recur, or did they not work at all?

We used a course of dexamethasone and it did help heal and stopped the itching. I tried a lot of OTC supplements and topicals that didn’t help.
I would recommend some blood work be pulled at this point and she may have to do some allergy testing too.

[Saddle_Search]

A friend of mine had purchased a young horse that was incredibly itchy and she could not figure out why— until she had him in direct sunlight and could see his coat ‘moving’. Turns out he was full of mites! I hope you can help your horse, how frustrating for you.

[crackerjack]

Oh god!!!

[Showbizz]

Sounds like Neck Threadworms to me. My horse also bites his legs in the summer until they are bloody. He just finished his third NTW treatment cycle and is so much better! Search it here on COTH for details.

[GraceLikeRain]

Was yours only symptomatic in the summer?

[Posting_Trot]

I’d definitely involve the vet if the vet hasn’t looked at the horse already. It could be mites or other skin parasites and that requires medication.

The other possibility is to use oral Benedryl. It’s a short-term, alleviation of symptoms strategy, but it does work to relieve the itchiness.

[crackerjack]

Vet is involved and is stumped.

[Pico_Banana]

Can you friend haul in to a dermatologist? At Tufts, they don’t have a dedicated equine dermatologist, but the small animal doctors will see horses.

My horse saw them, but not for an itchy horse problem, so no further advice from me. But they helped my horse out when the regular vets weren’t sure what to do.

[TWH_Girl]

@crackerjack

Vet is involved and is stumped

Sounds like vet will need to consult with specialist or refer out to someone else.

[crackerjack]

We are in Ontario but maybe they have something at Ste-Hy or Guelph. I don’t know.

[cayuse]

Maybe getting a biopsy of the worst areas might help point you in the right direction. I have one with lupus on his nose (like dogs get) and it was difficult to diagnose until a biopsy was done by a vet specializing in dermatology.