Sweet itch

[PaulaO]

Not Miss A., thankfully. A 3 year old Mustang has it and his owner is clueless. I've given her enough advice (get a fly sheet, leg wraps) and am no longer dispensing. But I'm curious. He has rubbed his tail raw, has welts (some oozing), is banned from turnout until further notice because he knocked over fence posts by rubbing. The poor guy is just a mess. She has talked to the vet who recommended antihistamines and something else that I don't remember because I was kind of not listening.

What has worked/not worked for your horse?

[blob]

It's not specifically sweet itch but my mustang (wonder if mustangs are more prone to some of these allergies) gets awful allergies in the summer. She gets hives and then rubs and rubs and then the hives lose their hair and get bloody and scabby and she just keeps on rubbing.

Things that have made a noticeable difference beyond sheets, fly masks, etc:
spirulina (you can get this cheap in its original form, but I get it from smartpak in pellets. Feeding gloopy green stuff seemed like too much hassle)
Keeping the skin moisturized: I spray daily with a 50-50 listerine and avon skin so soft solution. And directly apply vaseline to any particularly bad spots.

[PaulaO]

Yeah, I don't know if it is specifically sweet itch, but the boy is definitely allergic to bug bites. I thought sweet itch was a generic term that covered all bug stuff.