[Kalraii]

Have you looked into mites? How do you know its definitely not worms? Have to ask, its the internet after all Mild case of sweet itch? I ask because my mare never rubs her main but udders/tail can be a problem when she seriously sweats.

I'd be ditching the powder 100%. When particularly sweaty I also wipe over udders first then under tail/lady parts with a clean cloth each time. I always use a clean soft/fluffy cloth and dab dry with kitchen roll. I never use soap. Then I slather on sudocream - and I do mean everywhere. It's a good thing she's grey. Glove up and don't wear nice clothes. It stops the midges and seems to help soothe. It is very satisfying watching my mares from stroppy and stompy to relaxed after this. We are at a point she takes a wide stance and holds a leg up 😅 All dignity out the window...

During heatwaves I did this evening morning and every evening. 🍷 🍷 🤦‍♀️ Making sure the old cream was mostly off, especially in creases. Giving breaks every other day when it was cooler if I could. Try going back to less is more, in case her ph is upset. That said, if its ph then it could also be dietary. Maybe massage her tail and wash with plain warm water? My older mare doesn't suffer the same way strangely enough.

Good luck.

 

[ferricyanide]

No I haven't looked into mites. How would I tell? She still rubs after being freshly wormed with the appropriate wormer.

So she is sensitive to those annoying little gnats. Still she rubs her tail year round just less when it's cold. So she rubs when those bugs aren't in season too. They do love to eat up her neck and i have just started regularly putting ultra boss on the horses. And swat on her neck as needed. Gnats gave her some permanent ticking in her coat last year. Happened so fast too. So ultra boss it is. But she seems to hate bugs more than any horse I know.

Is sudocream similar enough to our diaper rash cream here or does it do other stuff too? Also I guess I was afraid something stick like that would result in more stuck dirt?

I guess I don't know if it would be a food allergy, she just has fall allergies and that doesn't seem to corelate either.

 

[walkinthewalk]

set aside the vanity to address WHY this mare keeps rubbing her tail void of hair. Health trumps vanity🤠


1. How do you know she doesn’t have pin worms? They do not show in a fecal but they will show on a piece of clear scotch tape — yessss put a wide piece of scotch tape across her butt and see what what you get👍😎👍😎

2. The top ~12” of her tail is the tail dock so her skin is itching her everywhere.

It might be time to change her diet and really REALLY boost up her Vitamin E. Like people,some horse are more prone to certain types of allergens than others. It can generally be fixed with a bland but healthy diet and increased Vitamin E without added selenium unless your area is low in selenium.

A one or two time addition of pure Vitamin A can also help.

3. This is also the time of year plant chemistry changes in the pasture. Horses may eat things they don’t normally eat And it could be making the underlying issue(s) worse😀

4. Don’t over shampoo the tail dock as that will only dry the skin out more. You can try topicals that are for skin allergies but I believe that is only the bandaid on an underlying issue.

 

[LooneyTickAcres]

I’d bath her with Eqyss MicroTek shampoo and use the Eqyss MicroTek spray on her most itchy spots in between bathes. If you use UltraBoss, you shouldn’t be having a mite problem…although I highly recommend Permectrin CDS over UltraBoss (it’s cheaper and a higher percentage of active ingredients…7.4 instead of 5)

Sweat is itchy…I have a grey mare who really sweats bad. I make sure and hose her down on evenings where she’s really soaked herself. That cuts down her itchiness significantly. I use Desitin on her udder and between her back legs where she rubs.

Edit to add…I agree with walkinthewalk about pinworms and diet. If you have checked off any parasites or dietary issues, then it most likely is sweat or an allergy of some sort.

 

[Ringo-Slater]

Could she be getting sunburnt? I would do what was mentioned above maybe putting some fly spray with spf might help.

 

[ferricyanide]

1. Vet didn't mention that but I guess I didn't mention the tail rubbing.

2. Which vitamin e would you recommend? She currently gets 1 pound of triple crown 30 a day and a little added zinc, copper and magnesium.

3. I actually sprayed this year so we don't really have weeds right now and she's not worse than normal at the moment just average. She's not bald or anything just the hairs are short.

4. I don't shampoo much but if there was a cure for this it would be great.

 

[ferricyanide]

I can look into Eqyss MicroTek until I can find a cause if there is one. Thanks for the info about Permectrin CDS, I'll check it out.

She doesn't have pink skin so I hadn't thought that would be an issue? My gelding lives with nose desitin since he won't keep a fly mask on

 

[walkinthewalk]

I feed HorseTech‘s vitamin E. Vitamin E-5000

If your local feed or tack stores carry a Vitamin E with nothing else in it, that would work. You don’t want something that has the same vitamins and minerals as what you’re feeding.

Your Feed program looks pretty good👍👍.

Whose magnesium are you feeding? I have my allergy sensitive horse on MagRestore for his anxiousness but it seems to be controlling his allergies by a large margin - he still has all the hair on the top of his tail and usually there’s a big bald spot up there, this time of year.

I haven’t owned a mare since the early 80’s but I sometimes wonder if their vital mare parts might trigger something this time of year.

 

[ferricyanide]

I feed magnesium from California trace. I mostly got it for my anxious gelding, and they both get it. Good for metabolism too.

Idk this is my 2nd mare and both had/are very non mare-ish personalities so I rarely ever know when they're cycling to have a clue.

 

[stevenson]

Clean her vulva. With gloves on, you can run your finger into the bottom and sometimes get out sand granules (dirt) and smegma. Use a very mild soap to wash her with, for example Ivory very small amt in some water You can 'google' how to clean a mare .

 

[horselovinguy]

I would not use Ivory soap but a women's personal hygiene wash that is naturally PH balanced....
Even though "pure", Ivory is a soap and that is not a place I would wish to leave soap deposits, even small ones. make me scratch & itchy just thinking of it.

So, my friends horses both are doing a job rubbing to death their tails, their manes and just everything....my poor fence is moved 2' with 8' long posts tells you they are rubbing terribly hard and for them its all parts of the body.
The vet a year ago sold her a bottle of spray that she applied 1x a day that was like a miracle cure.
I don't know what it was called but do know it was for no-see-ums and midge bugs....
She was also told to get her horses out of the pasture grasses at night, dusk till dawn, as the things are worst then...
Maybe a call to the vet and ask if he has something might be a magical applied cure on the way to finding what the reason is.

I read when doing research of things to try and stop the cycle to give Avon brand Skin So Soft a try...for some it helps repel the midge and no-see-ums...if that is your issue.
Breaking the cycle of {insects biting} irritation though needs done so healing can begin and that is the hard part.
I would be very careful spraying anything to that region of the anatomy because of how delicate the skin and tissues are.

Please keep us informed of what you find that does work or what the culprit is...you know we all care.
🐴....

 

[stevenson]

You could use a feminine hygiene product. I stated a small amount of soap in water. Ivory is mild and rinses clean . I just used plain water on my mare, she had a small grass strand on her, and I did get some smegma and small dirt particles out. I was extremely gentle and watched to make sure I was not going to be kicked. I did not lift her tail, just pushed it to the side.

 

[gottatrot]

Most likely it is a midge/gnat/no seeum reaction. They are so good at biting the bare skin at the base of the mane and tail. It can really help to spray a long acting fly spray such as Endure on the mane base, tail base and underbelly every several days.

If you apply a silicone based detangler such as Cowboy Magic to the mane and tail base every couple of days it also helps because they say the midges can't bite if it is oily. Baby oil works but attracts dirt. Some people say you can have hair breakage from silicone. Perhaps, but a brittle hair or two is nothing compared to the breakage an itchy horse can accomplish when rubbing against something.

Then if you can spray 80-100% DEET spray (for humans for hiking) to the mane and tail base daily also, it should resolve the issue. Works for me and other friends too. If you can only do one thing, use the DEET.