FACT SHEET: Managing Itchy Horses The how to guide on managing your itchy horse
Working out the cause of your horses itch is the first step to successfully management
Why is my horse itchy? Popular causes are QLD Itch (midge bites), Psoroptic and Sarcoptes mites (mane and tail mites), Neck Parasitic Filarial Worms and Allergic reactions to environmental factors such as grasses, dust and feed sources. Working out the cause of your horses itch is the first step in successful management, saving you a lot of money experimenting with expensive herbs and DIY remedies that may not work. Your local Veterinarian may take deep skin scrapings to test for skin mites or suggest a program of insecticidal treatments to address any suspect mite or worm infestations. Removal of environment exposure to certain grasses, trees, weeds, dust, stale hay etc may be a case of trial and error. Examining your horse’s diet and talking to an equine nutritionist will help eradicate any allergic reactions your horse may be having to its feed intake. If your horse is suffering classic QLD Itch symptoms or suffers a skin allergy, supplement feeding can yield impressive results. Sound supplement feeding can rejuvenate the poor immune system your horse may be dealing with.
Feeding the itchy horse Down regulating the immune response of an itchy horse is a priority. An itchy horse is generally 'over reacting'. You may notice a companion horse under the same conditions yet he does not exhibit the same excessive rubbing or self mutilating behaviours. Your goal should be to achieve the following outcomes: 1. 2. 3. 4.
Stabilize an over active response to the itchy sensation Draw pathogens from the intestines and flush these out Help the skin repair from the inside and speed up healing to avoid ongoing infection at the skin surface level Promote new skin cell production and healthy hair growth to cover the damaged skin
One product (under patent application) that does contain the necessary mineral, amino acid and soluble fibre ingredients to address these key issues typical of an itchy horse is QI Ease.
QI Ease by Wattlelane Stables A 60 day trial conducted on over 30 horses throughout QLD and NSW from all breeds, colours and locations found the following outcomes feeding just 50g of QI Ease in hard feed daily, combined with rugging/spraying regularly with safe insecticides and applying sparingly (late afternoon to avoid sun damage) Shapley’s M-T-G to existing skin damage to assist healing.
The following results were recorded at the 2 -3 week mark. 100% of participants recorded positive results with various outcomes of near complete successful management to very impressive results over 6 weeks.
Feeding dietary supplements to manage the immune responses in your horse will provide an improved quality of life for your horse during the warmer months when biting insects bound.
Feeding QI Ease - takes the guess work out of finding what works best.