Help me! Please!!! How do I get my horse to stop rubbing up to scratch his tail!!!! But he doesn't have worms?

Question

My horse is regularly wormed so he dosen't have worms. We put baby oil, but we think it might be dry skin! He is rubbing himself in his stall and on TREES!!! Help! before he really hurts himself!!!

Answer 1

It is very possible that he DOES have worms...many horse owners' deworming programs are severely inadequate, especially if they or their vet do not keep up with current research.

I suggest you have your vet run a fecal to see what worms he may or may not have, and if that rules out worms, then assume sweet itch.

Answer 2

does he have sweet itch??  

Answer 3

alot of horses in the barn i go to for riding lessons do the same thing they rub there buts against the stall i dont thnik they can get hurt by it but maybe you should call a perfessionall or a vet

good luck

Answer 4

it could be sweet itch.

if it is you could buy a fly sheet for your horse and coat it with fly repellent.

aloe vera oil on the affected areas can sooth an itchy spot or help it if he rubs so much he makes it bleed.  

Answer 5

I believe he's got sweet itch. Is he especially doing it during the summer? If so, read on.

Sweet itch is a condition horses get, that's an allergic reaction to certain bug bites. Often occurs at the base of the mane/forelock or at the dock and head of tail.

The solution: ask your vet. If she agrees with me, check out one of these products:

Avon Skin-So-Soft

CLAC 86

Gold Nugget Gnat-Away

Shapley's M-T-G

Answer 6

he probally won't hurt himself unless he rubs against something sharp.

P.S. He probally has sweet itch

Answer 7

Im not being rude but i think you should already know about this condition if you own a horse...im sorry if that comes across the wrong way but im going to tell you about it anyway and i hope i help:

Okay, im 95% sure that your horse has a condition called sweet-itch.  Sweet Itch is an allergic reaction and therefore an immune system problem. Unfortunately these are notoriously complicated and difficult to deal with. Lots of horses have this problem so don't worry.

Sweet Itch, or Summer Seasonal Recurrent Dermatitis (SSRD), is a problem that affects thousands of horses, ponies and donkeys in many countries of the world to a greater or lesser degree. Virtually all breeds and types of ponies and breeds can be affected, from tiny Shetland ponies to heavyweight draught horses, although the condition is rare in English Thoroughbreds. In South Australia reports say that as many as 60% of horses and ponies are affected. About 5% of the UK horse population are thought to suffer. Although known by different names (e.g. Sommer Ekzem in Germany, Kasen in Japan, Queensland Itch in Australia), the symptoms are the same.

Symptoms include severe pruritus [itching], hair loss, skin thickening and flaky dandruff. Exudative dermatitis [weeping sores, sometimes with a yellow crust of dried serum] may occur. Without attention sores can suffer secondary infection.

The top of the tail and the mane are most commonly affected. The neck, withers, hips, ears and forehead, and in more severe cases, the mid-line of the belly, the saddle area, the sides of the head, the sheath or udder and the legs may also suffer.

There is more information on this and how to deal with it on http://www.sweet-itch.co.uk/index.html

It isn't suggested anywhere that i have read but  from my own many experiences i have found that 'Naf-off D-Itch cream' works really well.  This is available from lots of saddleries.

I know my answer is very long but i am truly concerned about horses and want to help other owners understand a little more.  I really hope my advice is helpful.

Good luck.

XX

Answer 8

I would try two things.  First, treat the horse as though it has some sort of fungus (such as rain rot, etc)  So wash it's back and tail really well, apply an antifungal such as hibitane and allow to soak in well - use a toothbrush to work the hibitane totally into the skin.  Allow it to soak five minutes and then rinse really, really well so all the soap is gone.  Do the same thing for a few days in a row and then wait to see if the problem has gone away.

The second thing I would do is - wash the horse's sheath.  (This also occurs if a mare gets grimy in her udder, but you said 'he' so I'm assuming this is a gelding)  Also, make sure there is no irritation in his a**s, that he doesn't have dried sweat and debris there.  You could apply zinc or vaseline to his a**s area to see if that is part of the problem.

If the problem still doesn't clear up, perhaps your vet needs to take a skin scraping.  There are many other causes to itches - you've had people mention sweetitch, but there also are mites, lice, other parasites, allergic reactions, diarrhea, etc.  You may need to do some serious detective work to see what is the cause of this.

Answer 9

he shouldn't hurt him self doing this, there is a horse at my barn that does that all the time and he is about 36 years old, but, it may rub off some of the hair, They sometimes do it when they are very bored, get a vet out and have him look at it.

Answer 10

One of our geldings does this when his belly and/or genitals are itchy. Has his sheath been cleaned recently?

Give him a good scrubbing (his whole body) with medicated Selsun Blue anti-itch. Dilute it and use it as the shampoo for the whole body.

You could also use Caladryl (kind of like Calamine Lotion) on his tail where he's itching. This stuff is clear, and is used for Poison Ivy, so it's really good at stopping the itch.

Answer 11

He is itchy. Try using a new conditionar and shampoo! As you probably know it takes over 7 years to grow it back! So do this quickly and call your vet to see what they reccomend!

Hope I helped and your horse gets better with the tail!!!!

:)

Answer 12

There are a couple possibilities other than worms.

1. Dry skin.  Cowboy magic makes a dry skin lotion you could try.

2.  Fungus.  Use Listernine as someone else mentioned.

If it's BOTH of those things together, you can mix Listerine and baby oil together (one part each) and spray it on the tail.

3. Sweet itch, but there are other symptoms of that.

4.  Boredom.  Itching becomes a habit for stalled horses sometimes.

5.  Dirty sheath

6.  Lice, mites, mosquito bites

7.  Ringworm

I'd try the Listernine and baby oil first.  If the rubbing has just become habit, you can always buy a tail guard.

Good luck!

Answer 13

One of the things that I've found to work really well, and is cheap is to put Listerine on the tail bone where the horse is rubbing.  Sometimes it's not just dry skin, but a minor infection or fungus.  Any time you groom your horse spray or squirt a little Listerine on it.  I know it sounds weird, but I learned this trick while I was a show groom for an Arabian Horse Show stable.  M T G also works really well.  They both smell awful, but they really do work.  Use regular Lister, the yellow stuff, they say the other kinds don't work as well.