On 1/29/07, Karen Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > There are some treatments to help the suffering, but they > take a LOT of the owner's time, and they aren't cheap. There was some hope > that a certain flyspray had just the right combination to keep the > cullicoides away, but it's not proving to be the magic bullet either, > although it may indeed be helpful. There are some stabling management > practices that seem to help, but they are not easy to implement for a lot of > otherwise good horse owners. If you don't have a classic barn, how might > you install an overhead flyspray misting system? A misting system is an > expense, but if you don't have the right kind of barn to begin with - now > THERE'S an expense!
Does anyone on the list have a full blown SE case? Last summer I took on a horse that is an SE horse, and it is very true that they take alot of time. When I took her it was July, so she was in pretty bad shape. I hope this year is easier. Previous to me she was treated with Betadine and Bacon grease, and the owners vet advised them there was *nothing* that could be done. She had lesions on her topline, midline, shoulders, hips, face, and dock. Our land is somewhat swampy with a large creek on the back, a pond, and a large drainage ditch for the surrounding neighborhood. She developed SE after being vaccinated teh first year for WNV. The fly spray regimen recomended is the Flygone 7000 applied 2x a day. It helped alot, but left me with some nasty migraines, so I had to pursue other options. While I pursued other options I handled the horse in the yellow rubber kitchen gloves. ;) The Flygone is a pretty heavy duty spray, and since we were technically *over* applying it I washed her weekly with a dishwashing detergent to get the oily residue off and not stress her anymore than we had to with the chemicals. I also sprayed every other day with the new fly spray in the purple bottle, Bug Block. Boett blankets are certainly the best option for clothing the SE horse, but the price was too much for the owner of this horse to go for. So, we have a redneck Boett out of a Weatherbeeta stretch sheet, stretch neck rug, fly bonnet, and some bailing twine to keep things together. Her neck rug is one size too large and her sheet 2 sizes too large so I could punch little holes and tie the neck rug tighter to the sheet and the fly bonnet. The only place this really left unprotected was a V at her jowls and betwen her back legs and between her front legs. She wore her sheet all day when pastured, but after a few weeks it started rubbing on her shoulders, she's a very wide shouldered mare, and she would stay in every 3rd day so she could go naked. She's stalled from an hour before dusk to an hour after dawn with a fan on. No fly misters for her, but the fans and stalling helped, too. We put the SDS lotion on 2x a day until she was fully healed, then once a day for a few more weeks. Plus, when she was healing she required a heavy duty grooming daily. And, the first few weeks I used Aveeno baby wash to give her some relief from the itching, and she was on Benadryl 2x a week until she was healed. Her problem was so bad all she did was scratch, so the Benadryl allowed her to rest and break the itch cycle. If she were my horse I would probably sell her somewhere she wouldn't be affected... Just my one rat study! Steph -- "Brutality begins where skill ends." "Correctly understood, work at the lunge line is indispensable for rider and horse from the very beginning through the highest levels." Von Niendorff
