Just read an article that made me think of Janice and Tivar. I decided to send to the list because I remember reading that a number of list members have chickens. It was an article in April issue of Equus, page 20. It talks about mites that are carried by chickens/poultry. A gelding living near the chickens developed severe itchiness and hair loss from scratching especially around the head. They never found mites on the horse, but found them on the chickens and cleared up the horse's problem by doing weekly whole body washes with the insecticide permethrin for one month. They then did twice yearly cleaning and spraying of the stable and treatment of the horse every other month with permethrin prevented a recurrence.
Most likely not the problem, but you never know. Could be that some horses are more sensitive than others to the mites like they are to the midges. Seems like a fairly cheap/simple to try solution. -- Anna Southern Ohio
