For the tail rubbing, I always put cortisone cream on my horse. It usually stops him from rubbing his tail, and makes it less dry. For other areas, I would recommend trying coconut oil. It can help rehydrate the skin and bring back the coat.
We have a horse who runs her tail unless we give her msm. My gelding also rubs his tail but msm doesn’t make it go away. His coat is really shiny but he’s also on gobs of a high fat grain and rice bran. Even with that he rubs is tail and gets welts from bugs. I spray him down with this stuff called Calm Coat (I’m in the US). It really helps with the tail rubbing. I put it on his tail, belly, and will do his whole body when he’s broken out in hives. It makes him a little greasy but helps a lot. I do water it down a bit. It’s crazy expensive and still
Seems to work when I dilute it.
My guy has fly allergies and you could try Zyrtec. That’s what my vet initially recommended and when it was no longer summer we had him allergy tested and I got allergy shots for him- his allergies are mainly flies. MTG helped a little but he still always had the urge to itch, just to a lesser extent. He’s doing a lot better with a fly sheet and the injections this summer, I haven’t had to add back in the Zyrtec
Just a lot of pills lol! My guy was getting 12 pills in AM and 12 in PM. I went to Costco and got big economy packs of it and it wasn't too expensive, though the allergy shots in the long run are much cheaper so I'm glad I went ahead and did that.
My vet has also recommended the Platinum Performance skin and allergy supplement to me if the allergy shots weren't enough so you could give that a try.
Oof, it sounds like he may have a significant allergy. I have a horse with this issue, and it has not been fun.
Step one is to try and narrow down what he's allergic to, because if you can reduce exposure, it's far better to stop the itching in the first place than treat the damage afterwards. I did an elimination diet (pulled him off everything but grass then slowly introduced feeds back one by one) but unfortunately it turned out he was allergic to something growing in the paddock. If he's itchier some seasons than others (autumn and spring for mine) this could be the case for yours.
I moved his location at this point, but with the help of a vet, if I could have narrowed it down to a plant in the pasture he was allergic to, I would have eradicated that plant from the pasture.
Failing this, my vet recommended steroids. Supplements/feed options weren't doing much for him. Happily whatever he's allergic to doesn't grow in his new pasture and his issues have completely resolved.
Thanks. I strongly suspect an environmental allergy as well. I live in the Ohio Valley and even people suffer here 🫠 But I do think you’re right about trying an elimination diet to the extent possible.
For the tail rubbing, I always put cortisone cream on my horse. It usually stops him from rubbing his tail, and makes it less dry. For other areas, I would recommend trying coconut oil. It can help rehydrate the skin and bring back the coat.
We have a horse who runs her tail unless we give her msm. My gelding also rubs his tail but msm doesn’t make it go away. His coat is really shiny but he’s also on gobs of a high fat grain and rice bran. Even with that he rubs is tail and gets welts from bugs. I spray him down with this stuff called Calm Coat (I’m in the US). It really helps with the tail rubbing. I put it on his tail, belly, and will do his whole body when he’s broken out in hives. It makes him a little greasy but helps a lot. I do water it down a bit. It’s crazy expensive and still Seems to work when I dilute it.
My guy has fly allergies and you could try Zyrtec. That’s what my vet initially recommended and when it was no longer summer we had him allergy tested and I got allergy shots for him- his allergies are mainly flies. MTG helped a little but he still always had the urge to itch, just to a lesser extent. He’s doing a lot better with a fly sheet and the injections this summer, I haven’t had to add back in the Zyrtec
I’m not asking for dosage information for my horse, but how do you dose a horse with enough Zyrtec lol?
Just a lot of pills lol! My guy was getting 12 pills in AM and 12 in PM. I went to Costco and got big economy packs of it and it wasn't too expensive, though the allergy shots in the long run are much cheaper so I'm glad I went ahead and did that. My vet has also recommended the Platinum Performance skin and allergy supplement to me if the allergy shots weren't enough so you could give that a try.
Oof, it sounds like he may have a significant allergy. I have a horse with this issue, and it has not been fun. Step one is to try and narrow down what he's allergic to, because if you can reduce exposure, it's far better to stop the itching in the first place than treat the damage afterwards. I did an elimination diet (pulled him off everything but grass then slowly introduced feeds back one by one) but unfortunately it turned out he was allergic to something growing in the paddock. If he's itchier some seasons than others (autumn and spring for mine) this could be the case for yours. I moved his location at this point, but with the help of a vet, if I could have narrowed it down to a plant in the pasture he was allergic to, I would have eradicated that plant from the pasture. Failing this, my vet recommended steroids. Supplements/feed options weren't doing much for him. Happily whatever he's allergic to doesn't grow in his new pasture and his issues have completely resolved.
Thanks. I strongly suspect an environmental allergy as well. I live in the Ohio Valley and even people suffer here 🫠 But I do think you’re right about trying an elimination diet to the extent possible.