The Sweet Itch Of The Horse – Help With Home Remedies

Do you also feel uncomfortable when spring approaches because your horse suffers from summer eczema? Insects such as black flies or horseflies are active again in droves, and your horse is allergic to their bites. The great time of suffering with itching, scratching and constant restlessness begins again. Sometimes the itching is so strong that your horse scratches itself until it is sore in the affected areas. And then inflammations threaten.

In this blog, we will show you which home remedies you can use to give your horse soothing relief from the symptoms.

Learn the home remedies that can alleviate your horse’s symptoms
If you want to fight your horse’s sweet itch, you need to effectively eliminate the itching caused by blackfly bites and other insect bites. You should also protect your horse from further bites and disinfect and treat already existing wounds.

There are many ways to reduce the signs of your horse’s sweet itch. With our guide “What helps with sweet itch horse: 7 effective tips for relief” we have already given you valuable advice on feeding, husbandry and mosquito protection to get the disease under control.

In the current blog, our focus is on the treatment of sweet itch with home remedies. Here we introduce you to home remedies that can bring help to your horse in a gentle treatment way. In addition to care, consistent cleaning and disinfection of the sore areas are always important.

Some horses react very well to certain home remedies after a few applications, so it makes sense to treat your horse with each remedy over a longer period of time. This way you will get a meaningful result.

Milking grease
Milking grease is a very fatty care cream, which was originally developed to protect the teats of milk-giving cows. It consists mostly of petrolatum, kerosenes and additives to prevent skin irritation. It nourishes the skin and has healing properties. However, you should not apply milking fat for more than a few hours, as it hinders skin breathing and temperature equalization.

Penaten cream
Penaten cream was developed for the protection and care of baby’s skin in the diaper area. Basic ingredients for the cream are wool fat and zinc oxide. Penaten cream also soothes irritated horse skin and leaves a protective barrier on the skin.

Calendula ointment
Calendula is used as a proven medicinal plant for the external treatment of skin and mucous membrane wounds. It promotes wound healing and inhibits inflammation. It also helps the attacked eczema skin to calm down faster.

Dexpanthenol ointment
The active ingredient dexpanthenol nourishes the skin and makes it more elastic. Dexpanthenol helps the skin to regenerate. It also relieves itching, inhibits inflammation and promotes wound healing. This greatly benefits the battered skin of sweet itch. One of the best-known commercial preparations is Bepanthen®.

Betaisodona® ointment
Betaisodona® ointment has a disinfecting effect on the eczema sufferer’s skin damaged by mosquito bites. Its active ingredient is called povidone-iodine. With this ointment you fight skin pathogens and support wound healing.

Healing earth
Healing clay is a powder obtained from sedimentary deposits. You mix it with water to form a paste and then apply it to the affected areas. It is said to help treat wounds and inflammation naturally.

Zinc Ointment
Zinc ointment is made of zinc oxide and lanolin alcohol ointment. It is white in color and soft at room temperature. Zinc ointment has a disinfecting, astringent and wound-healing effect. It works well especially on itchy and weeping areas. Traditionally, you can also use cod liver oil zinc ointment as a skin protection ointment. It supports the skin in the case of poorly healing or moist wounds.

Ballistol oil
Ballistol oil is best used for the aftercare of your horse’s sweet itch. Once the acute wound has healed, you can use Ballistol Animal to keep the skin supple and promote hair growth. It is also said to reduce itching in horses.

Baby oil
You can use baby oil to prevent black flies from settling on the affected areas of skin again. You can apply it to bald spots or use it to loosen crusted areas.

Evening primrose oil
Evening primrose oil is extracted from the seeds of the evening primrose. It soothes and cares for the skin of your four-legged friend. Essential fatty acids contained in it ensure a faster healing process.

Coconut oil
Coconut oil has a healing effect on already damaged skin and reduces itching at the same time. Make sure that you use organic and cold-pressed coconut oil. This has a high content of lauric acid, which is avoided by black flies.

Arnica
With an arnica tincture you can also try to give your horse relief from sweet itch. Arnica has wound-healing, disinfecting and anti-inflammatory effects.

Aloe Vera
Aloe vera is also used to treat sweet itch. Aloe vera has many healing ingredients and can also help with sweet itch. You can apply it topically or mix it into your feed.

Nettles
If you regularly feed your horse with nettles, the silicic acid contained in them can have a positive effect on the skin and coat. This has a positive effect in combating sweet itch.

Bach flowers
Some owners of affected horses recommend Bach flower therapy. This therapy represents an alternative medical procedure. Flower essences are used here to achieve symptom relief.

Sulphur flower
Some owners of an eczema horse advocate sulfur flower for horses with sweet itch. You administer the single feed as a powder in small doses over the normal feed. Sometimes it works already after a few days.

Sulfur Blossom mixed with care milk
Some horse owners swear by a mixture of sulfur flower powder with care milk for the treatment of sweet itch. For example, you can use Penaten’s intensive care milk as the care milk. The lotion is mixed with the powder and applied to the damaged horse skin.

Birch hair water

Applying birch hair water to the affected areas of the skin should alleviate the symptoms.

Vinegar water

Vinegar water in a mixture of water and household vinegar in a ratio of 9:1 is said to help with sweet itch due to its itch-relieving and simultaneously cooling effect.

Conclusion

The above home remedies are not miracle cures that will make your horse’s sweet itch disappear immediately. But if you are looking for mild remedies against sweet itch and you do not want to treat your horse with strong medicines like cortisone, you should test the home remedies consistently over a longer period of time on the affected areas. If you are lucky, your horse will quickly respond to one of the mild remedies and you can gently relieve him of his suffering.