Sweet Itch: Complaint-free in a natural way
We were given the opportunity to write an article for the Equiday magazine “Equizine”, and it was of course about our expertise: sweet itch. We are happy to share this article with you too!
© The Natural Way
Sweet itch is the most common skin condition in horses. However, there are many more factors besides the well-known mosquito bite that cause or perpetuate this terrible itch. Insect bites are often just the drop in the bucket.
In this article, sweet itch specialist Laura Cleirens of The Natural Way tells why itching is a multifactorial picture and how to break this vicious cycle.
What is sweet itch?
Sweet itch can be recognised by the intense itching that causes horses to shed and damage their skin and coat, sometimes even bleeding. Of course, these symptoms do not just happen.
They result from a hypersensitive, allergic reaction to the saliva of female Culicoides midges (gnats) that need blood to lay their eggs and reproduce. The saliva of the midge contains proteins to which a horse can react allergically, we call these allergens.
The immune system
The immune system that provides protection categorises these allergens as foreign, as they enter the body from outside. These allergens are not necessarily harmful. Nevertheless, the body goes to work to render these substances harmless, and this defence response can sometimes be a bit excessive when the immune system is overloaded.
When a horse first comes into contact with an allergen, the immune system produces antibodies, without any allergic reaction. Only when the body is re-exposed to this same allergen, chemicals are released that act on the body cells. An allergic reaction therefore occurs where the horse comes into contact with the allergen and the chemical reaction takes place. In horses with summer eczema, this is often at the mane and tail end, but we also see itching on the belly seam, ears and head.
Your horse's resistance and how the immune system responds to stimuli partly explains why one horse experiences itching but a herdmate with the same diet, housing and management does not.
An overloaded immune system results from several factors such as disturbed gut flora, toxic load, obesity, food intolerances, stress, etc.
Intestinal health
Intestines contain billions of micro-organisms and the microbiome (the collection of bacteria, yeasts, etc. in the intestines) varies from horse to horse. So every horse is literally unique. The balance between different types of micro-organisms is important for immunity and metabolism. It is said that micro-organisms are responsible for about 75% of immunity.
Your horse's gut flora can be disturbed by several factors. Unhealthy foods such as haylage, silage and grains play a huge role in this. The presence of lactic acid bacteria in e.g. haylage creates a too acid pH for the good, fibre-digesting intestinal bacteria, causing them to die off. This acidification, in turn, causes irritation of the intestinal wall.
The quality of intestinal flora is not a fixed fact and can therefore change throughout your horse's life. Fortunately! So we want to support it as much as possible by offering healthy and varied feed that meets your horse's needs. This ensures that your horse gets enough nutrients to avoid deficiencies, which can weaken the skin barrier.
You should therefore opt for high-quality, unpackaged hay instead of haylage. For itch-sensitive horses, it is also better to avoid alfalfa.
But not only nutrition causes disturbances, the use of medication such as antibiotics, and heredity also play an important role.
Heredity
Mares with unhealthy intestinal flora pass this on to their foals even before birth. After birth, they eat their mother's manure with which they take in the intestinal flora, so her health is also very important. And not only drinking colostrum, the first mother's milk, but also the first 6 months play an important role in the development of a healthy intestinal flora. Foals that have missed this or are weaned off early are more likely to suffer from immunity and digestive problems and lack a stable foundation. So horses with a healthy gut flora have an edge in life.
The digestive system
Digestion can be overloaded by the high amount of sugars and starches, proteins and fats usually found in cereal-rich concentrate feeds, as well as by fructans and endophytes in grass.
With persistent intestinal problems, the intestinal mucosa becomes irritated and the immune system goes into overdrive. This creates a chronically low-grade inflamed gut, causing the intestinal mucosal cells to start releasing more histamine. This therefore makes your horse more prone to allergies, such as summer eczema.
Moreover, undigested fats can also be stored in the adipose tissue and disposed of as waste through your horse's largest organ: the skin. The fact that your horse then shines is not a sign of glowing health, but an indication that your horse is ingesting too much fat.
Waste products
The removal of waste products is important to ensure that your horse maintains a good resistance and does not become ill. A healthy horse regulates this process all by itself and needs no support. But not every horse is capable of adequately removing waste products itself, as is usually the case for horses with itch problems. Some organs can become overloaded, such as the liver and kidneys, but the lymphatic system and skin can also suffer.
When this is the case, waste products are stored unnecessarily in the body. This is often under your horse's mane crest - the well-known symptom of a hard mane with wrinkles - which therefore becomes very attractive to insect bites. The immune system now goes wild and your horse chafes.
Detox?
Giving a detox when your horse struggles to get rid of waste products on its own then seems like a smart solution because it has many benefits: the immune system gets a boost, the coat gets shiny, the skin becomes less attractive to insects, supplements are better absorbed, your horse becomes more energetic and also generally healthier. That sounds nice to the ears, but unfortunately... A lot can go wrong with an innocent-looking detox regimen.
Briefly, we already saw that horses with itching have an immune system that is out of balance, an intestinal flora in trouble and probably not all organ functions - such as of the liver and kidneys - are still working properly. So there is no energy available to process the waste products entering the bloodstream or there are not enough nutrients available. The liver becomes overloaded and can no longer function properly.
The liver
The liver is a storehouse of iron and various vitamins. It regulates blood sugar levels, but when this task becomes too demanding, for example when your horse takes in too many sugars, these are stored in it as fat reserves.
Giving a detox releases all the stored waste products together from the tissues and these have to be processed again by the liver. So a detox asks the liver to work even harder while it is already in overdrive, which causes additional overload.
In practice, horses then suffer even more or more severely from itching and even laminitis. What was supposed to provide relief only makes the problem worse. And that is something we want to avoid at all times!
Getting to the core
Now that you know that skin complaints reflect your horse's internal health and are often even the first signal that something is going wrong, how can we support our itch-prone horses safely and naturally?
First of all, exercise is essential for mental and physical well-being, to reduce stress and pursue a healthy body weight. It promotes good circulation and helps drain waste products. So encourage as much free movement as possible in the housing and schedule sufficient moments of intensive exercise.
Creating a healthy intestinal flora is the key to success. Support the liver and sugar metabolism so that your horse is once again able to dispose of waste products independently. Relieve the immune system as much as possible by avoiding disturbing factors. Choose appropriate housing and management. Soothe itching externally with skin-friendly products and do not leave wounds untreated to prevent secondary bacterial infections.
Don't muddle along but get guidance from a holistic therapist or vet to treat the overall picture. This requires time, knowledge and insight.
Individual threshold
Every horse can tolerate a certain amount of stimuli without developing symptoms. This threshold differs per individual because every horse is different. But once the threshold is exceeded, symptoms develop. The proverbial glass then overflows.
Targeted identification of stimuli, avoiding them or adjusting them, will ensure that your horse returns below the threshold value and that itching remains under control. Making small adjustments to your horse's diet, housing and management therefore has a significant impact on whether or not summer eczema develops.
We are convinced that complaints only really disappear when all the pieces of the puzzle fall together. Treating the overall picture breaks the vicious circle and makes itching a thing of the past.
NEED HELP?
Laura Cleirens of The Natural Way specialises in the natural treatment of itching and skin complaints in horses. At just 10 years old, she decided to relieve horses of sweet itch.
You can go to her for 100 % natural and sustainable care products, including Sweet Itch lotion. It applies a protective layer that makes mosquitoes less inclined to bite. The itching is stilled, the skin can recover and hair growth is stimulated. Immediately visible results!
Also discover our other products for mud fever, CPL, Nature Shampoo and our E-books OERVOER and HORSE HERBS.
https://thenaturalway.be or info@thenaturalway.be or @thenaturalway.lauracleirens
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