How to Help a Horse with Skin Allergies

Your horse's skin allergies not only make him miserable but you too. Summer after summer he continually rubs himself raw despite your best efforts to stop him. By mid-summer you may finally break down and just shave his mane off, more than half of it was gone anyways. You may never completely get rid of his allergies but here are some ideas to try to manage them.

First off, start with his diet. The saying we are what we eat is very true; what our horses eat is no less important. Feeding grains or other feed high in sugar can attract more bugs and biting insects.

Many horses have allergies to corn, so it might be best to cut it out of his diet. Corn can contain a type of toxin called mycotoxin that causes allergic reactions in horses. While you may not notice anything the rest of the year, it certainly does not help when their immune system goes into overdrive during the summer.

Add a digestive supplement to your horse's diet that contains probiotics and enzymes. These have in some cases proven to be very helpful.

Make sure your horse is receiving adequate vitamins and minerals. Free choice kelp is excellent to provide your horse with vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals. If feeding free choice is not an option try feeding a supplement containing kelp and rosehips.

Use loose, free choice natural salt instead of white or mineral salt blocks. Salt blocks are actually created for cattle which have rougher tongues. Horses typically cannot get enough salt just from licking a salt block. Also the salt found in the blocks has been so over processed it no longer contains the natural minerals found in salt. Himalayan pink salt or Redmond salt are both good options.

Often horses with skin allergies are more sensitive to worms. Feeding a daily supplement such as NOMS (Naturally Occurring Mineral Sources) can be very helpful in the control of worms. Horses with worm problems will often show it on their skin. I've noticed an added benefit that after putting all the horses in my barn on the NOMS, the fly population has greatly reduced.

Garlic can be very helpful in repelling insects. Unfortunately if it is fed and the horse has access to green pasture, the chlorophyll in the grass seems to neutralize much of the insect repelling properties of the garlic.

It is interesting to note that garlic is rich in sulfur. According to Pat Coleby in her book Natural Horse Care sulfur deficiency is often the cause of external parasites. This could explain in part why garlic and/or the supplement MSM can be helpful for skin allergies.

Ground flax seed can also be very useful for skin allergies. It contains omega 3 fatty acids which help with inflammation.

Herb mixes from places such as Hilton Herbs can be very useful. In general, to be really effective these mixes need to be started three months before your horse's allergies typically start. Even so, started any time they can still be of some help.

Try to avoid the use of chemical fly sprays; these can often make things worse. Instead try to find natural fly sprays, use fly masks, fly sheets, or leg wraps to help protect the horse from insects. Also keep the horse off of pasture as much as possible.

If they are very sweaty make sure to hose or sponge them off. The sweat just adds to the skin irritation.

The Bach Remedy Crab Apple is a must for any skin problems. You can add several drops to their water or feed it to them by adding several drops to a piece of carrot or apple.

I've had some good success with witch hazel mixed with essential oils like lavender and cedarwood to help heal the skin and soothe the itching. Spray this on their skin several times a day.

Also look into finding a vet that does homeopathy and/or acupuncture. Both of these can be very helpful for skin allergies. Homeopathy especially needs to be tailored to each horse's symptoms.