Mare with bad dandruff !!!

Question
Hi - Wonder if you could help.  I have a 14.2 pony who suffers sweetitch but we have this nicely under control with piriton (4 a day) and a weatherbeeta fly rug - had no problems at all - and she is stabled now too.
My vet said we could stop the piriton over winter so stopped this 3 weeks ago and this coincided with the weather getting a lot colder and she lost a lot of weight.
We dont have much grass and in addition to good quality hay to build her up she now has calm and condition morning and night.
Her weight is going back on nicely and she seems fine, her coat is growing thicker and she's happy but she had mild "dandruff" in her mane over the last couple of months which appears to be moving across her body.  When I take her numna off there is a cloud of white flakes and its getting worse and worse, its like one of those Xmas shakers !  I've never come across this before and neither have any of my horsey friends.  
Do you know of any supplements perhaps I can give her to help with this, or have you any ideas what is causing this ?
Any help would be appreciated.


Answer
Hi Kate,

This is quite a common side effect of sweet itch.

You need to pick a warmish day and give her a good bath with a medicated equine shampoo.  Give her a good scrub with your fingers or rubber curry comb to get down to the skin.  You may need to do this weekly/fortnightly until the condition clears.

You could also add a little oil to her diet (say 50ml/day) which will also help the skin.

Give her a vigourous brush daily and make sure you wash/disinfect her brushes at least weekly.

It may take a few weeks for the condition to clear.  If it hasn't cleared by say January, or if it should worsen, I would contact your vet.

Cheers