Anyone successfully dealt with sweet itch in an older horse?

[NinaRose]

We've been offered a 15 year old horse on free loan. The reason for this is that he suffers from sweet itch and is unrideable for most of the year due to severe itching and resultant scabs. He doesn't wear a rug (owner says they have tried but he just destroys any rugs by scratching) but gets regular steroid injections in the itchy season though looking at the poor chap I'm not sure how much they help, he's covered in scabs even now and it's December...If we don't give him a home he will probably be put down as he's no longer suitable for competing due to his age (he is a super jumper which is why I suspect he's been kept going, even with the itch).
Is there any hope for this horse or would it be kindest to decline the offer and have the owner put him to sleep? Once they have suffered from sweet itch for years, can it be brought back under control by using rugs, masks etc? I used to have a horse that had mild sweet itch which was controlled effectively by sweet itch rugs but this chap is in a totally different league in terms of the severity of his condition.

Ah poor thing. I've never had to cope with sweet itch thank goodness, but I put that down to chalk downs, meaning no water nearby and a constant breeze so very rarely do we have to worry about midges.
That's the only contribution I have I'm afraid, since I know nothing about the medical side, is to wonder if changing where he is kept will make a difference?

I have a pony with sweet itch and love her dearly, but hers is manageable with special rugs and does not affect her being ridden etc.

what on earth would you be getting out of this arrangement, other than stress, guilt and worry? it costs just as much to keep a rideable one as a non rideable one, which this one sounds like it is.

Please walk away and find something without these issues.

I think they are trying to fob you off - however nice the horse is I wouldn't touch it I'm afraid. You'd end up spending a fortune, and by the sound of it the horse will be barely rideable, and more to the point probably miserable.

We had a loan horse with sweet-itch. We did keep it under control but only by constant use (and I do mean constant!) of a Rambo sweet-itch hoodie, mask which covered his ears, and lots and lots of heavy duty fly spray (Phaser is the one we found the best, plus Avon Skin so Soft dry oil spray - the green one - for the midges). It did work but vigilance was everything - he had to be rugged consistently during the itchy season.

It sounds as though he is currently caught in an unmanageable cycle - he needs the sweet-itch rugs to prevent being bitten, but the condition is so severe that he is destroying the rugs by constant scratching.

It is entirely up to you whether or not the horse is worth the effort. I would take veterinary advice and consider whether he could be turned out somewhere where he simply can't scratch (leccie fencing off a scratch-free zone) for long enough to try to get it under control.

However, it does sound like a bit of a nightmare for a horse you don't even own.