Dr O, He does like to scratch his neck on the stall door and loves when I scratch his neck and into the root of his mane. He is not scratchy as much now that it is winter. There is no weeping, no scabs. He did have some hair breakage at the root of the mane over the summer, that is growing out. The skin never got completely exposed over the hives. The hives are not getting bigger or more in number. They seem to be very slowly going away. The ones close to the base of his neck have gone, the ones near his head are still around. The horse nettle is still around but not nearly what it was a few years ago as we have been spraying each year. However, it is a nasty plant that is difficult to get rid of. I have not seen it in our cut hay as we walk the fields between first and second cutting and if we see it we spray it and usually by harvest time its not really visible. When we first found it we had to pick thru each flake to remove it before feeding it to the horses. Thank goodness that is over. I have not seen any buttercup in the pastures. Mostly what I see is some clover, occasional aster from our hedgerow, and a clumping grass that has a cottony type look to it in fall. Our pastures are pretty thick with minimal weeds. I thought contact at first also, I thought he laid in ants or something. Due to his pasture mate being injured last summer they have been separated from August 20,2021 until January 1st 2022. This started while they were separated. I just got off the phone with my vet and she is recommending hydroxyzine to see if we can get the hives to fully resolve. Then likely continue it into spring to see if we can keep the allergies at bay. I asked her that if she believes that the cause is environmental, why is it only on one side of his neck and not the whole body. She said in her experience 2021 was a really bad year for allergies in general in her clients and that she usually sees the hives begin on the side of the neck that the mane covers and from there they gradually get worse and expand to the rest of the body over time. She has no explanation for it she is just relaying her experience in our area of Southwest Ohio. She thinks that he is sensitive to something that is in bloom during the summer and that his body got overwhelmed by it this past year.