| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Holly |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 4:10:44 PM
Hi
I went to visit my mare yesterday who has been out on loan since the end of December and her loaner showed me some bald patches that had appeared in the last week or so on her sides, chest and arm pitts.
The actual skin looks healthy but there are yello crusty crystalized scabs around the edge of the bald patches and they come away easily with clumps of hair if you pick at them.
They dont appear to be itchy or to cause any pain or soreness to my mare so i am quite puzzled as she has never had anything like this before.
I ran my hands all over her body and found a couple of other rough patches of hair which felt like dried mud but on closer inspection it was more little yello crusty scabs under the hair and as i sratched at it with my nails the hair and scabs just started coming away and again there was no broken skin or redness...the bald areas of skin looked like healthy skin.
She lives out with one other horse, is rugged, has stables for shelter etc. Her diet has changed since she left me- she was not fed any feed whilst with me but had adlib haylage in the field. She now has a small feed of hi fi light and garlic and has hay in the field.
She has always been a good doer and when i handed her over she was quite round even though she wasnt being fed. She has been gradually loosing weight in her new home and yesterday is the smallest i have ever seen her- infact if she looses any more i think she would look to slim. This makes sense as she is in a much smaller paddock, is being ridden alot and has changed from haylage to hay.
Im wondering if her lifestyle change could be causing the hair loss? she seems happy and full of life so i dont think it is stress. It doesnt look like ring worm and it is not rain scald.
I also thought that maybe she is eating a different plant in the hedge that is causing the reaction?
Mites also came to mind as her companion is a cob with feathers the cob doesnt have any problems and the hair loss is just on her coat and not on her mane or tail.
Anyone got any ideas?
thanks |
| 24 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Holly |
Posted - 24 Feb 2011 : 7:32:40 PM
Well i went to see my girl again today and gave her a good brush and am pleased to report that her coat has started to grow back on the bald patches and there are no new patches so all looks well.
Still dont know what caused them but there appears to be no harm done...hopefully the weather will dry up and she can go out naked and get some sunshine and fresh air on her skin. x |
| Zarena |
Posted - 22 Feb 2011 : 6:15:28 PM
No the lice would not necessarily be in the mane and tail and the horse would not necessarily itch at this stage. Neither are you likely to find them with the naked eye. I have seen a case of lice that looked exactly like you describe. Agree with Qui Gon Jinn, use an ivermectin wormer and louse powder. You can't do any harm and it might be the answer. |
| pinkvboots |
Posted - 22 Feb 2011 : 11:45:17 AM
Does sound like a fungal thing I would second Moraq, use a athletes foot cream or spray with Miconazole did wonders on mud fever. |
| Crusaders Angel |
Posted - 22 Feb 2011 : 11:03:18 AM
Check her diet - my horse used to do this quite a lot and it turned out to be an intolerance to barley. It changed the composition of the sweat which caused a reaction at the base of the hair follicles.
It all cleared up within a couple of weeks of changing to a cereal free food and has never happened since and I've not changed rugs or the way I manage him i.e more/less clipping, riding, bathing.
Sometimes horses develop an intolerance to something they have been used to having for years due to changes in their metabolism as they get older or even something as simple as changing grazing so different minerals are being consumed.
Just a thought  |
| morag |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 8:50:59 PM
If the scabs come away yellow and crystallised then there is an infection bubbling under the hair- all things brewing under the crust are usually related to fungi/yeasts of one sort or another!! - called different things for different areas - be it rain scald or ring worm ! A good cream to used is miconazole - sold for athletes foot or you can now get ketoconazole in a shampoo(nizoral) which you can used as a wet soap and leave to dry into the affected areas - the scabs will slough off of their own accord. I too think it is related to sweat and working in a woolly coat. |
| Holly |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 8:48:46 PM
Thanks again for all the comments.
ive come to the conclusion that I really dont think it is rain scald, the nature of it is nothing like the many cases of rain scald that ive seen.
She sweats up in the areas where her girth and saddle are after a ride but the rest of her body is just hot. She does have a fairly thick coat but she was fully clipped in October to help with weight loss but its all grown back as normal.
I have asked her loaner to take her rug off during the day when it is nice weather to get some fresh air to her coat and to try adding some oil to her feed.
I am going over to see her again later in the week and will spend some time with her in the stable and give her a really good rush and see what i can find.
if it was lice wouldnt they be more likely to be in her mane and tail? and wouldnt they make her itchy? i will look for lice.
it doesnt look like ring worm at all but obviously anything could be a possibilty.
the scabs are not weeping/wet at all- it looks more like cradle cap but its attached to the root of the hair and not actually on the skin at all- it is yellow and crusty though and the hair comes away from her body very easily.
it sounds a bit like seasonal alopecia which aparently is quite common in horses at this time of year although ive never heard of it before.found that on google!
thanks |
| nikki83 |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 6:07:11 PM
There is a mare at my yard who has had what you have described.
She had the vet out a couple of years ago (this has happened for the last few winters to this mare) the vet said her sweat glands were getting blocked and infected as her winter coat was not allowing the sweat through. She is an elderly tb type mare, think she is coming up for her 38th birthday
Vet advised her to clip her once her winter coat is through, so far this year she hasnt suffered and is sporting a full clip!
She is well rugged to accomodate the loss of her own coat.
Nikki x
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| Qui Gon Jinn |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 5:39:30 PM
I was also going to suggest lice! My youngster took what you are describing this year too (he is black/bay in colour at the moment) and I covered him in louse powder repeatedly, wormed him with an invermectin based wormer and he was fine within 3 weeks. All his hair is growing back in now.
I also wondered if he was too warm, as he had a very warm rug on as it was -17 degrees here at the time! |
| precious |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 3:05:47 PM
my mare last year got bald patches all over with them weeping aswell. They were itchy tho too.
Vet came out he had lots of cases like it where they did test after test and it didnt show anything.
I was given some cream to put on them and with time they all went and her hair has grown back now.
good luck with your mare. |
| Zarena |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 2:46:44 PM
Could it be lice? It's the typical time of year and sounds a possibility. No harm in dusting with louse powder for a couple of days just in case. |
| arabianrio |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 1:19:31 PM
Please be careful.It could be folicullitus. The hair follicles become clogged and can get infected. Can be the result of just a bit of dirt getting in.If it this then I believe it can be quite contagious so I would reaaly keep a close eye on it so it does not spread. May be the vet should check as I beleive antibiotics may be needed to clear infection. |
| marionpack |
Posted - 21 Feb 2011 : 11:59:31 AM
If she is being ridden a lot, does she have a thick coat and sweat up, could it be that she is sweating up when ridden and not brushed/cleaned properly and dry sweat is clogging these patches and the skin isn't able to breath, as you say they are on her chest, sides and arm pits, just a thought |
| clio |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 9:10:42 PM
Was just her discription "yello crusty crystalized scabs around the edge of the bald patches " sounds exactly as Pollys looked a few years ago.
It sounds like some kind of fungal infection whatever it is. |
| Quarabian |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 8:55:20 PM
Not ringworm clio. I have seen this on cattle over many years. It is always dryish and causes bald patches, usually in circles. |
| clio |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 8:06:46 PM
Have there been any cattle in the fields ??
Could be ringworm !! we over the years have had it a couple of times ( land rented out in summer months for grazing cattle) so it only takes a scratch on an infected post.
Its a fungal infection google lots of pics and info.
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| Holly |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 7:51:36 PM
thanks again for your comments.
I wasnt trying to sound ignorant by saying that its definitly not rain scald its just that ive never seen rain scald that looks anything like this before.
I will do some reaesrch on rain scald on google and see what i find- i would be happy if it is rain scald as at least i then know that i can treat it etc.
Ive never seen rain scald in some of these areas though- particularly low down on her sides, almost under her tummy and at the tops of her legs and under arm pits.
We have had really wet but mild conditions recently so i guess thats the perfect condition for bacteria to thrive.
Thanks again |
| Callisto |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 7:34:47 PM
Our bay gelding got this on his rump last winter, and yes he was rugged too (turnout during day, stable rug at night). We washed it with diluted hibiscrub, and sewed flaps of clean fabric inside the rugs (which we replaced every couple of days) to stop reinfection. It soon cleared up.
Funny how it seems to be a bay thing. |
| Vik1 |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 6:27:40 PM
Yeah Id go with rain scald. Even tho she rugged, its still the same bacteria...cant remember the name of it. My mare had it this winter and a couple of winters ago, exactly as you described. Ive finally discovered she was overheating under rug. Ive been so wrapped up in depserately trying to keep her weight on I never thouht about overheating.
The sweat glands arent getting the chance to breathe and so they get clogged, the grease gets clumpy. It can cause itching but not always and the yellow weepy bits is the serum from the sweat gland. |
| MinHe |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 6:02:53 PM
I too would go with "rain" scald - have seen something similar on a rugged horse (also bay! and related to Jamana's two).
Keren |
| kate b |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 5:33:34 PM
I have a gelding who had this last year (he is bay too!) He was rugged as he is elderly and was quite slim at the time. This year he has put all his weight back on and hasnt been rugged as much and has only had one or two of these 'scabs'. Personally I think it is related to being too warm. The scabs were only in areas covered by a rug. He had an outdoor rug on in the daytime, and a stable rug on when he came in, so was nothing to do with wearing the same rug 24/7.
They never bothered him, they werent itchy or painful - they just didnt look very nice, and went away on their own as soon as the rug came off in the spring.
Kate
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| Quarabian |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 5:33:26 PM
I would still second rain scald as erica has suggested. It is an infection and I have seem yellow clumps on horses backs and rumps. Just because she has been rugged don't discount it. Anyway,the treatment would be the same for any similar condition. |
| Holly |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 5:07:00 PM
Thanks for your comments.
However it is definetly not rain scald- she has had rain scald in past winters when she wasnt rugged all the time and its completly different. Also the areas where it is on her body are covered by her rug.
Funnily enough she is bay! not that that should make any difference. She does have a thick coat and i guess it is getting to the point where it is moulting time soon. I will be seeing her again sometime this week so will take a picture and see if it is any worse but as its not causing her any discomfort its not a massive worry.
Im more worried that the crusty scabby crystalized bits are yellow which normally indicates infection- but can the hair folicle be infected? like i said the skin is healthy.
thanks again. x |
| Jamana |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 4:27:53 PM
Both of my arab mares used to get this. It never bothered them and I never really knew what it was. I assumed that it was just an excess of the natural sebum in their coat/skin and was generally more apparent at coat changing time. Both mares were bay and I didn't own them at the same time or keep them on the same land. they were mother and daughter though. I have seen it on other horses as well. Personally I wouldn't worry about it. |
| erica giles |
Posted - 20 Feb 2011 : 4:25:04 PM
sounds to me like it is most probably rain scald, perhaps she has sweated under her rug, my mare did this last year and lost quite a bit of hair, it all grew back though |
