Is It Lice Or Something Else???

I was out in the pasture today with my horse, rubbing him and petting him and checking him over for any new lumps, bumps or scratches in the disguise of giving him love. Hehe. I happened to be scratching his ears and started ruffling his forelock when I noticed these little white miniature rice grain looking things all in his forelock. In all my years with horses I've never seen something like this before on them. Now, I'm not sure if they are a type of fly egg or maybe lice? This is my first spring in the south, I'm originally from up in NY so I'm not sure if with the warmer climate there are different species of flies down here or not. Has anyone else ever seen something like this on their horse before?

Sounds like lice, which is more common is horses than most people suspect. You'll need to get some kind of pyrethrin shampoo to clear them out. Make sure to wash and disinfect all of your brushes, saddle pads, blankets, anything that comes in contact with your horse. I've read that deworming your horse with Ivermectin is helpful in eliminating lice as well, but I can't find any solid research to back that up.

You're right EternalSun, Deworming with Ivemectrin will help. That is what the vet told me to do with the horses I leased years ago. Also used a lice dust.

Don't worry about "catching" them yourself. They are not contagious to us. Just icky!

It's funny I did some research on lice in horses and never even knew they could get it. I never saw a horse up in NY with it (I worked with rescues who were in some bad shape too). I guess it's just more prevalent down here since I'm surrounded by all types of livestock. There's chickens, cows and sheep all around me. No wonder my poor baby has been so itchy! I feel bad for not noticing it sooner. =(