All three of our mares are losing hair in clumps on their lower hind legs. It feels all lumpy and when it's picked at, the dry skin a hair falls out really easily. Also, my mare has a 'lumpy' lol spot on her neck that I have to scrub all of the dry skin out of but the hair stays there... She's also getting it on her face but it's bald when I pull it off with new hairs growing in. I've been using Eqyss micro tek spray after I gave her a bath and I've used up the whole bottle and it's coming back.. Help? :shock:
I don't know what it could be; but, if it is a type of fungus like rain rot, I used a half and half mixture of Listerine and baby oil sprayed on with a regular spray bottle and it worked well. The Listerine kills the germs and the baby oil keeps the skin from drying out. I used it on Rosie back in the early spring and could actually see hair growing back in the next day. One of the people I ride with said that she just washes with the liquid Dial soap.
I'm sure one of the more knowledgeable people on here can help you more than I could.
I know this sounds odd, but we use scrubbing bubbles. Just spray the foam on, scrub in, rinse off and bathe. Then the key once you kill it is continued good grooming. Currying, daily, and I spray with a mixture of novalsan solution, water and skin so soft. Antifungal, keeps flys away and waterproofs a little. Our mare was very eaten up in rain rot when we got her, I mean all of her hair fell out. Posted via Mobile Device
I would use the Listerine and baby oil on her face also...as long there's no danger of it sweating into her eyes. Just spray it into your hand or onto a cloth and wipe it on.
Are you sure it's rain rot? Typically that is something that horses get in places with more rain than AZ. If you are sure, Betadine also works: again 1/2 it and 1/2 water, also safe to sponge onto her face---> keep out of her eyes though. Bad news: It will cause her to have a yellow tint where applied, good news: it does go away! I know it's been humid lately, but really not that much rain. How often are you washing her? Silly question I know but...sometimes they will loose hair if you wash 'em too much or if you don't get all the soap out <unfortunatley ...I know this because I have made that mistake>.
thanks Gypse! (and everyone else!) I am not sure what it is but my best guess was rain rot. We rinse them off after every ride.. we ride every day to every other day. If we don't, it makes them get white dried on sweat on them and it ruins their coats... I will look up scratches.. thanks for the idea!
We hose after each ride also, you need to make sure you are getting ALL that sweat out and make sure you are drying well after. If you leave wetness around the cannon bone and the fetlock, you are setting yourself up for fungus in Louisiana..don't know about AZ. SO many of the girls at the barn (lots of younger girls) make this mistake, put the horse up and next ride they have issues.
Again, I can't stress how much good a curry comb does for a horse. Natural oils are brought out and all the crunchies are taken out. There is NO PRODUCT ON EARTH that can help more than daily grooming. The horses at the barn have a sheen you can see yourself in, and most of them never see anything other than a good grooming daily by the girls. (it's a beautiful thing to have horse crazy girls who will groom all day)
Try adding flax to her diet, just 1/2 cup of milled/ground flax a day. Omega Horseshine and Horsetech.com's NutraFlax are good ones. If you buy from the manufacturers, but have free shipping. That will help improve their skin from the inside out.
like a lot of others, what ever you use to kill the germs, i would recomend baby oil to keep the skin from drying out from so much washing and chemicals.
OOO there is a pretty good feed out here called Running horse (grain free)....the sell it in the east valley. It has lots of vit and minerals...though I cant remember what quantities right now...a friend of mine who is very holistic recomended it to me as a supplemental feed. It may be a little more balanced than if you try to do individual supplements on your own....or you can do free choice minerals in your stall and they can pick what they want too! Peggy no worries...there's a little ocd in all of us!! ;o)
Mineral blocks don't provide many actual minerals to horses. They're good for salt and a little iodine, but that's about it. Loose minerals or supplements are a better way to ensure your horse is getting what they need.
A forum community dedicated to horse owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about breeding, grooming, reviews, health, behavior, housing, adopting, care, classifieds, and more!