Skin Condition?

I went to see Beamer today and he appears to have a skin condition. I know he is losing his winter coat, so the hair lose might be normal, but the dandruff looking stuff on his coat concerns me. Does this look like something I should call the vet out for? Would medicated shampo work?

yup I'd call a vet. That almost looks like some sort of dermatitis (skin infection) or even lice. Are there any horses around him that have this condition as well? I'd call a vet and at least ask him about it. It seems to be a little serious since he's lost all of his hair in those areas.

Hi, I'd agree with Scamp. You need to call your vet. If it is Lice you can normally see them, so it is more likely to be some sort of skin infection/disorder.

Let us know how you get on.

The pic of your horse's rear almost looks like rain rot. You can try an anti-fungal medicated shampoo. Personally I'd try that first unless you have extra money to blow on the vet. Its not an emergency so I'd try the shampoo first and wait about a week to see if there's any improvement.

What medicated shampo is best?

Hi, I've seen Rain rot/scald before and I dont believe that is whats wrong with Beamer. I'm not going to say I'm 100% certain, but I do think it is wisest to call your vet. :)
Rain rot can appear as large crust-like scabs, or small 1/4 inch matted tufts of hair. There is usually dozens of tiny scabs that have embedded hair and can be easily scraped off. Underneath the scabs, the skin is usually (but not always) pink with puss when the scabs are first removed, then it becomes gray and dry as it heals. It is usually hard to differentiate rain rot from other similar skin conditions, so if you are unsure, call your vet.

In the early stages, you will be able to feel small lumps on the horses' skin or hair by running your hand over your horse's coat.
Rain rot effects the back, rump, fetlock area and canon bone area. It can on occasions effect tips of ears, around the eyes and muzzle.
You need to do what you think is best. Let us know how things go.

i dont believe that's rainrot unless it's the 'afterstages' where the rainrot is already gone. i've seen horses lose hair like that from rainrot but that's usually after the owner treats the horse with rainrot (which is exactly what meggymoos has described) again...I'd have a vet out, it could be lice or somesort of mites (which are hard to see with the nake eye) good luck

Well I set him up to go in Saturday morning at 8:00am, but he must want to go before. My mom called to tell me he is limping. I went out ASAP and sure enough he will not put any weight on his front left leg. Called the vet and he told me to bring him in first thing tomorrow. So we will get his leg looked at and his skin all at once. I sure do hope his leg is okay, I felt so so bad for him. I cannot see anything wrong with it though and the hoof looks fine as well. Vet said he will take X-rays tomorrow.

Rose and my dad's mare Dancer have the same skin thing.....My dad said that he thinks it's some type of rain rot or could possibly be mange, I gave them both a bath in Iodine shampoo and we'll see what that does. It doesn't look like rain rot to me though

Hi Troy/Michelle
I dont know if your in front or behind us time wise? But any news yet?

Sorry meant to say I'm in UK.