My MFT filly who recently turned one and other than being a little bit under weight, which we are working on, is pretty healthy. But two weeks ago I found a chunk of mane missing a little higher on the neck than the withers. over the past weeks it's gotten a little bigger. I can't think of any reason other than that she might be rubbing it away? She's up to date on shots and worming. Her mane is really thick. Any Ideas? I'll get pics as soon as I can.
It might be sweet itch, and there are products you can buy for that (cant think of any off the top of my head), or if its not too hot you could put a hood on her (if she'll let you). she might rub the hood off, though.
Oh, now I can see the pictures! I don't know what to do about rubbing- I ended up cutting our pony's mane short to match the rubbed part when he did that. Perhaps there is some sort of product for horses that is like calamine lotion for humans? Something that could lessen the urge to itch. . . Google search time!!
I don't have much experience with sweet itch but wouldn't the skin in that area be sore or the hair on the skin rubbing off? She does not seem itchy there either.
Hm... I think if you look really close and move some of the hair you could see them... She's not dark so it's gonna be harder to see the lice eggs (if there are any). I rode a dark bay pony that got lice and you could see all the little things crawling around. It was soooooo gross but luckily it cleared up really fast.
Another possibility is that she just wanted to itch her mane because it felt good. lol. One of my instructor's horses did that all the time with her tail.
^ Sleazys or those hoods for blankets... I think either one will work, but sleazys work better. But if you have a hood for a blanket lying around and it doesn't have to attach to the blanket, go ahead and use that. And I agree, MTG works wonders.
That mane looks somewhat weird. Do you have pine trees on the property by any chance? My qh left a chunk of her mane on one, when she decided to rub against (and glued on it :wink: ).
Also, what kind of fencing do you have? When I had wood fencing, a couple of mine would wear their manes off by sticking their head under the plank to graze and rubbing it on the wood.
Only one baby pine tree in a hard to reach spot. We have wire fencing, although our corral has wood planks but there would be no reason she'd want stick her head through.
There is a strong possibility it could be sweet itch which there are products on the market that can help relieve it, you can also consider a flu rug as sometimes it is bought on by midges and flies. Have you also considered lice, which are like nits in humans if you look hard enough you can see them if you look at tail head and mane area. You can get medicated washes and lice powder which gets rid of them.
Also i have a young filly and she has been itching just lately, she hasnt rubbed her mane away but i checked her from lice and she was clear, so i just gave her a good bath which she enjoyed and it seems to have stopped her from itching for a while. I think at that age they do get very greasy from lossing there foal coats etc.
No you can't catch them, but are very quickly spread to other horses. So if your youngster shares a field ask the owners to check there horses. Also be careful if anyone borrows your grooming kit.
They do spread quickly but very easy to get rid of to if u do proper procedures.
Hope you get it sorted but you may find a good bath is all she needs. Like my youngster. Posted via Mobile Device
If no evidence of lice/fleas, it could be an fungus or allergic reaction. You can try using listerine antiseptic to kill the fungus but if it comes back in a few days, you need to figure out the root cause of the itch. Don't know what you are giving her to gain weight but a lot of commercial feeds/supplements have chemicals which can cause reactions. Also, some horses are just more sensitive to flies therefore try a natural product which will help her resist the flies. There are a lot of products out there but I have had great success with thenaturalvet products - you can find them at Natural Horse Vet, Natural Pet Vet, Nature For Life
I would look at her scalp and then look in the pasture around the fences for chunks of hair. Then you could figure out if it's falling out or if shes rubbing. Maybe she is itchy and her favorite itching spot is yanking out her hair. Maybe she has an infection or rash that is making her hair come out.
Is there a way you can tell the difference between lice and dandruff?
I looked for pieces of her mane but it was impossible to look everywhere for it.
Thanks for all the great help guys!
Yeah dandruff is usually bigger than lice. You need to look for eggs too. They are very small. If you can't really see anything I would just give her a medicated bath and see how she goes, but make sure you really scrub the area's she is scratching.
She will probably have a look of relief on her face. You could then try putting some aloe Vera on after the bath. Posted via Mobile Device
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