Any Ideas - Strange Coat

[If_you_see_kate]

Hello!

I have recently bought a lovely little cobby mare, 5 years old and so far she is an absolute angel.

She also flew through a 5 stage vetting in March.

The only thing is that she has a bit of a strange coat. It has everyone stumped, including the vet. Does anyone have any idea what might be causing the missing patches of hair?

They haven't gotten worse/better in the past few months of owning her. She's not itchy at all and we believe its not an active skin issue, possibly more like scarring.

Thank you!

 

[Miss_Millie]

She's lovely I have seen sweet-itch present itself in a similar way, with mottled patches on the fur like this.

 

[Sealine]

Has she had ringworm in the past?

 

[Barton Bounty]

She is very pretty, are they bare skin patches? Or is it ingrained in the fur?

 

[If_you_see_kate]

She's lovely I have seen sweet-itch present itself in a similar way, with mottled patches on the fur like this.

Thank you! She is such a sweetheart I had initially thought sweet-itch, but she's been out at night with no fly rug/mask/spray for the past few months and hasn't itched once

 

[Annagain]

I'm assuming she arrived like it and it hasn't happened since she's been with you? Have you done an exclusion diet? Take her off all feed except grass/hay. See if that makes a difference - I'd normally say leave it 2 weeks but it might take longer to see a difference in her. If it does improve, reintroduce everything one at a time, leaving about a week in between adding new things so there's time for a reaction. When you see the reaction again, you know it's down to whatever you added last. We identified a sugar allergy in my old share horse by doing this - he was itchy though bless him.

I've see similar in a dog who had a fungal infection so historic ringworm might also be a good shout as Sealine said.

 

[If_you_see_kate]

Has she had ringworm in the past?

Very possibly, I don't have contact with all of her previous owners (This will now be her 5th home since she was born). But she definitely did not at her previous home

 

[If_you_see_kate]

She is very pretty, are they bare skin patches? Or is it ingrained in the fur?

Thank you They're mostly bare skin. There are some where there are thin patches of hair and some are growing back with white hair (almost like scarring)

 

[Barton Bounty]

Thank you They're mostly bare skin. There are some where there are thin patches of hair and some are growing back with white hair (almost like scarring)

Definitely sounds like scarring, probably from sweet itch or a skin condition in the past, if she was mine, I would Clip her and see if it made a difference but from far away its really cute looks like leopard print lol as long as its not causing any issues

 

[bouncing_ball]

My horse has this, he's 13. It is just around the back of his hind legs, and it relates to an old injury and scar tissue it never changes. Similar circular bald patches. It does look like a skin condition but it isnt.

 

[Sealine]

Very possibly, I don't have contact with all of her previous owners (This will now be her 5th home since she was born). But she definitely did not at her previous home

If she had ringworm in the winter this could just be her coat recovering from the scabs and bald patches caused by ringworm and the coat will return to normal eventually.

 

[If_you_see_kate]

I'm assuming she arrived like it and it hasn't happened since she's been with you? Have you done an exclusion diet? Take her off all feed except grass/hay. See if that makes a difference - I'd normally say leave it 2 weeks but it might take longer to see a difference in her. If it does improve, reintroduce everything one at a time, leaving about a week in between adding new things so there's time for a reaction. When you see the reaction again, you know it's down to whatever you added last. We identified a sugar allergy in my old share horse by doing this - he was itchy though bless him.

I've see similar in a dog who had a fungal infection so historic ringworm might also be a good shout as Sealine said.

Yes, she came with it and they have remained the same since being with me. Her previous home had her on just haylage (no turnout) through winter for approximately 6 months and they didn't change during that time. I introduced grass slowly for a couple of weeks when she moved to me and now i have added a powdered balancer and a bit of chop, No change at all (Apart from now having a shiny coat from the balancer).

I think if she was itchy I'd eliminate things slowly to try and work out what was causing it but i think in some way or another she's tried everything and it hasn't made a difference

I think you might be right, it definitely does look more like scarring than an active issue

Thanks

 

[If_you_see_kate]

My horse has this, he's 13. It is just around the back of his hind legs, and it relates to an old injury and scar tissue it never changes. Similar circular bald patches. It does look like a skin condition but it isnt.

Ah, interesting! thank you - do you mind if i ask what the injury was?

 

[Gloi]

It could be alopecia.

 

[bouncing_ball]

Ah, interesting! thank you - do you mind if i ask what the injury was?

I dont know, I think a field injury, if I was guessing wire related. But he vetted with it as a 3.5 year old. I bought him from his first owner at 11. And apparently it never changed.

 

[If_you_see_kate]

Definitely sounds like scarring, probably from sweet itch or a skin condition in the past, if she was mine, I would Clip her and see if it made a difference but from far away its really cute looks like leopard print lol as long as its not causing any issues

Haha, I have definitely come to love it now. It makes her a bit more interesting She's not itchy and it hasn't gotten any worse so i guess i just have a leopard print pony haha

 

[Barton Bounty]

Haha, I have definitely come to love it now. It makes her a bit more interesting She's not itchy and it hasn't gotten any worse so i guess i just have a leopard print pony haha

She has a really adorable face she looks lovely

 

[If_you_see_kate]

If she had ringworm in the winter this could just be her coat recovering from the scabs and bald patches caused by ringworm and the coat will return to normal eventually.

Ah, very true, thanks. We will see what happens when coat change comes

 

[PurBee]

She is just gorgeous! Lovely face and kind eye

Her coat reminds me of the aftermath of lots of small hives, but the type that ooze serum, which then causes the area of hives only to shed the hair, leaving perfect black skin underneath, mostly round shapes. The pattern of her speckles being concentrated on neck, between front legs, and under belly, sides, but not top, are the prime places where hives happen, and concentrate more. So maybe she had a serious reaction to something in the past? The hair usually grows back, if the hives were short-lived. But i imagine there might be scarring if it was a longer-term reaction that kept re-curring, causing deeper damage to the hair follicle.

My gelding experienced this briefly, but large hives, some oozing, for a fortnight, and some of the worst hives shed the hair, leaving some large bare circles which rapidly re-grew baby hair, and filled-in quickly. His hives were weird in that they were really large 2 inch round raised bumps, whereas usually hives are much smaller 10mm. His started from buttercup poisoning in haylage, which then became complicated by photosensitivity from ryegrass haylage as his liver was compromised temporarily by the buttercup toxins.

Maybe your girl will grow some of the patches back, if the hair follicle isnt damaged.

Best of luck with her

 

[MissTyc]

My cob got this after a bacterial skin infection with oozing pustules. It was awful at the time, very painful and masses of ineffective treatment before we finally got on top of things. Took 4 months! Then, when the coat started to come back in, it was all mottled like yours. The winter coat also looked weird and the next year's summer coat was better but clearly still recovering from the pustules and lesions ... Following winter was the first "normal" coat and 2 years on his coat came back perfect again. I think skin can take longer to heal from fungal/bacterial/viral infections than we realise. It's a big sensitive organ and when it goes wrong, it can go very wrong ... but thankfully, it does tend to grow up and recover!

Edited to Add: That was in 2018 and he's not had any skin problems since. Vet said it was just "one of those things".

 

[Orangehorse]

My horse had terrible ringworm when he was 4, and then he also developed some funny spots some time later. Its a breed noted for skin problems!

But there was never any scarring or any long term difference in his coat. When he had ringworm, and was a bit run down with it, I contacted Global Herbs and gave him a tub of one of their tonics for liver and general health just to give him a boost, which worked well.

 

[dottylottie]

she’s absolutely beautiful! i think if she was mine i’d be inclined to clip it all off and see if it grows back any better would also give you chance to get a better look at what her skin is like underneath. if it was bothering her then yes i’d definitely go down the elimination route!

 

[If_you_see_kate]

She is just gorgeous! Lovely face and kind eye

Her coat reminds me of the aftermath of lots of small hives, but the type that ooze serum, which then causes the area of hives only to shed the hair, leaving perfect black skin underneath, mostly round shapes. The pattern of her speckles being concentrated on neck, between front legs, and under belly, sides, but not top, are the prime places where hives happen, and concentrate more. So maybe she had a serious reaction to something in the past? The hair usually grows back, if the hives were short-lived. But i imagine there might be scarring if it was a longer-term reaction that kept re-curring, causing deeper damage to the hair follicle.

My gelding experienced this briefly, but large hives, some oozing, for a fortnight, and some of the worst hives shed the hair, leaving some large bare circles which rapidly re-grew baby hair, and filled-in quickly. His hives were weird in that they were really large 2 inch round raised bumps, whereas usually hives are much smaller 10mm. His started from buttercup poisoning in haylage, which then became complicated by photosensitivity from ryegrass haylage as his liver was compromised temporarily by the buttercup toxins.

Maybe your girl will grow some of the patches back, if the hair follicle isnt damaged.

Best of luck with her

Thank you - she is so sweet. Very un-trusting to begin with but once she knows you she's stuck to you like glue! ❤

That makes a lot of sense and is very interesting- thank you for that. I had wondered if the areas they are related to where she might sweat up, but it makes sense if that is where hives are often found. I hope your gelding recovered ok from his hives!


Thank you again!

 

[If_you_see_kate]

My cob got this after a bacterial skin infection with oozing pustules. It was awful at the time, very painful and masses of ineffective treatment before we finally got on top of things. Took 4 months! Then, when the coat started to come back in, it was all mottled like yours. The winter coat also looked weird and the next year's summer coat was better but clearly still recovering from the pustules and lesions ... Following winter was the first "normal" coat and 2 years on his coat came back perfect again. I think skin can take longer to heal from fungal/bacterial/viral infections than we realise. It's a big sensitive organ and when it goes wrong, it can go very wrong ... but thankfully, it does tend to grow up and recover!

Edited to Add: That was in 2018 and he's not had any skin problems since. Vet said it was just "one of those things".

Oh wow, bless him - I'm glad he's recovered, that sounds like an awful time for you both.

Thank you for that, hopefully her coat will do the same and after a few coat changes we might have a normal one although it does make her look more interesting

 

[If_you_see_kate]

she’s absolutely beautiful! i think if she was mine i’d be inclined to clip it all off and see if it grows back any better would also give you chance to get a better look at what her skin is like underneath. if it was bothering her then yes i’d definitely go down the elimination route!

Thank you

I think I'm planning a full clip in winter anyway so we will see what happens after that! Thanks!

 

[Highmileagecob]

From the distribution, it looks like a contact allergy to something she has been lying on. Buttercups, deep litter without proper dry top, sawdust, any wood based product made from hardwood.... not sure if there are weeds that would affect a horse - thinking of hogweed, ragwort etc.. Ringworm crossed my mind too, particularly if she has been kept near cattle or in old cowsheds. If you are not seeing itching or discomfort, we will all cross our fingers for you and hope she is on the mend!

 

[Fransurrey]

It looks like alopecia areata to me. It does occur in horses, just not very often. I'm not sure if this is behind a paywall (I have access!), but if you Google it, quite a few interesting reviews and articles come up. If it is, then she'll probably just go through cycles of it, probably worse in stressful times, like a yard move or new horse introduction.

Noninflammatory, nonpruritic alopecia of horses - PubMed

Noninflammatory, nonpruritic alopecias are uncommonly encountered in the horse. Alopecia areata, an apparently autoimmune hair follicle bulbitis produces focal, multifocal to widespread hair loss. The skin is otherwise normal. Diseases that can mimic the widespread hair loss associated with...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[If_you_see_kate]

Just an update for anyone that is interested - First clip done, just a little one for now as she seems to be coping with the heat well (even though she resembles a yak at the moment!) the clipped hair where her 'spots' are is rougher and lighter, white in some places so i am definitely inclined to say scarring. But she doesn't seem bothered at all and i think it looks quite pretty

 

[Penguin_Toes]

Nothing useful to add other than what a gorgeous mare! And you're right that it looks really pretty - its an enhancement!

 

[PurBee]

She’s so sweet looking and agree with penguin toes, the spots are a lovely feature, like unusual dapples!