Aural Plaques: Ear Fungus: Advice

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H.K.D

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Aural Plaques in horses ears

Right my lovely mare who i purchased last April has ear fungus (aural plaques) which are very visible and so obviously at the worse stage of growth. She has always had them according to her old owner and is extremely ear shy.

I cannot hog her easily at all which is necessary for polo, I cannot wash near her ears so it gets all yucky when sweaty and clipping near there is a no go!! However you can gently brush them on occasions softly.

She accepts a headcollar if you are careful (no flicking it over in a rush), and when I had her I could get a snaffle exercise bridle on with the bit down three holes each side. The polo bridle: with pelham, two reins, breastplate and just plain heavy was alot harder to get on her, she would pop her head up a little and in the end the only way I could do it was by undoing one side completely, carefully flicking it over and then trying to do it all up: some days I would catch and ear and she would flip until the bridle was not touching her ear.

Now she has been turned out all winter (polo pony) and has been brought back in to work and put on loan as I am at university in my final year. Unfortunately the girl (aged 12) and my mum cannot bridle her, unless they take it apart completely which takes 20 minutes! She see the bridle, shoves her head in the air an reverses or if restricted shakes her head violently.

They have resorted to riding in a pressure halter and have now come to the conclusion they do not want her as they cannot quickly bridle her.

Therefore....

Does anyone know any solutions/remedies/creams which cure this?

I found Dermafas: now discontinued

Camrosa? Happy to try but will have to sedate her first to get in the ear.


Any advice?

I am having a special bridle made up for her with clip on cheek pieces, and a browband which is removable. But she obviously hates them and would love to clear them up and give her some relief!!

Thanks!

PS: I am away at university so plan to try and solve the problem over April.
 
Even if you solve the physical problem I think your horse now has a mental issue connecting the bridle to pain. I would spend some time getting her used to being tacked up so she realises it won't hurt
 
Thanks for the response, people who have solved the problem with dermafas say the issue goes away immediately and there is no mental association.

I have spent each day over the summer doing that and am very patient and still no difference. I would like to actually solve the pain as most other issues with horses can be solved and no owner would dream of putting their horse in pain each day and not trying there best to solve it.

I have done extensive research and am having a bridle made which will eliminate touching the ears.

thanks x
 
I'm afraid I have no advice at all, but am just bumping your post as my mare also has aural plaques and I would be very interested to hear about any successfully used remedies...
 
Would it be possible to get a picture of her ears as aural plaques vary a lot in severity.

My horse developed these while I owned him and upon discovering the first one he was very quickly brought to a very experience equine vet who recommended I leave them right alone as he said messing around with them can often cause more harm then good. Also messing with your horses ears and squirting creams or lotions onto them can have an adverse effect. As they weren't bothering him I followed the vet's advice.

I did read somewhere online before people recommending using canesten cream on them as it can clear it up in some cases. I tired it myself and it had no effect but its worth a try. Some people did say it solved their horses aural plaques completely. :)

My horse was also very head shy (although got better the longer I had him, even after he developed aural plaques - we suspected he'd had his ears pulled back to control him as a foal!). Do you definitely think the head shyness and the aural plaques are related? If they are bothering your horse that much that its now interfering with her exercise and general well being I would recommend you take her to a good equine vet who may be able to prescribe a strong course of action.
 
Heres some images I found of my horse's plaques. They were taken on a phone so aren't the best quality :)

DSC00103.jpg


DSC00102.jpg
 
a few of my horses have had this and none have been ear-shy, so i suspect that that might not be the reason.
if you haven't already, i'd get a McTimoney Chiro or similar to check her poll, her atlas/axis joint... if it is slightly 'out' then the horse can become very sensitive around that area. i've had horses who wouldn't let their ears be touched, be treated, and then be absolutely fine around there.
for really extreme cases, i've heard that this works: blow up a pair of rubber gloves to make 'hands', and fix them above the horse's haynet or water, so that every time it eats (or drinks, although i'd hesitate to do this in case it discourages the horse from drinking, and the horse gets dehydrated) the rubber glove fingers touch the horse's ears.
i'd ask your vet for a fungicide maybe, but my vet said to ignore aural plaque.
 
My horse has had these since I got him (9 yrs ago) I asked the vet about them and was advised that they are something of nothing and to do nothing.

They have never got any worse and I can touch them without difficulty

I think if you look on the camrosa website there are pictures of them on there so I presume you could try that
 
IIRC headly brittannia has aural plaques and her bridle is taken on/off by doing/undoing the headpiece.

My horse is ear shy because of nerve damage ( one hear is pretty much paralysed ) he can be funny with others for putting a headcollar on, but hes fine with me. make sure your bridle isnt pinching her behind her ears and get a padded/elevator type bridle.
 
I had one with very bad aural plaques who was also very ear-shy. He got better to bridle with time but never completely fine. A Kelly Marks person tried to do a demo on him while he was at college and failed miserably :D I'd be surprised if there wasn't a link between the plaques and ear-shyness. Probably a good think he wouldnt let me mess with them as I know I'd have wanted to pick away at them, I have a strange compulsion to pick at things that shouldn't be there :D
 
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Thanks for the replies, at the moment I am away and she is on loan but has to come back as they are the ones that cannot bridle her.

I was happy to take it apart but she is a pain to hog and i do worry that it hurts her so would like to at least try camrosa for a month or so and see. if not i will not fiddle and i wont scrape them off, just see if they 'fall off' as ive read on previous posts.

Hers are full of them and much much worse than the ones shown, i am not bothered cosmetically as she is grey and so you can only see them up close as the blend in with the fluff.

I will try and get my mum to take a photo of them next week.

Ps: she is on loan and i am at university and will try this camrosa during April and make a new thread with photos and updates.
 
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