Buttercup burn?? And scurfy hair coming out front of cannon bones

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MagicMelon

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Two things have had me confused for years.

1) Basically every year, about this time of year my grey horse gets small black patches (where hair has come out) on either side of his face and sometimes behind his eyes. He started getting the black patches a few days ago which have slowly been getting worse. However overnight they're MUCH worse - to the point that they are almost oozy and red raw. He looks dreadful! It looks as thought he's rubbed himself raw but I never see him itching. It always clears up after a week or two and thats it again until next year. Ive tried numerous ointments, shampoo's etc. over the years but it always just clears up on its own. I have read the odd thing about buttercup burn. Does this sound like this could be the cause?? I'm just putting sudocreme on the patches regularly mainly to stop sunburn and flies. I cant get rid of the buttercups, they're throughout my fields (although if it IS this then I will have them sprayed for next year).

2) I've also had the odd horse occassionally get flaky hair on the front of the hind cannon bones. The hair comes away really easily but doesn't leave it bald underneath if that makes sense. My new horse has got this right now. My grey used to get it on and off through the year. I used to think with my grey it was boots that did it but I rarely use hinds on my bay! Ideas? It doesn't cause any problems, its just a bit weird.
 
MagicMelon said:
1) Basically every year, about this time of year my grey horse gets small black patches (where hair has come out) on either side of his face and sometimes behind his eyes. He started getting the black patches a few days ago which have slowly been getting worse. However overnight they're MUCH worse - to the point that they are almost oozy and red raw. He looks dreadful! It looks as thought he's rubbed himself raw but I never see him itching.
My grey has the same thing. I've only had her a couple of months, so no real insight. I've put a full face fly mask on her after she rubbed it (never seen her) raw and its healing with savlon on it... but its only been a few days.
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We've got buttercups in the field but none of the horses have what you describe - although none are grey. They can certainly cause photo sensitisation.

Re the scurfy hind cannons - my old mare who rarely wore hind boots had the same thing. I could rub the 'loose' hair off but she never went bald. It never caused a problem and I just thought it was the way she lost her winter woollies.
 
Both of mine (TB and TBX) get the scurfy hind cannons - the TBX is always booted behind and the TB never is. I have no idea what causes it :confused:
 
Mine both have scurvy cannon bones too!

One with white socks so presumed it was a bit of mudrash/something else but didn't leave it bald/sore so didn't panic and the other horse with black legs has the same but has a scar on each leg so presumed it was just the scar losing a bit of hair! Makes sense now I think about them both having the same thing, but what is it?
 
scurfy cannons-probably a bit of dermatophilus, my loan horse came in with a bit tonight, its mud fever but on dry legs basically and a bacterial infection. You can either leave it if its not causing balding/weeping or hibiscrub and/or slap some sudocrem on it, should clear up very quickly. It can be spread by flies. Protocon is good for this although am wary of using it when very sunny.
 
I've only ever seen buttercup burn on pink skin (white legs and on one horse's pink nose), and although it starts of with kind of scurfy fur and skin it very quickly starts to look like a sort of sunburn (with varying amounts of hair loss). I don't know what the effect on black skin could be, sorry. Does your bay have white legs?
 
Interesting... I've got a skewbald cobby type with white legs who has the exact same. The field is full of buttercups, she has new black patches round her eyes and lips that I only noticed today, and she really scrapes out the hair round her lower back legs with her opposite chestnut and it comes away like damp scurvy skin with a clump of hair, but doesn't leave a bald patch?
 
Sounds like Cannon keratosis, my TB had it last summer and I treated it with cradle cap shampoo as suggest by a friend - not sure whether it was the shampoo or the fact we went into winter, but it disappeared :)

Ask your vet I remember googling and reading that you need a shampoo with benzoyl peroxide in it, but def worth seeing what they suggest.
 
I haven't read through the whole of this read but udder salve is brilliant for buttercup burn - one application normally sorts the problem out.
 
my grey gets the hair loss on her cannon bones, mostly on hinds. Lives out and never wears boots. It is particularly prevalent when the coat changes during spring / summer - dont notice it in winter. I tend to give it a good brush and wash with tea tree or coal tar shampoo or heavily diluted hibiscrub. I wondered whether it was anything to do with urine splashing up (on hard summer ground..) more but think it is just cannon keratosis based on what google throws up
 
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My TB gets the scurfy hind cannon bones every year and I just pick off the winter coat and give his cannon a rub. There are no buttercups in the field.

This year he also lost the hair in the hollows above his eyes. Vet said it was a rain scald type of thing and not to put as much sudocrem on, as I had been treating it twice daily to no avail. I stopped for a day to let the air get to it and then used Betadine, followed up by an application of Savlon cream. I think Savlon has the same active ingredient as Hibiscrub. This seemed to do the trick and when the skin became black again ( bay horse) instead of pinkish, the hair began to grow back in.
 
My welsh A had random hair loss around her face and badly scabby bits around her lips and muzzle for a short time, we had a lot of buttercups this year and she has pink skin, I tried to put sudocreme on but it was quite sore and she did not like my attempts one bit, so it had to clear up on its own, but is fine now. Unfortunately it has made her a bit 'nose shy' as in she does not like her headcollar being brought over her nose as she thinks it will hurt. Bless her! Have seen the cannon bone thing now you mention it, never thought much of it!
 
I posted about this last year, my mare suffered from it every summer. I heard it referred to as 'cannon crud' - lovely! This year we have been really strict with the grazing muzzle and as a result the buttercups have hardly been touched, and have grown higher than the grass, and the scabbing is nowhere near as bad as usual, even with more buttercups than ever.

I always worried about photosensitivity and liver damage, but we had full bloods taken at Christmas after a colic episode and it showed no damage (buttercup or ragwort) so that was a relief.
 
And for what it is worth, Head and Shoulders worked better than specific cradle cap shampoo on my baby daughter so I would try this first - cheaper too!
 
My coloured mare rubs the hair on her cheek bones and around her eyes. I think it is because she has sweet itch.

She also has dark stuff on the front of her canon bones. I have just left it, if I pick it it comes off revealing pink skin. Not sure whether I should treat it?
 
Please, anyone who has mud fever like symptoms and buttercups in their fields look into Leukocytoclastic Vasculitus which is a form of UV Photosensitivity on white legs. I didn't know what my horse had wrong and treated it as mudfever for ages before her legs ended up in a total state and it turned out to be LV. Has taken months to get better and can get very sore. Vets think it is triggered by buttercups.
 
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