Cob feather - scurf?

[cosmic389]

Hi, looking for some advice on my cob feather. It's winter here now and I've noticed my horse has got a fair bit of skin flakes (scurf? Grease?) on his legs, localised to the back of the cannon bone and near the ergots. I have to part his hair right down to the skin to see them. They are white and looks like skin flakes. The skin itself is pink and not broken or irritated, no sores either.

He shows no sign of itching, stamping etc. Last year he had mites and I treated him for that successfully. This looks different to when he had mites.

Attached some photos. Feather is damp looking as I just washed his legs, and the skin flakes are 'loose'. Front legs are much cleaner.

He lives out 24/7. I'm quite diligent in checking his legs, and brush the feather regularly.


Thank you.

 

[smolmaus]

Just a tiny little bit of mallenders/ sallenders! Or hyperkeratosis. We get the same when the coat changes and easy dealt with with a bit of feather oil (or baby oil) to moisturise and the flakes comb right out. Some horses it is a much worse condition where the skin gets scaly, scabby and sore but if it is just a few flakes at coat change time you just need to keep the feathers and the skin underneath moisturised and keep an eye on it.

 

[cosmic389]

I'm thinking it's probably caused by hyperkeratosis with the growth of his winter coat. It's not mallenders/sallenders due to the location, however he does have very mild mallenders at the back of his knees which flares up during the colder months. I recently started feeding linseed oil to see if helps with the dry skin. His feather is very thick there's no way I can moisturise the skin with a lotion or cream.

 

[smolmaus]

His feather is very thick there's no way I can moisturise the skin with a lotion or cream.

This is why I use an oil, you can squirt it right down into the feather and then just get your hands in there to distribute. Helps the mud slide off too If I'm washing legs (which I don't very often) I use a dandruff shampoo as well.

Mallenders/ Sallenders is just hyperkeratosis, the special name due to location is just a traditional thing.

 

[cosmic389]

Well TIL haha, thanks!

 

[Traks]

Hyperkeratosis id say, Mallenders/Sallenders is just the location but it’s the same thing. This group is brilliant for advice:https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1ZKcjKiexP/?mibextid=wwXIfr

I like the biteback silver cream for our Welsh D who gets a bit of it, didn’t have a lot of success with the M&S cream but what works for one doesn’t always work etc so worth a try x

 

[Surbie]

I wash mine with warm/hot water and salt - it dissolves the flakes and seems to be good for mine's skin. I try not to oil too much in summer, but if it's gone a bit scabby I'll work in some udder cream.

 

[Sanversera]

I clip the feather off my cobs legs. Makes things like mallenders easier to treated.

 

[planete]

As well as the occasional wash and keeping the skin moisturised I use a metal nit comb to keep the feather free of loose scurf.

 

[Highmileagecob]

A good dandruff shampoo will remove the scurf. I use Selsun 2.5% as it is the only one I have found that works for my old cob. He does get mites, and this clears the mites and the dandruff.

 

[cosmic389]

Thanks everyone for the tips and advice. I don't have Facebook so bit limited in terms of accessing discussion groups.