Detectives out there. Mystery hairloss... Are fairies stealing my boy's fur?

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akashapachamama

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Calling all HHO Detectives....

I have noticed over the last week tiny (very tiny) patches of hairloss appearing on my boy's back, neck and sides, in these areas there is also fairy dust (or perhaps light dandruff?).
The patches are no bigger than a droplet in size but they are grouped together in patches that are sprinkled or which look like creases in his coat.

Does anyone know what it is...Are the fairies stealing his coat? Is it Mild Rainscald? and what can I use as a deterent for these theives? I was thinking of trying neem oil (my magic cure for anything) but wanted to check here first.

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Sounds like mild sweating! My mare used to get this and you could lift off sometimes whole pieces of fur-think the biggest I took off was about 2 inches in diameter

Never caused her any problems and the hair always regrew underneath
 
You could try covering your horse's back in salt, and looking to see if you can find any little fairy footprints in the morning... Otherwise, mild rainscald would be my guess - sudocreme/aloe vera, maybe? Fuciderm if you have any. Or... can horses get alopecia??
 
I had an elderly pony that had a similar problem although it was on a larger scale and the vet thought it was lice of some sort although none could be seen and there hadn't been any contact with new horses etc. He gave him an injection to kill of critters and I bathed him with maleseb and it went away and didn't come back again, so might have been a parasite or fungal infection!
 
This sounds the same as what my mare gets every year! She hasn't been clipped for 2 years, so I have clipped her this year to see if it was because she was hot etc and she is still getting it!
One year she actually lost most of the hair on one shoulder!

i have spoken to the vet numerous times about it, and the best thing we have found to do is just wash with hibbiscrub and/or dermoline, dry thoroughly, and if it ever gets to a weepy or scabby stage, sudacreme (nappy creme!) or Dema-gel.
Derma-gel is FANTASTIC, we use for EVERYTHING! lasts ages, forms a great barrier and I have never *touchwood* not had complete hair re-growth with it!

As for the hair loss, I have so far this year, bathed with dermoline, dried and just keep it cleaned/groomed to keep an eye on it.
I think mine could be a combination of dry skin, changing seasons/temperatures and rugs, increased rolling and mud!!

But DONT PANIC!, I show my girl and I have never had a long term problem with this!!! :)
 
Hi there, my horse has a very odd hair loss thing every year unless i clip him, the vet said basically he cannot cope with the transition of summer to Wionter coat, and vis versa! so he pretty much (if not clipped) goes bald nearly all over and it comes out very dandruffy but not gooey at all, it started on him on his neck and between his back legs near his tail....Sounds fairly similar to what youve experienced.
 
My grand prix horse had a form of alopecia (Alopecia universalis) all of his fur fell out and his mane and tail (the lot) hence I stopped competing him as he looked well weird. It took us over a year to get him diagnosed and then there was no treatment. His fur has now all but grown back (He has a really weedy tail) but other than that his fur is basically all there now.

The dermatology vet that diagnosed him said that she had seen very mild forms of this before which sound like what you describe but he was the first case she'd ever seen with total hair loss... so much so that he was presented at the Hong Kong conference of Equine Dermatology as an 'unusual case'.

It caused him no distress and he worked normally at home thru'out the event.

Blitz
 
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