Do horses get hairier the older they get

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Beau jangles

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My boy is 24 this year and over the last few years has got hairier in the winter he always gets a full clip but I only clipped once this year.
He is incredibly hairy for a part Arab

My question is do they get hairier when older like old men do lol !

He has no other signs of cushings at all but it's always a worry when they get older

He is casting like mad already and always has a beautiful summer coat

Anyone else have an older horse getting hairier with no link to cushings ?

Thanks
 
My girl seems to grow more feather every year, she doesn't have any in the summer, and used to just have a little tuft in the winter, but the last couple of years she has been growing almost a proper feather for the winter.
 
I've known two oldies who did, who were both diagnosed with mild, (& very slow progressing) cushings. Neither had any other signs at any point, or required any treatment or change to management, except in terms of clipping. And both eventually died of other, unrelated, age problems, years after the cushings diagnosis.
 
There was 2 horses at my yard who have cushings one was sadly pts earlier this year he had terrible diabetes which then gave him cushings but he was 31

The other was diagnosed through laminitis and responding well

Just seems like mine is getting to be an old hairy man , coat isn't curly no excessive sweating , drinking or urinating and is in great physical shape .

You just can't help but worry sometimes.
 
I was just commenting on this yesterday we have two ponies welshies who have not really got any hairier on their bodies but have longer and more hair on their legs, one has now got quite long hair but not like normal feather.
We were joking about them sprouting hair like old people do.

I also think one of our old tbs has coarser hair and gets more of a beard than he used to so I think they can, I am drawing the line at nasal hair trimmers for them though.
 
Beau jangles said:
My boy is 24 this year and over the last few years has got hairier in the winter he always gets a full clip but I only clipped once this year.
He is incredibly hairy for a part Arab

My question is do they get hairier when older like old men do lol !

He has no other signs of cushings at all but it's always a worry when they get older

He is casting like mad already and always has a beautiful summer coat

Anyone else have an older horse getting hairier with no link to cushings ?

Thanks
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has the horse been blood tested as they dont need to exhibit symptoms to have it?
 
No not yet thinking if phoning the vets tomorrow , when previously spoke to the vet when had his teeth done 2 months ago he said that sometimes older horses just get hairier the older they get and he has no other symptoms .

Was just wanting to know if anyone else's horses horses got hairier the older they got without being linked to cushings , to be fair he could have been like this for years and I wouldn't have known as always clip twice , only clipped once and that was mid October so has had plenty if time to get hairy
 
Frank is def hairier in summer than he used to be (he's always been a winter fluff!) to the point that year before last he was kept clipped in summer as was in full work (had last summer off). Has been tested and negative for cushings - he is 20 this June.
 
The two I knew didn't have curly coats either. One had previously been a typical fine coated tb who simply started growing an average winter coat. The other was a native who grew a coat more like you'd expect on one living out. Nothing anyone that didn't know them well would spot as unusually hairy, simply hairy for them. But, as I said, except for explaining their coats, the cushings had no effect at all on their lives, quality or quantity.
 
My boy aged 22 has got progressively hairier. This year he resembled a yak! No exaggeration. His coat wobbled when he walked and his leg hair from elbow to hooves would put a shire to shame. In the past only had a little hair around fetlock.

I had him tested for cushings last year and was deemed clear.
 
Shysmum said:
Should I admit this........I plucked a long black hair from chin last week :eek:
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Don't worry, I've been pulling hairs from my chin since my late teens. Although my hair is red/strawberry blonde, the hairs are REALLY dark, so I try to keep on top of my beard. I've noticed more fuzz on the lip, too, but thankfully, that's blonde.

Henry has got hairier as he's aged (and he is almost certainly an EMS case according to the vet). More fluffy feathers and his ears seem fluffier on the inside.

I'd have thought that more hair was quite common, though. It makes sense that as hormones change with age, hair growth does, too.
 
I HOPE NOT!:eek:

My new horse has a 3" or more winter coat, a great big bushy beard like david bellamy, feather so thick you cant see his skin and its coming out in droves, he is only 4 please NO MORE! LOL
 
My boy is 24 this year, Irish TB/lw warmblood type. He's getting a longer, thicker coat each year. He was blood tested for cushings last year for the reasons you suggest, but came back clear. I don't clip him if I can avoid it; but this year he's had a 'drip strip' - down the windpipe, chest and girth area - just to cool him down when he works. He started to shed about 3 weeks ago - it's coming out by the handful now. If only we could locate Spring, it would be great ;)
 
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