Face sore/rash !!help!!

pickolus

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Hello,

My horse has developed irritating sore patches on his face.

He has a patch near his eye area on both sides and also his muzzle on each side.

I have cleansed it everyday with water, and applied various horse wound creams that are on the market.

Nothing seems to work! It dries out for a day or so and begins to get new hair growth...and then becomes sore again!

Has anyone got any advice on how to make him stop itching or any good creams/lotions out there that will clear it up quickly??

Thanks! xxx
 
Hi chwebby and welcome to the Forum. How old is your horse and how long have you had him? It could be ringworm (a fungal infection) or lice causing him to itch like mad and scratch himself raw. Depending on where it is on his face, could it be his bridle/headcollar rubbing? If you've only recently got him, it could be anything! Does he have any other patches on his body? Have a good look under his mane, belly etc. It could be a minor case of sweet itch or some other allergy, either feed or a plant he's not used to in the field. Are his gums a healthy pink? No yellowing? If he's a coloured horse, they are prone to patchy dermatitis on the white parts of their skin. Does his muzzle burn badly in the sun? You probably need to put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and try to work out what has changed in his life in the last few weeks. I would guess sunshine and grazing so have a think around that. It could be a flat sarcoid - they are quite common on the face. Just in case, be very cautious about putting any cream on his face that promises to "encourage skin growth". You could try applying Thuja cream at 30C potency. It is very gentle and if it is a low grade sarcoid it could help.

Can you give us some more info hun: how old, his breed, how long you have had him, any other patches on his body, when this first developed, his general health, and maybe a pic of ned's face?
 
Thanks alot for the reply!
Hes a small coloured cob, I ve had him for years.

He has suffered only once from the same type of rash in the past, he came to me with it. Im pretty sure its an allergy.

The only thing I can think of that has changed in the last few weeks is that hes been turned out alot more.

The marks appear symmetrically on his face, the exact same placing for each rub mark (one under each eye and one either side of muzzle.), so I think it is just an irritation/allergy rather than a disease.

The problem for me is how to make him stop itching , finding a cream that quickly heals the wounds! Is there anything out there that provides a quick solution.
xxxx
 
NAF do something that stops the itching.. I'm sure it's called pre itch or something like that. Used to use it on a horse that suffered terribly with sweet itch.
Do you put a mask on him or anything? I use the NAF D-itch cream too and that worked well for my sweet itch case.
 
wash is face in aloe vera shampoo then apply some tea tree craem and d and do product called itch free or there is on from global herbs called skartch try that out!
 
I tend to agree with the allergy thing- a friend's horse has something similar but its just everywhere- and like yours the only change is more grass. I have been told before that all the extra protein and stuff in the fresh spring grass can cause this kind of thing. The vet has said it is probably an allergy and has given her some anti fungal shampoo and steroid ear drops [to put on him, not in his ears as it was the only steroid thing he could think of without a proper diagnosis!] Sounds something similar is probably happening to you, her horse's started on his face and spread! Hope you have more luck than she has.
 
Aha! Coloured ned! They are prone to odd patches of dermatitis, especially in the summer. The skin of most "white" horses is grey but the skin under the white areas on a coloured cob is WHITE so doesn't offer the same protection against the sun. My coloured mare gets them too but usually on her body and neck. I've used Bepanthen (sp) which is an expensive nappy cream lol, to good effect.

I'd be suspicious if the sore patches are symmetrical. Are you sure it's not tack?
 
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