HelenBack
Well-Known Member
This question has many aspects and I'm sure has been done before but this is a new problem for me after 30 years of owning horses so here we go:
My gelding has sensitive skin. He often rubs a bit in winter where he's been clipped but this year it's been much worse than usual and his coat has gone really dry. The girth has rubbed behind his elbows. We had the saddle checked as it was moving slightly which obviously didn't help. It's now fine but the saddler recommended using a sheepskin girth sleeve and the other day I unwittingly rode with it a bit creased on the one side, this rubbed so now more time off!
I have a few theories about the dry coat and would welcome thoughts on these:
1. For reasons I won't go into he was extremely tense for his December clip. The clipping lady, who is very good and experienced, really struggled because of this and it was after this that his coat started to suffer. He had no problems at all after his October clip.
2. He has wintered out this year whereas previously he has come in at night. I've made sure he's been neither over-rugged nor under-rugged but we've had lots of wind and rain and I wondered if this might have contributed.
3. We have ridiculously rich grazing (ex cattle pasture) so he's been having only Alfa A Molasses Free and Baileys Lo Cal. He definitely doesn't need any more calories but I wondered if maybe his diet was deficient in some vitamins or minerals.
All of this said I need to improve the quality of his skin and coat and try to prevent this happening again. I'd like to do this both from the inside and the outside so am looking for both feeding tips and hints on how I can help his coat from the outside. Any specific tips on how I can prevent the rubs and what I can do if rubs do occur would also be helpful.
Oh, and if anybody has any good grooming kit they can recommend for sensitive horses I'd also be grateful. At the moment I'm using Slip Not brushes and he doesn't like them and neither really do I! Was thinking maybe natural fibres might be the way to go.
As I said this is a new one to me after all these years of having horses so any advice would be very gratefully received.
Many thanks.
My gelding has sensitive skin. He often rubs a bit in winter where he's been clipped but this year it's been much worse than usual and his coat has gone really dry. The girth has rubbed behind his elbows. We had the saddle checked as it was moving slightly which obviously didn't help. It's now fine but the saddler recommended using a sheepskin girth sleeve and the other day I unwittingly rode with it a bit creased on the one side, this rubbed so now more time off!
I have a few theories about the dry coat and would welcome thoughts on these:
1. For reasons I won't go into he was extremely tense for his December clip. The clipping lady, who is very good and experienced, really struggled because of this and it was after this that his coat started to suffer. He had no problems at all after his October clip.
2. He has wintered out this year whereas previously he has come in at night. I've made sure he's been neither over-rugged nor under-rugged but we've had lots of wind and rain and I wondered if this might have contributed.
3. We have ridiculously rich grazing (ex cattle pasture) so he's been having only Alfa A Molasses Free and Baileys Lo Cal. He definitely doesn't need any more calories but I wondered if maybe his diet was deficient in some vitamins or minerals.
All of this said I need to improve the quality of his skin and coat and try to prevent this happening again. I'd like to do this both from the inside and the outside so am looking for both feeding tips and hints on how I can help his coat from the outside. Any specific tips on how I can prevent the rubs and what I can do if rubs do occur would also be helpful.
Oh, and if anybody has any good grooming kit they can recommend for sensitive horses I'd also be grateful. At the moment I'm using Slip Not brushes and he doesn't like them and neither really do I! Was thinking maybe natural fibres might be the way to go.
As I said this is a new one to me after all these years of having horses so any advice would be very gratefully received.
Many thanks.