Fungal infection on horse's back

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Erehwemos

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Just wondered if anyone else has ever come across this
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We've finally deduced that Ellie's bare/raised patches at the back of where her saddle goes are not the result of an ill fitting saddle, or of sunburn
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I havent ridden for over a week now, and by Monday, the patches had completely healed over - full hair coverage, no heat, no swelling, no tenderness. I went up to the yard to ride her yesterday, took her rugs off and.......the patches were raised up again, the hair all bobbly - and they had appeared in areas where they'd not been apparent before
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YO came to have a look and said she'd had a horse with exactly the same thing before, and it turned out that there was some kind of fungus. Mum also said the same thing happened with her old horse.

So I bathed the area with Imaverol, which I have to do every three days for five treatments
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This morning it looked better - still visible and still raised, but not as bad as yesterday. I just wondered whether anyone else has ever had anything similar with their horse? And, dare I ask, how long did you have to wait before riding again....
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As I dont want to put a saddle anywhere near her till its all healed up for good
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apply some tea tree to it that will help with the infection and soothe and protect it!

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Thank you - is tea tree better than arnica?
 
Hi there a mare of mine had what sounds like a similar thing did the imaverol thing but it came back. Can i suggest that you bathe the area with warm water with a pot of bicarbonate of soda in. I use this all the time in the bath for my little boys eczema and it works a treat. Tried it out on the horse and it worked an really well. Bicarbonate of soda is a gentle ph but is antiseptic as well. It seemed to kill the infection and also soothed and dried the skin at the same time - just as it does for my little boy. I recommend a litre of water and a half tub (find it in the baking section of supermarket) of bicarb dissolved in it. wash it on then let it dry - it leaves a whiteish powder on the skin when it dries which I just left there. Did this for three days and seemed to clear it.
Also make sure that you wash all the rugs that your horse wears as my vet suspected that the horse could be reinfected by the fungus being on the underside of the rug
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yes! my mare has it now
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vet said it was a fungal infection and gave me some shampoo to clean the area with twice a day. As the area wasn't sore he said to keep riding but make sure numnah was really clean each time and to try and keep a rug off her....not possible in this bludi weather

Was putting tea tree oil on it before I got the vet and it did seem to help.
 
Thank you, that's really helpful!
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I am off out to Sainsburys later so will get some - it'll be good to have something to bathe her with in between using the Imaverol.

I brought my rugs home yesterday to put them all through a hot wash - guess I will have to do the same again in a couple of days time, lol!

Thanks very much
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yes! my mare has it now
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vet said it was a fungal infection and gave me some shampoo to clean the area with twice a day. As the area wasn't sore he said to keep riding but make sure numnah was really clean each time and to try and keep a rug off her....not possible in this bludi weather

Was putting tea tree oil on it before I got the vet and it did seem to help.

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Oh gosh! I dont know that I would want to keep riding my girlie - the patches are right under tha back of the saddle, and I'd be terrified that it would make it sore
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And I know what you mean about rugs, no way could I leave her without today, its very cold here!

Do you know the name of the shampoo, and is it one that only vets can give?

Thanks for the reply btw
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Will have a look at lunchtime and get back to you.
I thought it was rainscald at first, even though she was rugged but alkthough it looked horrible the area wasn't sore. tbh I have only ridden her once since vet came out (last Tuesday week) but it didn't seem to make it worse and it seems to be healing really well now.
 
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Will have a look at lunchtime and get back to you.
I thought it was rainscald at first, even though she was rugged but alkthough it looked horrible the area wasn't sore. tbh I have only ridden her once since vet came out (last Tuesday week) but it didn't seem to make it worse and it seems to be healing really well now.

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Thankies!
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That's good - if Ellie's heals as quickly then hopefully I wont have to wait too long! It's spring time, I want to be out on long lovely hacks!
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Hi hope this helps! We had a mare very similar. Had the vet take a look at her and we decided to that it was best to cover all possibilities so we washed the area with sporal d shampoo, put her on a short course of antibiotics and also applied a anti fungal cream ( bought from the local chemist for a few pounds ) she was also given a treatment in her feed. ( can't remember the name but will find out for you if you like). It cleared up in no time! hair started to comeback through within a few days!. We then applied wonder gel ( aloe vera ) to encourage hair growth. A few weeks later looking at her you wouldn't have believed the difference!.
 
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Hi hope this helps! We had a mare very similar. Had the vet take a look at her and we decided to that it was best to cover all possibilities so we washed the area with sporal d shampoo, put her on a short course of antibiotics and also applied a anti fungal cream ( bought from the local chemist for a few pounds ) she was also given a treatment in her feed. ( can't remember the name but will find out for you if you like). It cleared up in no time! hair started to comeback through within a few days!. We then applied wonder gel ( aloe vera ) to encourage hair growth. A few weeks later looking at her you wouldn't have believed the difference!.

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Thank you, very helpful!
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I will go to the chemist later so will hopefully find some cream there, and the Sporal D sounds good too - might try and get hold of some!
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If one of my horses had a skin disease, and I didn't know whether it was a bacterial, viral or fungal infection, I'd be doing the right thing, and getting a vet to examine her.
This will not only ensure she heals as quickly as possible so you can continue riding her, but will protect other horses on the yard from contracting whatever disease she has.
I wouldn't be trying the home remedies...
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Looking at previous post i think vet has already taken a look at the mare and decided fungal. Our vet is very thorough and you can't allways rule out if it is bacterial/virus/fungal. Thats why we decided to cover all possibilities. In our case it wasn't infectious ( none of our other horses had any signs what so ever ). The sporal D/antibiotics/feed supplement came from the vet. The anifugal cream came from the chemist as much cheaper than buying from the vet! same stuff though!! I also get intrasite gel from my chemist which is fab stuff!!! This mare was a lovely traditional cob ( my personal opinion is that she had been bathed in unsuitable shampoo ( to strong ) and the residue hadn't been washed out correctly causing a reaction from sweating!. I am also very careful in what i use to wash our horses saddlecloths and fleece rugs with as i think some detergents can cause a reaction in some horses.
 
Shilasdair,

The vet is coming out Friday to have a look at her, but I have spoken to him over the phone and he said that bathing it with Imaverol would certainly do no harm until he gets to see her. He also suggested arnica or something similar to help 'toughen the skin' seeing as there had been some hair loss.

I am well aware of the dangers of random home remedies, but I'm sure you can appreciate how useful it is to be aware of others who may have had similar experiences, and to know how their issues were dealt with
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If you are certain it is fungal then a good anti dandruff shampoo from a pharmacy is very effective - not the ones on display, the over the counter ones.
However you should be wary as this could also be an allergic reaction, heat, swelling and leaking plasma also indicate allergy, in which case your treatment should be much more gentle and concentrate on keeping rugs and heat off where possible.
 
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apply some tea tree to it that will help with the infection and soothe and protect it!

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Careful with the Tea Tree - maybe not use the oil straight - dilute it first. As I used it neat on my boy and it actually burnt/irritated the skin to the extent that it swelled up and went ikky like a burn
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If you are certain it is fungal then a good anti dandruff shampoo from a pharmacy is very effective - not the ones on display, the over the counter ones.
However you should be wary as this could also be an allergic reaction, heat, swelling and leaking plasma also indicate allergy, in which case your treatment should be much more gentle and concentrate on keeping rugs and heat off where possible.

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Thanks MotherHen I will bear that in mind as I will probably look to give her a good bath once I am certain what it is I am dealing with. All indicators are that it IS fungal - initially I thought it was heat/rubbing or even fly bites, but the fact that it disappeared completely and then suddenly reappeared without being aggravated by anything is, the vet told me, a clear indication that it is some kind of fungal condition. Its so tricky letting air get to it - she feels the cold so easily, and although I was able to leave her unrugged earlier in the week it's far to cold (and damp!) to do that now!

I did put a wicking sheet on her last night instead of her summersheet - I just wondered if that might be a bit more breathable
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[ QUOTE ]
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apply some tea tree to it that will help with the infection and soothe and protect it!

[/ QUOTE ]

Careful with the Tea Tree - maybe not use the oil straight - dilute it first. As I used it neat on my boy and it actually burnt/irritated the skin to the extent that it swelled up and went ikky like a burn
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.

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Oooh righto I might stick to arnica for now then!
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Hi MizElz,

the shampoo the vet gave me for my mare was Malaseb, which is a cat and dog antibacterial and Antifungal one lol but it really seems to have helped.

HTH
Clair
 
Hi there, just re my post my mare had this in exactly the same place as yours has right under the saddle, it started at the top of her withers and then ran halfway along under where the saddle would go. The bits that were really bald eventually grew hair back but some patches grew back white.
ps the one good thing about the bicarbonate of soda is that it is really gentle even if it does no good it will do no harm, whereas Tea Tree can be quite stingy on sore skin. My vet agreed that I should give it a go and he now recommends it to others having seen the good results.
I didn't ride my mare untill the bald patches had regrown hair - just kept her lunging, working in hand etc till felt the skin on her back was completely better. I also sent my rugs to be professionally cleaned and bought couple of cheapo ones to put on her untill they were back
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good luck with clearing yours up
 
There was a horse at our livery yard with the same problem. Are they just like raised bumps? They were where the saddle would go then they'd clear up and come back along right to her stifle area. They were only on one side too! WE had the vet out numerous times and he just left Imavrol for us to keep washing them with. He tried a course of anti-biotics but that didn't really work. Can't comment on how long she wasn't ridden for as she was a broodmare!
 
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I would get the vet out, it could easily be ringworm espesh if it looks like rainscald

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No its deffo not ringworm. Looks nothing like rainscald; its very hard to describe as tbh it isnt overly visible - its identifiable by touch more than sight. Like lots of little bumps under the skin. In fact I thought to myself this morning that it is very similar to something I once had on my wrist - which turned out to be a heat rash caused by my watch
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The hair loss came before the bumps - it was the bald patches that first drew my attention, as she'd never lost any hair there before. Other people on the yard have horses which have lost hair in the same place, but Elz is the only one to have come up in these bumps
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The other three who lost hair are also the only other three on the yard to be fully clipped out - so next year we will leave Ellie's saddle patch on, I think!
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Shilasdair,

The vet is coming out Friday to have a look at her, but I have spoken to him over the phone and he said that bathing it with Imaverol would certainly do no harm until he gets to see her. He also suggested arnica or something similar to help 'toughen the skin' seeing as there had been some hair loss.

I am well aware of the dangers of random home remedies, but I'm sure you can appreciate how useful it is to be aware of others who may have had similar experiences, and to know how their issues were dealt with
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Good, I am glad you are getting a vet to diagnose her skin problems properly. I disagree however, that 'home remedies' will do no harm, especially if the skin is broken. For example, I know quite a few horses (including one of mine) who are very, very allergic to tea tree oil.
It is true that fungal infections can be effectively treated by Malaseb, but again, I believe that's a POM, so you'll need the vet anyway.
Can I also suggest you avoid contact between your horse, you, your rugs, etc, and other horses, until you have established what is wrong with her, and maybe warn the other owners?
When one of mine had a mystery skin disease, I warned my YO and other owners to avoid contact with her until I was certain it wasn't communicable to others.
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