Funny coat, old age, maybe?

kerrieberry2

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My mare is 27 this year and i've had her for 11 years, this year her coat is doing something really weird, she has lost pretty much all of her winter coat now, but she is covered in a layer of white hair. She was clipped every 4-6 weeks from July until Jan. She had a blanket and on the blanket area there are loads of white hairs left that are about 3-4 inches long! they come out pretty easily if i pull them out, but there's A LOT, and it doesnt seem to hurt her at all. Also on the area that is clipped there is shorter white hairs, I can see where they are coming out where her rugs been on certain patches and when i ride you can see them flying off but not really sure why she is looking like this? i've attached a couple of pics, first one is of her a few weeks ago, while she was still losing her winter coat and the other is how she looked last summer. just wonder if anyone knows why she might have all this white hair and if its okay for me to keep pulling it out, or if i should wait for it to come out naturally?


fluffy.jpg


notsofluffy.jpg
 
Hard to tell from just a pic but to me it looks like a typical cushing's coat. Have you had her tested? There are free vouchers at the moment for oldies to get tested?
 
If the grey had come on gradually I'd say its age, but given your description & the picture I'd agree with moomin that it might be worth getting her checked for cushings.
 
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