Funny smelling horse

Eggshells

Eggshells

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I normally love the smell of horse, I'm forever burying my nose into their necks and getting a good ol' nose full, but I was getting a horse ready for this afternoon and noticed a strange smell. After having a sniff around I realised in was the horse. Best way I can describe it is normal horse smell overlaid with slightly stale BO and hint of silage. Horse hadn't rolled in anything, it definitely was the odor he was exuding. I know he is on garlic powder - could that be the cause?

Anyway, just wondered if other people had come across horses they didn't want to sniff?
 
Yes, a horse I was on at a trekking centre. He stank. The whole time I was on him I was acutely aware of a really strong stale urine smell. I couldn't get it out of my nose for ages afterwards. Can only assume he's been lying down on dirty bedding..yuk.
 
Yes - both my mum and I agreed it stunk like dog poo and stale sweat ... The owner fills it full of so much food it's poo also reaks to the point it made me gag picking it up :o
 
I believe the smell of some feed additives like garlic can come through the skin. The worst offender that I have experienced is DMSO (dimethylsuphoxide) used medically to treat septicaemia and as a solvent/carrier for topical steroids which causes the horse, and sometimes the whole barn, to stink of something akin to rotten garlic.
 
Incidentally, has anyone else noticed that horses can smell different in different places? For example, neck/mane, muzzle and back have rather different smells.
 
I was feeding my boys global herbs fly free....which is v potent smelling...after a while I did notice that they began to smell slightly curried! But I guess that was partly the effect it was meant to have in discouraging the flies, so I just sniffed them a bit less! :-)
 
Could be that the horse has rolled in/near fox or badger poo......or where a scent has been left?

My dog regularily roll in such delights and although there is no visible signs, the smell is very obvious!
 
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He is 20ish years old and seems fighting fit so I hope no serious health issues! Just really odd, used to do a lot with him and never really noticed how he smelt, although come to think of it he always had a slightly unhorsey smell... but today he really was 'ripe' and it wasn't a nice smell at all. Hmm. Will mention it to his owner - see if he has noticed it/thinks it has changed. And have a surreptitious sniff of his other horse to see if he smells the same! I'll be the mad horse sniffer lady!
 
Sidney said:
Could be that the horse has rolled in/near fox or badger poo......or where a scent has been left?

My dog regularily roll in such delights and although there is no visible signs, the smell is very obvious!
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It really was all over - his breath down to his hooves! I did a thorough sniff over as I was rather bemused by it! No mud etc on him either suggesting he'd rolled.

And yes - the high speed dash across the field and blood curdling shriek at the beastly dog is a frequent occurrence, know that smell well! Nothing however beats when one of my foster dogs found a fresh cow pat to roll in... he was, quite literally, head to toe dripping in the stuff.
 
Unpleasant smell may also indicate disease. Strangles, for example, has a particular (and unpleasant) odour. Ketosis is another example.

Whether anything like this should be a cause for concern depends on what's normal for the horse. Unexpected or unexplained changes always tend to ring alarm bells - as they should! - but if a horse has always smelled a bit odd and otherwise seems fine, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Humans all smell different and some more than others. My sister has a theory that ginger haired people smell more than dark haired or fair!
I suspect she just doesn't like gingers :D
 
Mares and geldings definitely smell different too (and not just for the obvious reasons :D ).

My own horse has a unique smell (I know we all say that ;) ) - he has a very light, grassy scent. We always thought it was because he lived out (my OH has commented on it too), but other horses who also live out have stronger scents. It's only this year we've discovered he has anhidrosis and sweats very little that we've realised why he might smell a little different to other horses. I adore his smell, especially when he has his full winter coat, and can often be found sniffing his neck...
 
Many years ago I remember a very old and unhealthy-looking horse which smelt exactly like an old and unhealthy dog does. :(
 
Years ago I took on a horse who had been pretty well abandoned he always a percuilar wrong smell .
He was a very sweet boy sadly he was ill and we never really got to the bottom of what was wrong .
I hate that smell that horses kept bedding free get uggh .
I love smelling my horses they all smell different my OH thinks I'm mad.
 
angelish said:
i don't want to panic you but i had a horse years ago and she always smelt funny especially when she sweated and she had lukemia , she was 22 yrs old when she died though
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I got a rabbit from a rescue place, as a companion to my own rabbit. The new rabbit smelt "wrong" though and the flies followed her around :eek3:. Turned out she had cancer. :(
 
ZondaR - hehe

Amymay - He is out with geldings, mares in a field that corners onto his. In the stable he has one of his field mates (both owned by same person) to one side and a mare on the other but is out 24/7 at the moment. Doesn't seem to give two hoots about mares. Why?

FionaM12 - Poor old horse. This one in good nick with lovely shiny coat and carrying just the right condition if slightly lacking in muscle (no wasting of muscle, just that owner hacks everywhere on a long rein so both his two lack topline).

PleaseVenus - mmmm chorizo!

I really didn't think this would turn into a 'what might be wrong with this horse' thread, but it is very interesting to hear the potential reasons why a horse smells wrong! Didn't know about the eating dung things, certainly didn't think about it being a sign of some grim illness - just thought, hmmm, he smells odd, wonder if others have experienced smelly horses!
 
If he was turned out with mares, they could have been squirting urine on him when they are in season. It absolutely stinks!
 
I normally love the smell of horses.
Except when I was pregnant.
One of my horses smell made me feel sick.

I suppose a dirty sweaty horse, that's fed garlic could have an unpleasant smell.
Are his stable, rugs, tack etc kept clean?
 
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