Horse with poor coat and dry skin

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Gerry-Boy

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Anybody got any good tips what I could give him to improve this?

Gerry's not had the best start in life, he's been heavily neglected by the previous owner, was broken when I got him. He's now physically ok but now he's started getting bald patches on his body.
We've had him tested for ringworms, it's negative.

I think this might just be a sign of all the stress he went through and his body just reacting to everything that's happened.

I've read that codliver oil or powder are good and have also been told to feed him vitamins.

What I don't really want to do is get him some "real" food, because he's already a very nervous, twitchy and overly energized boy. Don't want to make this worse by feeding him real food.
At the moment he's on gras and haylage and he gets a handful of Alfa A a couple of times a week.

I'd be grateful for some tips as to what I could mix into that to help his dry skin - which I think will then result in his coat getting better anyway.

Many thanks.
 
In your situation I think I would be tempted to swop the haylage for hay and the alfa a for hi fi or plain grass chaff, and then feed a bit of micronised linseed or a linseed based forage balancer, maybe a simple systems or an agrobs one.
 
He is a lucky boy to have found you and now be in safe hands, I hope all goes well for you.

The way I would go would be to clip him and give him a good wash with Selsun or Malaseb and repeat until his skin and coat improve, alongside that I would feed good hay with a good quality balancer fed at the right levels for bodyweight and a mug of linseed. You should see improvement in 6/8 weeks.

Avoid cereal, barley and starch for an itchy horse. Regarding the anxiety, over reactive problems it might be worth trying a little valerian and as he starts to trust you and become more settled you can taper it off. Ultimately you will earn his trust with consistent handling and he will gradually start to change. I have been through this and there is no quick fix with anxious horses.

Good luck with him, it will all be worth it in the end.
 
It sounds like you're on the right track - I would also be tempted to swap the haylage for hay as it may be a bit much for his system. Otherwise, linseed is very good for coat & skin.
 
Thank you so much for your help, just did a big order of linseed and vitamins.

AdorableAlice, thank you also for the tip with the valerian, that's a brilliant idea, definitely worth a go!

I've bought him as a riding horse for myself in October, as I'm a newbie to horse ownership I walked right into the trap of what not to do - and ended up with an injured and slightly crazy horse that was drugged up when I test rode him...

The injury's now been fixed, teeth done, physically he's ok. Mentally not so much, we think he's been taken away from his mum way too early that's why he's got abandonment issues. He gets himself in a totally panicky state if something goes wrong and can't be controlled.
He's ok to come out on his own now, will still shout at his friend in the field but he's just a nervous not very confident little thing - unfortunately in the body of a 17h giant. He's slowly starting to trust people again, had a rider on him at the weekend which was a massive step for him.

I'll start him on the vitamins and the valerian asap, fingers crossed it helps him!
 
Gerry-Boy said:
Thank you so much for your help, just did a big order of linseed and vitamins.

AdorableAlice, thank you also for the tip with the valerian, that's a brilliant idea, definitely worth a go!

I've bought him as a riding horse for myself in October, as I'm a newbie to horse ownership I walked right into the trap of what not to do - and ended up with an injured and slightly crazy horse that was drugged up when I test rode him...

The injury's now been fixed, teeth done, physically he's ok. Mentally not so much, we think he's been taken away from his mum way too early that's why he's got abandonment issues. He gets himself in a totally panicky state if something goes wrong and can't be controlled.
He's ok to come out on his own now, will still shout at his friend in the field but he's just a nervous not very confident little thing - unfortunately in the body of a 17h giant. He's slowly starting to trust people again, had a rider on him at the weekend which was a massive step for him.

I'll start him on the vitamins and the valerian asap, fingers crossed it helps him!
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Welcome to the club - http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?540585-My-next-equine-project-horse
 
Gerry-Boy said:
Thank you so much for your help, just did a big order of linseed and vitamins.

AdorableAlice, thank you also for the tip with the valerian, that's a brilliant idea, definitely worth a go!

I've bought him as a riding horse for myself in October, as I'm a newbie to horse ownership I walked right into the trap of what not to do - and ended up with an injured and slightly crazy horse that was drugged up when I test rode him...

The injury's now been fixed, teeth done, physically he's ok. Mentally not so much, we think he's been taken away from his mum way too early that's why he's got abandonment issues. He gets himself in a totally panicky state if something goes wrong and can't be controlled.
He's ok to come out on his own now, will still shout at his friend in the field but he's just a nervous not very confident little thing - unfortunately in the body of a 17h giant. He's slowly starting to trust people again, had a rider on him at the weekend which was a massive step for him.

I'll start him on the vitamins and the valerian asap, fingers crossed it helps him!
Click to expand...

Did similar with my first horse, a giant boy with a collection of Issues! It was a steep learning curve but so satisfying. Very best of luck to you both x
 
Gerry-Boy said:
Anybody got any good tips what I could give him to improve this?

Gerry's not had the best start in life, he's been heavily neglected by the previous owner, was broken when I got him. He's now physically ok but now he's started getting bald patches on his body.
We've had him tested for ringworms, it's negative.

I think this might just be a sign of all the stress he went through and his body just reacting to everything that's happened.

I've read that codliver oil or powder are good and have also been told to feed him vitamins.

What I don't really want to do is get him some "real" food, because he's already a very nervous, twitchy and overly energized boy. Don't want to make this worse by feeding him real food.
At the moment he's on gras and haylage and he gets a handful of Alfa A a couple of times a week.

I'd be grateful for some tips as to what I could mix into that to help his dry skin - which I think will then result in his coat getting better anyway.

Many thanks.
Click to expand...

I would use soya oil over cod liver, lovely shine and gleaming coat and skin.
 
Gerry-Boy said:
Thank you so much for your help, just did a big order of linseed and vitamins.

AdorableAlice, thank you also for the tip with the valerian, that's a brilliant idea, definitely worth a go!

I've bought him as a riding horse for myself in October, as I'm a newbie to horse ownership I walked right into the trap of what not to do - and ended up with an injured and slightly crazy horse that was drugged up when I test rode him...

The injury's now been fixed, teeth done, physically he's ok. Mentally not so much, we think he's been taken away from his mum way too early that's why he's got abandonment issues. He gets himself in a totally panicky state if something goes wrong and can't be controlled.
He's ok to come out on his own now, will still shout at his friend in the field but he's just a nervous not very confident little thing - unfortunately in the body of a 17h giant. He's slowly starting to trust people again, had a rider on him at the weekend which was a massive step for him.

I'll start him on the vitamins and the valerian asap, fingers crossed it helps him!
Click to expand...

Glad to hear that your horse is fine. Really he got a good master.
 
TYSSANDI said:
I would use soya oil over cod liver, lovely shine and gleaming coat and skin.
Click to expand...

I would not feed cod liver oil to a vegetarian, it is old school, when micronised linseed was not available. A big horse can take two coffee mugs per day of micronised linseed.
Use a broad spectrum mineral, not a lick, and add salt to the diet. Also avoid pony nuts with lots of wheatfeed, and lots of molasses, they are made to a price. Condtioning [hi fibre] nuts are the only bagged feed I would use in this situation, but be aware that the recommened amounts can be quite large [expensive[, and if you cut back he may not get enough minerals, also the minerals and vitamins tend to be minimal, so a good broad spectrum min and vit is better.
Avoid both horse treats, and licks with molasses, and other marketing gimmicks like "Happy Pony ". The Laminitis trust may be a good charity [I know nothing about them], but it looks as though feed companies donate in order to "get the logo"
 
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Thank you, Exploding Chestnuts, that's very useful advice, I've ordered him loads yesterday but will get the micronised linseed as well.

I'm hoping things will also get better when the rugs can finally come off - just need that bloody rain to stop! We had beautiful sunshine yesterday so he got to enjoy a bit of rug-off time but with the rain we had overnight the rugs will definitely stay on :|
 
It sounds like his landed on his feet with you:) the spring grass will be here soon that is the best medicine for any horse he will look completely different in a few months.
 
Another recommendation for just hay and microniseed linseed and adding sodium, another thing that sometimes (though not always) helps is magnesium, I found it also helped their feet.
 
LD&S said:
Another recommendation for just hay and microniseed linseed and adding sodium, another thing that sometimes (though not always) helps is magnesium, I found it also helped their feet.
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Yep, as found in a balanced mineral mix.
Sodium, is found in salt, [NaCl], which is hygroscopic [absorbs moisture from the air], and therefore can't be put in bagged feeds or minerals, but has to be kept separate until it is fed.
MgO straight may be fed to horses, but really, start with a good balanced mineral and vitamin mix before further tweaking, if necessary.
 
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Pinkvboots said:
It sounds like his landed on his feet with you:) the spring grass will be here soon that is the best medicine for any horse he will look completely different in a few months.
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I hope the grass will also help, yes. Just have to find a way to have Gerry eat lots of grass and restrict the rotund Cob from eating too much of it :D At the moment we're thinking of one full fat paddock for Gerry and the companion and a low carb paddock for the Cob and his friend :)
 
Gerry-Boy said:
I hope the grass will also help, yes. Just have to find a way to have Gerry eat lots of grass and restrict the rotund Cob from eating too much of it :D At the moment we're thinking of one full fat paddock for Gerry and the companion and a low carb paddock for the Cob and his friend :)
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I'll probably be shot down for this but if he is very excitable already it may be better going for a balance of grass and hay for a while, spring grass can make even very calm horses a bit 'lively' or in my boys case a nutter! well he used to be until we realised and restricted him a bit.

He was my first horse and an arab to boot, we were never told that his previous owner couldn't ride him at all in the spring till we'd had him through the spring, thought we made a huge mistake but with a bit of careful management we have eliminated the problem.
 
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LD&S said:
I'll probably be shot down for this but if he is very excitable already it may be better going for a balance of grass and hay for a while, spring grass can make even very calm horses a bit 'lively' or in my boys case a nutter! well he used to be until we realised and restricted him a bit.

He was my first horse and an arab to boot, we were never told that his previous owner couldn't ride him at all in the spring till we'd had him through the spring, thought we made a huge mistake but with a bit of careful management we have eliminated the problem.
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that's a very good point I rode one of my Arabs today and he was a bit of a loony and my grass is definitely coming through now, I know that as they haven't run to the gate when they see me this week.
 
High fibre nuts are different to conditioning cubes. They tend to be low energy, and low protein, whereas conditioning nuts are the opposite

Carrs lumni8 is good. Haas brushes might also work
 
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