Lumps along horses back

KarlyHT

KarlyHT

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Morning all. Looking for some advice from you knowledgeable lot!

My 6yo mare has a lot of lumps and bumps along her spine on the top of her back. They are literally just bumps, no head on them, hair growth normal and aren't visible to the eye but you can feel them. Are they just fly bites, old fly bites etc? Should I be concerned?

Also she has one bump lower down on her side under her saddle, about eye level (she's 16.2) that I think she has been bitten on and it developed a scab. The scab fell off last night after brushing and it looks like pink healthy skin underneath. I am panicking that it is something more sinister but after a lot of reading I believe sarcoids in this area are rare and don't normally have a clear scab on them. Thoughts?

Any advice/recommendations much appreciated. My very experienced yard owner is keeping a very close eye on it and obviously a vet would be called if we thought it was required.

Thanks for reading!
 
Hi, you can't tell without looking but they sound exactly like the bumps that appeared on my old girl. All around the saddle area and down over her wither. They were fly - or probably midge bites that came up, formed a small hard scab which when picked off pulled the hair out leaving a dot of bald skin. They came up at the end of last summer, and were there during the winter becoming visible when her summer coat came through.

Eventually she ended up looking bald and streaky on one side. I bought some of the horseware Hypocare, as it claims to grow back limbs (haha) and it really is as good as it claims. Hair all back now, and she looks stunning.

Can't recommend it enough. One OP on here established the ingredients are the same as milton sterilizing fluid and salt, but you'd need to check that ;)

Worth a shot as it treats most things and is only around £10 for quite a big spray bottle. Good luck. :D
 
My old boy had something that sounded very similar. He was a very hairy cob x and two different vets weren't worried about them they both thought they were blocked / infected hair follicles. They were under his saddle and worse on his white bits (he is coloured). They ones that were just lumps went away, the ones that had scabbed over got slightly smaller but never really went.

We stopped more forming by carefully washing him off after riding and a sheepskin mum nah helped. Interestingly another mare had a couple and the vet thought that the flys didn't help (very bad flies at that yard. Cattle farm next door near a lake!!).

Oh and he passed a 5 stage vetting with them.
 
my mare has 5 or 6 all around her saddle area which are inflamed sweat glands, never go down or get bigger and don't cause her any pain! Each are about the size of a 20p and are fairlyhard to the touch, vet said they are very very common!
 
Has she always had them or just recently? Whats her topline like? I had an exracer that had an awful topline when I got him and he had a really bumpy back but was just his spine - got better with condition/work/weight .. x
 
My boy also has the infected hair follicle thingies... Vet gave him a course of anti biopics that made no difference, and was told to pick off scab ( there's not always a scab) and wash with hibi scrub - also ,made no difference.

He has a little row of them,and a few random ones. Ym suggested a steroid cream and soya oil, will see if that helps
 
My horse has these. They are in the saddle area but cause her no pain and they tend to come and go over time. My vets are not concerned about them. I think they are called granulomas or something like that and I have been told to leave them alone. I wouldn't interfere with them at all. My daughter's pony has one on her face near her ear too.
 
Thanks for all the replies!

Just ordered some hypocare on your advice schmoo!

They sound exactly the same as some of you have described. The vet saw them and wasn't concerned about them at her vetting but they do seen a bit more pronounced now. I am guessing that due to the heat and flies they are more irritated possibly. I will monitor them very closely. I did panic a bit and have ordered some thuja cream but I am 99% certain that its what has been described and not the dreaded "s" word!! I will check it again tonight and report back! Thanks again everyone.
 
Fburton they aren't evenly spaced and she is rugged mostly. She comes in at night but on the rare warm sunny days we do have she does go out unrugged. May need to keep her in a fly rug when she's out in the day.
 
My horses had these. All under the saddle area and either side of his spine. The vet wasn't worried and said they were probably blocked hair follicles and probably wouldn't go away . I'd been using is thin numnah which I changed for a sheepskin one. They gradually went away an now just make sure he is washed off carefully and keep the numnahs clean.
 
As some of the others have said it could be clogged up hair folicles, I used to see this quite often when saddle fitting, the saddle was often getting the blame but it is the oils in the horse's skin blocking the folicle.
They often resemble pea like bumps and can be anywhere but more often on the back, saddle area and possibly the girth area.
The saddle can aggravate it as can the girth.
Lots of grooming and a bath can help. It's often over the Winter months it becomes a problem as the coat is thicker.
There's also a fungus that can have the same effect but that is usually confirmed to just the girth area.
Oz
 
Evening all, just to update you... I purchased the hypocare and after using it for just 48 hours I have already noticed a difference. I am using it with aloe Vera gel but the lumps are already noticeably smaller!

I am washing her off fully with a mild medicated shampoo after every ride as she is sweating at the moment, then putting on the hypocare then using the gold label magic gel which is basically aloe Vera gel. I am ensuring she has her fly rug one and am sure we can now get on top of them.

Interestingly my physio came out this morning and before I mentioned anything she proceeded to tell me that almost every horse she is treating at the moment has some sort of lumps or bumps. More so than any other year.
 
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