My horse is going bald - help!

[Doormouse]

My 13 year tb has been out in the field all winter, rugged and fed. He has come back looking poorer than I would have liked and lost his muscle completely but hopefully spring grass and proper gentle work will deal with that.

However, he is now throwing out his coat, as you would expect, but underneath is not a beautiful bright bay glossy coat, underneath is bald. He started to go bald on his head but I put that down to weather beat / rain scald, then the hair on his bum started to fall out with scabs on so again thought that perhaps the rain had got under his rug a bit but now the hair under his saddle and on one side of his neck is going too.

Getting a vet tomorrow but in the meantime has anyone else experienced this? Am now rather worried it might be something serious internally. His mane and tail are normal and growing in abundance.

 

[electric_circus]

This happened to my horse a few years ago - he looked absolutely dreadful, bald patches on his neck and on his rump. Had the vet out and skin scrapes were taken and tested for various things including ringworm; all came back negative and the conclusion was 'seasonal alopecia'. It's not uncommon apparently, and his fur grew back as his summer coat came in. He's got a patch again this year, though thankfully it is hidden by his saddle cloth so he doesn't look quite so tragic!

 

[Doormouse]

This happened to my horse a few years ago - he looked absolutely dreadful, bald patches on his neck and on his rump. Had the vet out and skin scrapes were taken and tested for various things including ringworm; all came back negative and the conclusion was 'seasonal alopecia'. It's not uncommon apparently, and his fur grew back as his summer coat came in. He's got a patch again this year, though thankfully it is hidden by his saddle cloth so he doesn't look quite so tragic!

Oh that is quite encouraging to hear, hope that is what it is. I know just what you mean about looking tragic, poor old Dan, he does look awful!

 

[Equi]

My tb used to go bald every spring. Unless there is any scabs or actual just skin for weeks with no re growth it's okay just ensure he is protected in the sun or he may burn and obv make sure he is rugged in the wet or cold.

 

[Doormouse]

My tb used to go bald every spring. Unless there is any scabs or actual just skin for weeks with no re growth it's okay just ensure he is protected in the sun or he may burn and obv make sure he is rugged in the wet or cold.

Great, thank you. Am starting to feel less panicked now that I know it has happened to others too. He is always rugged to the eyeballs, his nickname is 'precious' to give you an idea!

 

[paddi22]

i had one that came in after a winter break and looked dreadful - couldn't keep weight on and went bald. He just grew cat hairs instead all over. Couldn't figure out what it was so he went into horse hospital and turned out he had kissing spine and cysts on his back. apparently pain can make them lose hair. he didn't lose it in patches though, he just lost it all over!

 

[FfionWinnie]

Rainscald is a bacterial infection, it doesn't need rain to get anywhere to happen. Once they have it it takes years of care to get rid of it. I bought a cruelty case who had it badly every year until I clipped her out and washed regularly with hexocil and pevadine wash. Once she hadn't had symptoms for three years, she never had it again.

 

[Doormouse]

i had one that came in after a winter break and looked dreadful - couldn't keep weight on and went bald. He just grew cat hairs instead all over. Couldn't figure out what it was so he went into horse hospital and turned out he had kissing spine and cysts on his back. apparently pain can make them lose hair. he didn't lose it in patches though, he just lost it all over!

Oh, that doesn't sound good, poor chap. Did you manage to get him better?
Just patches at the moment but that said, the vet has already been last week because I felt he was moving very short and she put him on bute for a bit as she felt he was very sore through his back. Physio coming Monday, maybe she will have some idea if we need to go down the X-ray route for him. :-(

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

If you have over rugged/ not brushed well enough then it is entirely possible it is purely grease spots or sweat rash. Once all the scabs are gone and healing over the hair should come back not a problem.

 

[Doormouse]

Rainscald is a bacterial infection, it doesn't need rain to get anywhere to happen. Once they have it it takes years of care to get rid of it. I bought a cruelty case who had it badly every year until I clipped her out and washed regularly with hexocil and pevadine wash. Once she hadn't had symptoms for three years, she never had it again.

It doesn't really look like rain scald, more almost like what I would call weather beat on exposed areas of a thin skinned horse. The hair that came from his bottom did have dead skin attached to it but has left no mark or scab behind, just no hair either.

 

[BuzzyBea]

Having the same issue ourselves this spring so will follow this thread with interest!! Our boy had colic surgery in January so wonder if it is as a result of this. He is losing his winter coat on his neck and shoulders but has no new hair under this No scabs or sore bits just no new hair!!

 

[Doormouse]

If you have over rugged/ not brushed well enough then it is entirely possible it is purely grease spots or sweat rash. Once all the scabs are gone and healing over the hair should come back not a problem.

Didn't really describe it that well. The hair that came from his bottom had dead skin on it but hasn't left behind any scabs. He has been bathed twice since being in, dried by being given a pick in the sun. Used tea tree shampoo which he has had before and not had a reaction to. He is rugged up well but is never too hot.

 

[MoonRiver]

My ponies got this last yr. The one with a rug worse than the one without. Felt like little pimples all over the skin, that when picked, brought all the hair with it. Guessed it was some sort of (fungal) type rain rash so bathed regularly in hibiscrub and brushed it all out . Pony looked awful for a few weeks but all grew back fine. This yr left her unrugged and coat/ skin is beautiful

 

[Kitei]

My mum's boy (tb x arab) currently is going through this, conclusion from our vet is seasonal alopecia. His mum also used to get it.

 

[Apercrumbie]

I know a couple of tbs who have done this. Other than the hair loss, they were perfectly fine and happy. It could be worth running some bloods though to see if something isn't right. I do remember a friend's horse with liver problems losing his hair.

 

[Doormouse]

I know a couple of tbs who have done this. Other than the hair loss, they were perfectly fine and happy. It could be worth running some bloods though to see if something isn't right. I do remember a friend's horse with liver problems losing his hair.

I was planning to ask for bloods, my worry is liver too.

 

[FemelleReynard]

My mum's old mare suffered from this about this time last year and the vet said it was caused by some sort of worm infestation.

 

[Nicnac]

My ex-racer has done this every spring for past 10 years that I've owned him; in his case it is normal. He has very fine, whispy hair and I don't clip him. Nothing to worry about as long as not scabby. His summer coat is always glorious - rich chestnut and shiny. We always let him have time off whilst moulting. He comes out of the winter looking well overall so seasonal alopecia sounds about right.

 

[Possum]

Ha yes, I have had a horse that some years would shed his winter coat before growing a summer one. He was never bald for long . As long as the skin underneath looks healthy, you're not seeing excessive itchiness and there are no scabs etc I'd just keep an eye.

 

[Annagain]

My share horse loses hair in 2 different ways. He gets bald patches - no scabs or anything, just bald patches - mostly on his neck, shoulders, rump and back which we've put down to seasonal alopaecia. It grows back my mid May.

His back legs are different though - he gets very small areas of hair loss which can also go scabby. We've now discovered this is a sugar intolerance and since we've cut sugar out of his diet it has almost stopped entirely. It's started slightly this past fortnight (only about 10% of what it's been in the past) which we think is down to sugar in the spring grass.

If you've started trying to feed him up a bit it could be that he's eating more sugar and it's affecting him. It might be worth trying to cut the sugar out of his diet as much as posible to see if it makes a difference. If not sugar, it could be Alfalfa - so worth trying to cut that out too.