PICTURES: Lumpy bumpy :(

[C1airey]

Brought my horse in tonight to find him covered in these bumps. They are itchy and a couple of them had a tiny orange-y crust on top (apologies if you've just had dinner...).

He was turned out rugged, so nettles/fly bites unlikely, and no ants' nest in or near his field. My pet theory is a trapped spider, but what does HHO think? Have daubed him in aloe gel for the night, which does seem to have helped.

 

[ROMANY 1959]

They are bites, what bit him I don't know, but def bites..

 

[Tash88]

Do you have any buttercups in your field? Could be caused by rolling in them if he was wearing a fly rug rather than a turnout. Or could he have been too hot in a turnout and it's heat rash?

Otherwise he has probably been bitten, sometimes they get underneath rugs, horrid things! Aloe Vera is probably the best thing for them, or Camrosa if you have it.

 

[Amye]

Look like bites - my boy is always getting lumps and scabs when the flies come out. He wears a fly rug and fly mask and I put tons of spray on him but they always happen They have a bit of a yellowy/orange crust too. If he has a few I give him a wash with hibiscrub/medicated shampoo and that seems to clear them up quicker then when they're left. If he comes in with a couple I use aloe vera gel.

 

[C1airey]

Thanks all. Glad others also think bites. He wasn't warm enough for sweat rash and no buttercups in field.

A bath and a few dabs of Anthisan cream seems to have improved things a bit this evening, but the poor lad still looks like he's smuggling marbles

Whatever bit him must have been very hungry!

 

[Mule]

Looks like an allergic reaction to insect bites. I had a mare that used to get it. I used to give her a clove of garlic in her food in the lead up to and during the warm months. They stopped biting her. I always found fly spray ineffective in comparison.

 

[dulcie_dustyxx]

My girl comes in with exactly the same as these, but never that many or size. I agree with others when they say I think he's had an allergic reaction. They're not always sore but they itch Dusty like crazy. Unless scabby I just give her a bit of a scratch and put sudocrem on, that brings them down really well I find.

 

[C1airey]

Much better today. Only one still significantly swollen (and on closer inspection, it's about three bites v.close together) and the others now only noticeable when you run a hand over his coat. Still slightly itchy, but v.impressed with Anthisan which seems to kill the itch immediately. Hoping to be back on board soon.

 

[BBP]

I was about to post something similar! My pony has been getting bitten since last year and reacts quite badly to them, he comes in in welts which can swell up and cover an area the size of my palm, then when the swelling goes down or busts through the skin he is left with these small hard lumps. He has some lumps that have been there since October, the scabs just won't go away! My eventual conclusion was ants after I found a flying one attached to him when I clipped him. I hadn't seen any signs til then. Apparently they inject a toxin when they bite that some horses react to. What I'm not sure is how to get the bites/scabs to go away as like your horse they are under the saddle and I worry they will be uncomfortable for him. I don't know why they are biting him and not the others, he is the only black horse and I know some bugs go more for dark horses.

 

[BBP]

Looks like an allergic reaction to insect bites. I had a mare that used to get it. I used to give her a clove of garlic in her food in the lead up to and during the warm months. They stopped biting her. I always found fly spray ineffective in comparison.

I haven't fed garlic for donkeys years but perhaps I should give this a go?

 

[C1airey]

I was about to post something similar! My pony has been getting bitten since last year and reacts quite badly to them, he comes in in welts which can swell up and cover an area the size of my palm, then when the swelling goes down or busts through the skin he is left with these small hard lumps. He has some lumps that have been there since October, the scabs just won't go away! My eventual conclusion was ants after I found a flying one attached to him when I clipped him. I hadn't seen any signs til then. Apparently they inject a toxin when they bite that some horses react to. What I'm not sure is how to get the bites/scabs to go away as like your horse they are under the saddle and I worry they will be uncomfortable for him. I don't know why they are biting him and not the others, he is the only black horse and I know some bugs go more for dark horses.

Well, I can recommend the cream. And at about £2.50 from Tesco, it's a cheap and cheerful fix.

Lots of insects look for large dark objects, so if he's not already in a fly sheet, maybe try that too.