Pink nose advice please

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LisW

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I'm looking for some advise on what to do with my mare's pink nose in the sun please. Only I can have a black horse with a pink nose!!!

She NEEDS suncream on her pink nose - but simply won't tolerate it or any other sort of cream.

Her pink bits are low down on her nose & under her chin - so in the wrong place for a nose cover attached to her headcollar I think.

We are trying to get cream on her nose but she violently objects - rears, throws herself about literally, strikes out with her front legs etc.

She is 4 years old but has lived most of her life on a tether, prior to coming to us very under- weight & as we now now - in foal. She is a gentle mare but has obviously been knocked about in her past & can still be nervy.

I can't stable her as she is afraid of being inside. she has a shelter she won't go in but also trees she likes - but doesn't keep her pink hooter out of the sun enough!

I can't leave her to burn. Please can anybody suggest anything??? Any sort of nose cover? etc I'll post a photo to show where her white/pink bits are.

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My mare has pink nose/lips and she wears a full fly mask with a nose attachment. If you get a size bigger the net should cover her nose nicely. It's the only thing that works for her.


Very cute pic, my nose part detaches from the full net and so I take it off and reattach it (velcro) so it sits wonky as she has one pinker side of her muzzle - as your mare has quite that big pink bit. She has the whole of her nose and more of her right side covered when it sits wonky. This seems to cover everything necessary.
 
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Ditto above -
And, chances are she's like my boy, until he came to me he'd probably spent most of his summers being burnt senseless...so is generally very muzzle-shy and getting cream on him is not really possible...so I use a field-safe heacollar with nose-mask...I position his to one side as its mostly the side of his nose, lips and muzzle that burns...pop it on first thing, take off last thing, hey presto, stress-free sun protection and happy pony. :)
The way I look at it, this should eventually help to reduce his muzzle-shyness along with me gently persisting with him to get used to me touching him, as he's finally not getting burnt everyday.
 
This is the best one that I have found. It's a Cashel and the nose flap does wrap around the sides a bit more than others that I have tried.

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Brilliant - thank you for the suggestions. Yes I think she has got VERY sore in the past probably. Can't imagine anybody tried to cover her up in previous life!
 
Take a knackered fly sheet. Cut a length off it to be long enough to cover the nose and wide enough to go as far around as you need it. Attach as many ties as you need to a field safe headcollar, you can completely surround the muzzle if you wish as long as it is a loose fit. Shove headcollar on pony. I do this with my pink nosed horse and it is fail safe. Once a week take it off and give it a wash and put back on again. They do shake a bit to begin with but soon get used to having it there. Job done!!
 
Suelin that sounds like a great idea - thank you!

Spotsrock - thanks for suggestion too - wish a spray would work - but I think she might actually kill me!!
 
I sort of have this problem too (made a post a few days ago). Luckily my 2yo is starting to tolerate suncream a bit more so I think he'll get used to it, but I did find a cool shield thing on my searches. Its by a company called NAG in america and it surrounds the whole muzzle so would protect the underneath bit too. They aren't too expensive and sit off the nose so as to not irritate them or affect breathing/drinking.
 
Suelin I have made something similar to that for one of mine. It's made of fly mask material which is a bit stiffer than the rug stuff, and stitched to a fieldsafe headcollar, with sheepskin sewn around the edges.

Mine tolerates it very well - he is extremely photosensitive in some fields in summer due to a weed allergy, but we can't work out what to :(

He also needs boots on all 4 legs as he has 4 socks and any part of white fur on him burns :(

If anyone knows if any good turnout boots for summer please tell me! I have the Equilibrium boots but they've been a bit rubbish.
 
Mine hates sprays but the nivea one is silent. Good luck with arts and crafts this weekend. Some good suggestions.
 
I share your pain.

I have an Arab, who's bloodline you can trace back to the desert....and he gets sunburn in our summer
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He also resents having cream on and he won't wear a mask or anything
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I have found Banana Boat sticks good as it's like a glue stick, rather than a sloppy, cold cream. She may object to the smell and coldness of the creams going on.

Some of the adult sun creams can strip the hair from the noses - so be careful with that.

I heard a few years ago that a lady who bred Lipizzaners in a hot country, used to use indian ink on their pink areas and essentially 'dyed' them to prevent sensitivity. But I never found any further information.

Also may be worth considering if it could be sensitivity to something or liver problems - as they can be mistaken for sunburn too.
 
Have you tried rubbing the cream between your hands to warm it up a bit first? My old mare used to fling herself around unless I did this.

Good luck :D
 
Same as Oberon - check it's not a sensitivity to something.

Mine has an allergy to a weed which makes him photosensitive so that all white parts, hair covered or not, burn very badly.

We can't find out what the allergy is though. He is ok in reseeded fields, it's just old pasture so it's definitely something there.

Unfortunately until all the lambs go they are not allowed on the reseed this time of year so I have to deal with it for a few more weeks.

It's a nightmare though!
 
I couldn't find good turnout boots either and made my own with similar material but I did find that they slipped so not really a good idea. Interestingly my horse "appeared" to be photosensitive on his white legs (but not his nose) until last year. We did soil analysis and rebalanced it and since we haven't had a recurrence. We were very low in sodium and sulphur. (all well now) I am crossing my fingers that this year will be the same, so far so good. It should be noted that all our horses had the same reaction (mud fever like) until the rebalance exercise and now all are okay. Might be worth doing that in case it is responsible for the problem. The test kit costs about £15 I think.
 
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