Ringworm!!!

[CassTheCob]

Hello,
When I was at the yard with my cob on Saturday, I noticed he had 3 small patches of hair missing. One on his face, about the circumference of a pen lid, another on his rump about the size of a fingerprint, and another amongst his mane that had lots of dried scabby bits in the mane surrounding it. He's always "bickering" with the other horses in his field (there's about 13-15 of them!) so it isn't abnormal for him to come in from the field with little lumps of fur missing or the odd 'battle scar', I just thought it was a bit odd that he got all three of these within a week. The skin exposed isn't dead, just with no fur. His coat hasn't lost condition and he's no itchier than normal (he's always a tiny bit itchy because of how hairy he is!). I also find it hard to believe that he'd catch something like this either, as he's hard as nails and was owned by travellers for 5-6 years of his life before I got him, who used to literally just trim his hooves and leave him in a field unrugged and unwormed all year round, so he's got quite an established immune system. As far as I know, no other horses on the yard have ringworm. Anyone have any ideas as to what's going on? You'll probably all think I'm stupid asking all this, but I worry about little things!
Thanks in advance X

 

[Abi90]

I haven't known a horse with ringworm but my cat ( and subsequently me) had it.

It normally presents itself in visible raised rings, not just dead skin. If you google horses with ringworm you'll see what I mean.

It's also very contagious. I caught it off the cat , the cat also gave it to the cat across the street who gave it to his owners. So if none of the horses at the yard have it then I'm wondering where he caught it from. If you do suspect it, I would be wearing latex gloves when investigating those bits as humans can get it.

If you, for some reason, have a UV light source and a dark corner of a stable then ringworm glows under UV.

It's pretty easy to treat as far as I remember, it's just unsightly!

 

[Shay]

It is easy to treat - just incredibly contagious. If he does have it - you'll probably have it now too I'm afraid! The complication in treating a horse rather than a cat is that you have to boil wash or otherwise treat all his rugs, numnahs, brushes etc. And his stable. And all the other horses have to be treated too which tends to make you a bit unpopular with the other owners! As to how he got it - contact with an affected horse, staying in an infected stable or sharing transport with an affected horse. Contact with another infected animal - ringworm affects all mammals, domestic and wild. He may have had the infection for a while and it has just shown because his immune system has dipped for some reason. Or you may not in fact be the first in the herd to get it - just the first to notice.

First things first - you need to get the vet to check it out. It does present in early stages as a patch of hair loss. The ring only becomes raised as the infection proceeds. The sooner it is treated the sooner you can all get on with life.

 

[wildhorses]

Ringworm can be a problem but often it can be easily treated if caught early enough.

In your situation I would was the horse in an antifungal shampoo or treat the area with imaverol just to be careful.

During the summer my horses face went bald, not just patches, almost completely bald and a patch on his shoulder and starting on the inside of his hind legs. One day he was fully furred and two days later looking like a moth eaten teddy. I suspected either ringworm or mange but was unsure that it could act that fast. I washed him in dermoline in case of mites and then treated him with a course of imaverol and within a week new hair started to come through. My other horse never had a problem.

I have seen ringworm quite a few times and it has never caused a drama. Tended just to be specific to one horse that for reasons not always known had its immune system compromised.