Scabby cushings pony?

TwyfordM

TwyfordM

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Mysti has what looks like rainscald/mud fever except she's been in for the majority of the time and when she has been out she's been in a definitely waterproof turnout rug. It's all over and very itchy. She has loads of scabs under her very thick fur that I've started picking away at but skin underneath is healthy and it's taking out huge chunks of fur as it looks like its been weeping a bit and stuck together little patches of hair at the root. Without actually running your hands through and parting the hair you can't see or feel them but they are literally everywhere. Nothing in diet has changed so I'm not thinking food reaction. There's nothing on legs so I'm reluctant to say mud fever. It's almost like what you would imagine chicken pox scabs would feel like but she's been her normal self and no signs of feeling under the weather. I'm thinking maybe it's like a heat rash almost?
Can't clip her out as I've never gotten further than a small bib without sedation

Any ideas would be fab as I'm totally confused!
 
TwyfordM said:
Mysti has what looks like rainscald/mud fever except she's been in for the majority of the time and when she has been out she's been in a definitely waterproof turnout rug. It's all over and very itchy. She has loads of scabs under her very thick fur that I've started picking away at but skin underneath is healthy and it's taking out huge chunks of fur as it looks like its been weeping a bit and stuck together little patches of hair at the root. Without actually running your hands through and parting the hair you can't see or feel them but they are literally everywhere. Nothing in diet has changed so I'm not thinking food reaction. There's nothing on legs so I'm reluctant to say mud fever. It's almost like what you would imagine chicken pox scabs would feel like but she's been her normal self and no signs of feeling under the weather. I'm thinking maybe it's like a heat rash almost?
Can't clip her out as I've never gotten further than a small bib without sedation

Any ideas would be fab as I'm totally confused!
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A friends horse had a bacterial infection caused by getting warm under its rug, so I’d probably ask your vet to prescribe something. She had a wash to apply daily and it cleared up quickly.
 
My old boy suffered with something similar but not all over his body. I think cushings ponies struggle to regulate their temperature so I found he could get hot very easily and also cold but tbh I thought he was better if he was a bit chilly than too hot, so don't over rug. They also find it harder to fight any type of infection so I used to wash the parts that got scabby with a mild hibiscrub solution. I also clipped, just a dealer clip as it made it easier to decide how to rug. He did have a very bad outbreak once and I used a steroid cream on him which came from the vet. I suspect your boy has got sweaty under his rug and basically you've got a rain scald type of infection.
 
as far as i know cushings sufferers can have problems with skin conditions and also wounds and infections being slow to heal. you may need to bath him to gently get rid of the scabby bits, it may also be worth either clipping and rugging or dont rug at all if he has a very wooly coat....i would get the vet as a first response....
 
I would suspect that she has a low level bacterial infection. My own (non cushings) has always been very prone to this whether from insect bites, or heat bumps if he got too warm, your description sounds very similar but I've never got them to photograph well. (he has been skin scraped a few times).
I have found the best (albeit messy) option is to mix sulphur powder with sudocreme.
 
I had a pony with similar sounding symptoms - vet did a skin scrape for critters and bacterial issues but that was fine. He was tested and found to have Cushings, so vet suspected it was a combination of not being able to regulate his temp properly, and having a lower immune system. Treatment was having him heavily sedated so he could be clipped right out, and then using a special lotion from the vet on his sore/scabby patches. I hope you can find a solution.
 
Thanks everyone i was thinking I'd heard before of problems with cushings horses like this but wasn't too sure. Will see where we are in a few days in the dry with no rug, I've given her a really good groom today to get the worst of it off but this is the thickest I've ever known her coat to grow in, so I'm thinking may get vet in to check levels and check over plus knock out enough to at least get her partially clipped 😂... Ponies... Who would have them!
 
My old mare had something similar as well when I got her (she was later diagnosed with Cushings). In her case, she had lice at the time, and had been in the same lined rug for a month without being able to remove it (couldn't be caught; before I got her). The lice were treated, obviously, and the vet checked the scabs/weeping areas. Nothing specific found, and he figured it was probably a combination of being damp under the rug without getting air in, plus the skin being broken by lice bites which led to a mild skin infection.
The problem resolved by itself eventually, with thorough grooming to remove scabs and let air down to the skin, and trying to make sure she didn't get too damp (used either a really water proof rain sheet, or left rug off when not rainy, but tried not to overrug/get warm under rug). I my case I was lucky it was spring, so she was shedding anyway. She did lose most of the hair on her back when the scabs came off, but the summer coat underneath grew back normal, and didn't have the same problem again.
 
My mare gets a sweat-scald type skin rash when she's too hot. It looks like rain-scald, but it's in her sweaty bits rather than where rain hits her. It's bad if I don;t clip her in time, or she's particularly sweaty for some reason. I clip her or take her rug off and it clears up!
 
One of ours with Cushings had skin problems like this. I'd get a blood test done to make sure it's being properly controlled.
 
mine had these scabs very badly before he was diagnosed, with prascend they went. I wonder if you are on the correct dose" I would get a further test done or alternatively you could increase the dose and see if there is any change.
 
They just cannot regulate their temperature. I don't allow my cushings horse to have a winter coat at all (other than legs and front of face). With a coat he is itchy and irritated plus impossible to keep dry or get dry after rain.

It sound ridiculous, but even though he is fully retired, I hunter clip him as soon as he starts to get a thick coat and continue clipping all the way through winter into spring. I use a layer system with rugs, several under layers in 50g and upwards covered with a rain sheet dependant on the weather. In this routine he is really comfy, clean, shiny and full of beans.

In the OP's position I think it would be cheaper and more successful to try a full clip to see if the pony is comfortable and his skin settles down before going down the skin testing route.
 
My TBx horse has Cushings and is prone to what is referred to as “rug rot” in the US but it’s similar to mud fever. Have a chat with your vet, but my vet recommended clipping him out and rugging him with breathable rugs only. I also use rug liners and swap them regularly to keep the liners clean. He used to wear up to 300g turnout but the warmest rug he now wears is a 100g as he overheats now with anything warmer.

My vet recommended washing him once with a very dilute hibiscus solution, leaving it on for 10 mins before rinsing off with warm water and drying him off. I tried various things to help ease the scabs and found that rubbing Vaseline into them and leaving it for half a hour or so really helped loosen the scabs. Once removed, I applied Flamazine.
 
My boy gets a scabby rash like this on his back legs if he eats any sugar. He had very slightly elevated ACTH levels in spring but they were no higher in the autumn and no symptoms of cushings other than a little bit of muscle loss which could just be age / time off (he had 8 months off the year before last) related - we tested just to be sure. It's something that has progressed as he's got older so the vet thinks he probably has very mild cushings which could be causing the reaction to the sugar or it could be that because he has so little sugar now that he gets a more extreme reaction when he does have some. When he first had the rash, his feed hadn't changed so we didn't think it was feed related. It was only when he had time off so wasn't being fed that it cleared up and we realised it was feed related. It might be worth cutting all feed out so your mare's on just hay and seeing if it clears up. If it does, add a new feed item each week and see if there's a reaction.
 
I would get s tune if demosedan and give her full clip except head and legs. I did this for my boy as he was prone to skin infections. His hair was pretty pointless as it was so soft that it went to felt if it got wet and matted. So I just clipped him out and rugged him up. Easier to deal with :)
 
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