Scaly youngster... any ideas????????

LisaJM

LisaJM

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I bought our 22 month old Andalucian colt last July and in the September he started to look a bit shabby with lots of bits of skin shedding to the surface, more than just your average scurfy!!!! Anyway, vet came out and said the change of management probably disagreed with him and that he was probably eating something out in the field that was causing it.

So, we eliminated various feeds and moved him to a different field along with bathing him in a shampoo (Aloe and Oatmeal) - this seemed to work and a month or so later the shedding skin disappeared. Over the winter he continued to look fine until about the end of February this year, when it started appearing again. His feed and management haven't changed so this obviously isn't the cause - anyway, I have bathed him a couple of times which does the trick, but only for a couple of days then the shedding skin came back. Throughout all of this he hasn't been itchy at all, just scaly and slightly oily skin, ever so slightly scabby and very minimal hair loss.

The vet came out the other day to give him his next lot of vaccinations so I got her to look at his skin (different vet this time), and she said it looked like Seborrhoea. She's taken some skin samples away (haven't heard back on those yet) and has suggested I bath him in a different type of shampoo (Sebocalm) so see if it helps.

Does anyone have any experience of this and what the best remedy for their horse was?
 
PS - Can you believe the vets were going to charge me £18 for a bottle of Sebocalm, and I can find exactly the same thing online for £8... the cheek of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;o~
 
Firstly- i bet he's gorgeous- one day i'd like an Andalusian horse!

Could be any number of things i suppose- feeding oil is really good for their coats, also when they are young they can be more susceptible to creepy crawlies like Lice in their coats- esp in the Autumn and after the winter- i have a little cob who is the same age as yours and he had Lice when i bought him (yuck!) and that did make his skin look very scurfy.

Yours prob hasn't got lice or anything but you could may be try treating with something like Deosect to see if it makes a difference.

Or it could be something like Dermatitis- for which Dog Mange shampoo is very good- it's called Seleen, you shampoo them leave it on for 10 mins so the active ingredient works and then rinse off, you can get online very cheaply- much cheaper than £18 from your Vet- yikes!!

Good luck with everything!
 
I have found that the best way to deal with scaly/scabby skin is from the inside out, adding vegetable oil (rape seed) or sunflower oil to the feed. I start off with a few drops daily and gradually build up to a good slug.

The results are impressive, within 2 weeks the coat will begin to shine and the skin is no longer flakey. After a couple of months continued use my scabby boy is transformed, sleek, shiny and itch-free.
 
elderlycoupleindevon said:
I have found that the best way to deal with scaly/scabby skin is from the inside out.
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This ^^^

Certainly worth a try as it may help, I'd really recomend feeding a seaweed supplement, does wonders for the skin and coat, after a month you should notice a difference, if you don't, well least you've tried it and for what £7.00 it's not exactly breaking the bank or doing any harm.

Argo Vit Min Cod Liver Oil condiment is also very all, all in one supplement (including seaweed and your oil) 2 hand fulls a day and after a few weeks I guarantee you will notice a difference.
 
I have a very itchy mare, prone to coming up in hives.
I put her on Seaweed and Linseed oil for the winter and its worked wonders. I can see my face in her coat!
 
Thanks K27 - good idea to try the Deosect just in case, and will check out Seleen online ;o)

elderlycoupleindevon - I already feed him soya oil; does this not help skin like vegetable or sunflower oil then? Maybe I'll try a different oil instead...

As well as the Soya Oil I feed him Alfa A Oil chaff and Kwikbeet with added Vits & Mins; maybe an extra skin supplement might be useful?

Kenzo - I feed my other horse a barefoot diet which includes seaweed, so I might just try this as I've already got some :)

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, much appreciated!!!

PS - Picture of my boy "Spider" for your delight K27 :)

picture.php
 
I have used soya oil in the past, it's good stuff but I don't remember their coats shining like they do now.

Omitted to mention previously that I also use seaweed, so that must also take some of the credit.

Hope you find the answer!
 
LisaJM said:
Thanks K27 - good idea to try the Deosect just in case, and will check out Seleen online ;o)

elderlycoupleindevon - I already feed him soya oil; does this not help skin like vegetable or sunflower oil then? Maybe I'll try a different oil instead...

As well as the Soya Oil I feed him Alfa A Oil chaff and Kwikbeet with added Vits & Mins; maybe an extra skin supplement might be useful?

Kenzo - I feed my other horse a barefoot diet which includes seaweed, so I might just try this as I've already got some :)

Thanks for all the suggestions so far, much appreciated!!!

PS - Picture of my boy "Spider" for your delight K27 :)

picture.php
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No worries- good luck, hope you find something that works- thanks for the piccie- he's a lovely looking horse- gorgeous colour! will he go grey when he's older or stay the same colour? bless him!

(Mine get a tablespoon of Highbarn Linseed Oil in each feed and they are positively gleaming at the mo!- a man even drove past the other day, stopped his car and asked me if i'd been polishing my horse!) not sure if theres any difference though tbh between linseed and soya?!.....
 
Give him a good bath with Nizerol shampoo - you can buy it from the chemist.

Dilute in hand hot water and lather up well, work well into the coat to the skin. Sctrape off excess and allow to dry. Wash again in Nizerol a few days later and this time rinse out.

To his feed add 1 cup of freshly ground Linseed. I use a small coffee grinder to prepare my Linseed. This amount can be fed daily without cooking.

Make sure that any suppler\ments he is getting contain Zinc & Copper. Both are needed for a good skin & coat.
 
K27 said:
No worries- good luck, hope you find something that works- thanks for the piccie- he's a lovely looking horse- gorgeous colour! will he go grey when he's older or stay the same colour? bless him!
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Ah, thanks... well, when he was born he was black with long legs, hence "Spider", then he went bay; when I bought him he was very dark grey, now he's gradually going grey but still has a hint of brown in some place. We're hoping he'll end up grey with darker legs, mane and tail, but there's no telling really how he'll turn out - all part of the fun :)

K27 said:
(Mine get a tablespoon of Highbarn Linseed Oil in each feed and they are positively gleaming at the mo!- a man even drove past the other day, stopped his car and asked me if i'd been polishing my horse!) not sure if theres any difference though tbh between linseed and soya?!.....
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The man that drove past probably thought you spent hours cleaning your horse with a sponge and shammy leather!!!!! Linseed and seaweed seem popular choices at the moment, so depending on what the vet says I might just give these a go!!!!
 
Will check out Nizerol on 'tinternet... thanks!

I have some micronised linseed so might give that a go, and will double check the vit & min I am using to make sure it has plenty of zinc and copper in it :)
 
LisaJM said:
Ah, thanks... well, when he was born he was black with long legs, hence "Spider", then he went bay; when I bought him he was very dark grey, now he's gradually going grey but still has a hint of brown in some place. We're hoping he'll end up grey with darker legs, mane and tail, but there's no telling really how he'll turn out - all part of the fun :)



The man that drove past probably thought you spent hours cleaning your horse with a sponge and shammy leather!!!!! Linseed and seaweed seem popular choices at the moment, so depending on what the vet says I might just give these a go!!!!
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Ha ha yes- i hadn't thought of that- he probably really did think i had been polishing him LOL- it was a Sunday as well so i guess that is the traditional day for car polishing!

Good luck!
 
Kenzo said:
Argo Vit Min Cod Liver Oil condiment is also very all, all in one supplement (including seaweed and your oil) 2 hand fulls a day and after a few weeks I guarantee you will notice a difference.
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Where do you get your Argo condiment from? I was hoping to find somewhere on the internet that sell it...
 
Andalusians sometimes have a bad reaction to sugar in their diet and I wouldn't feed it to any of mine. I've also heard Alfalfa doesn't agree with some, but no experience of that.
 
templewood said:
Andalusians sometimes have a bad reaction to sugar in their diet and I wouldn't feed it to any of mine. I've also heard Alfalfa doesn't agree with some, but no experience of that.
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Spider is on a very low sugar diet anyway (as are all of our horses as they are barefoot), so I doubt if this is the problem and he has been on Alfa A since I've had him so this wouldn't really explain the fact that the scaly skin went over the winter-time and has come back now. At least these are things I can rule out!!!!!! :)
 
Spoke to the vet last night and she said that the skin samples they had a look at were fine, so he definately hasn't got any bugs, lice, infection or anything like that. She's pretty much convinced that it's a dry form of seborrhoea, so I am going to get hold of some shampoo specifically for this to see if it helps, and am going to add some linseed and seaweed to his diet to help him from the inside out as well!!!!!

Thanks for all your help with this chaps... will keep you posted :)
 
LisaJM said:
Spoke to the vet last night and she said that the skin samples they had a look at were fine, so he definately hasn't got any bugs, lice, infection or anything like that. She's pretty much convinced that it's a dry form of seborrhoea, so I am going to get hold of some shampoo specifically for this to see if it helps, and am going to add some linseed and seaweed to his diet to help him from the inside out as well!!!!!

Thanks for all your help with this chaps... will keep you posted :)
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That's excellent news- at least it's something that is treatable- good luck with the linseed/seaweed and shampoo- the shampoo will hopefully do the trick for your boy then as they are v good!
 
K27 said:
That's excellent news- at least it's something that is treatable- good luck with the linseed/seaweed and shampoo- the shampoo will hopefully do the trick for your boy then as they are v good!
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Thanks K27... fingers crossed hey :)
 
So... I ordered the shampoo the vet recommended a couple of days ago (vet was gonna charge me £18 per bottle and I found it for £5.92 per bottle plus P&P, so total for 2 bottles £12.59!!!!!!!!!!!!!) which has arrived today... and guess what... his skin is looking better today, even though I haven't changed his diet or anything yet... don't you just love horses!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rolleyes: :confused: :rolleyes: :confused:

Gotta laugh though :D :D :D :D

Might try it out on my hair...
 
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