teazle
Well-Known Member
Brief (or not so) history:
Had my 5 yo mare just over a year, and have had continual problems with her mane and tail. She has scurfy, flaky skin on her mane and tail that I initially thought was sweetitch and so treated as such, rugging her, avoiding her being out at danger times and then using Avon skin so soft and fly spray on the areas. She does rub, but only has occasional small patches of scab on both mane and tail.
However, nothing worked. And, even more bizarrely, the skin problems continued right throughout the winter with no break, when rugged 24/7 and even for the period when she was in 24/7. She continues to rub but rarely obsessively - usually only for five mins when she came in or out of the stable. But huge flakes of skin come off her mane every day, whether she is able to rub or not (she is out on a hill in an electric fence paddock so nowhere to rub).
I comb the flakes out every day but the skin itself is still dry, scurfy and horrid underneath and I can never get it looking 'clean' even after vigorous shampooing. Things I have tried:
Avon Skin So Soft
Vitamin E Moisturiser
Bought fly spray
Homemade fly spray with lavender/tea tree/neem oil in
Baby oil
anti-itch shampoo
Head and Shoulders anti-dandruff
Sensitive skin shampoo
garlic in feed
sunflower oil in feed
seaweed in feed
Conditioning spray for her mane
I have seen an improvement in her overall skin condition since adding seaweed and sunflower oil to her feed - it used to be that she would look glossy at a distance but up close, when you looked at her skin, it would be dandruffy. The general skin now isn't like that, it is simply mainly her mane, and slightly her tail.
With each new thing I try, there is usually no improvement, or often the situation gets worse. When I stop the trial of something, I have two or three days where the problem lessens but then it comes back with a vengeance. I have tried leaving it for a month or two but can't bear that the flakes of skin can be seen - not only when riding but also at a distance, with constant dandruff on her neck and two or three scabs at her crest and hairline.
Please help - I'm unsure where to go next! Money is tight so the cheaper the better, I'd really like to avoid a vet call out but if that's what is required in the end then so be it. All suggestions appreciated, none laughed at!
Had my 5 yo mare just over a year, and have had continual problems with her mane and tail. She has scurfy, flaky skin on her mane and tail that I initially thought was sweetitch and so treated as such, rugging her, avoiding her being out at danger times and then using Avon skin so soft and fly spray on the areas. She does rub, but only has occasional small patches of scab on both mane and tail.
However, nothing worked. And, even more bizarrely, the skin problems continued right throughout the winter with no break, when rugged 24/7 and even for the period when she was in 24/7. She continues to rub but rarely obsessively - usually only for five mins when she came in or out of the stable. But huge flakes of skin come off her mane every day, whether she is able to rub or not (she is out on a hill in an electric fence paddock so nowhere to rub).
I comb the flakes out every day but the skin itself is still dry, scurfy and horrid underneath and I can never get it looking 'clean' even after vigorous shampooing. Things I have tried:
Avon Skin So Soft
Vitamin E Moisturiser
Bought fly spray
Homemade fly spray with lavender/tea tree/neem oil in
Baby oil
anti-itch shampoo
Head and Shoulders anti-dandruff
Sensitive skin shampoo
garlic in feed
sunflower oil in feed
seaweed in feed
Conditioning spray for her mane
I have seen an improvement in her overall skin condition since adding seaweed and sunflower oil to her feed - it used to be that she would look glossy at a distance but up close, when you looked at her skin, it would be dandruffy. The general skin now isn't like that, it is simply mainly her mane, and slightly her tail.
With each new thing I try, there is usually no improvement, or often the situation gets worse. When I stop the trial of something, I have two or three days where the problem lessens but then it comes back with a vengeance. I have tried leaving it for a month or two but can't bear that the flakes of skin can be seen - not only when riding but also at a distance, with constant dandruff on her neck and two or three scabs at her crest and hairline.
Please help - I'm unsure where to go next! Money is tight so the cheaper the better, I'd really like to avoid a vet call out but if that's what is required in the end then so be it. All suggestions appreciated, none laughed at!
