Seasonal alopecia

[danielle23]

Do excuse the spelling im rubbish
Any how, seasonal alopecia, have many of you guys out there have much experience with this?
My mare has got it every year since ive had her (3 yrs) only slightly usually on her face and back legs but this year she had a foal and she got it alot, im asuming this was down to being in foal, hormones and the foal taking all her goodness etc
Its not much of a problem really, was just wondering if there was anyway to help her not get it so bad next time, eg oils in her feed that may help, supplements?
Any info muchly appreciated

 

[Angelbones]

We had a nightmare with this - a 14hh 10 yr old mare who used to lose her facial hair starting in little patches underneath her eyes then spreading up around her cheeks and star. We tried everything, allergy testing (proved positive to some feeds so excluded those and did monthly jabs for 2 years), lotions and potions, changing bedding types, masks, keeping her out of the light, antihistamines etc. All to no avail. The only other option we didn't try was steroids as I was worried about laminitis. We bought the pony through our vet and she had never had it before. I sold her, just as it would normally start, and although she is only a few miles away she hasn't had any hair loss yet. We, and our vet, always wondered if it was something environmental and it would appear that it was - something growing in our grass or hedges, some type of localised bug etc, even down to the hay we fed containing something, but we could never prove it. The only thing that helped in the short term was Ruggle-it shampoo which seemed to stop her rubbing at the balding patches, and Eurax cream which again seemed to soothe it.

Sorry can't be help any more than that, and of course may be entirely different to yours. Its such a shame, and so frustrating when you can't put your finger on the cause and help your pony.

 

[danielle23]

Thanks for the reply ive red up on it previously and its caused by the change in temperature, and the summer coat is slow thru so when the winter coat falls the bald patches come,
Its not a nightmare for her its just a little unsightly,
My mare doesnt get itchy at all, and never rubs

Its maybe a differernt problem to yours?
Thanks Danielle

 

[Twirly]

My mare is a nightmare for this, her winter coat comes out before her summer coat is established - this year she had bald patches on her face, neck, shoulders and both hind legs for a couple of weeks (and I mean proper no hair at all bald!!) Vet said nothing we could do except rug her if weather poor.

 

[Boysy]

One of mine has this and nothing stops it that i've tried although rugging quite late on can help a bit, he loses his under his eyes first then patches on his lower back legs then just in front of his withers then his coat eventually comes thru. He looks moth-eaten until the end of June, has a superb coat for literally just 2 mths then grows his winter coat back in. He's native but doesn't seem to realise......

 

[aradiagreen]

Wow, I wonder if this is what my boy has.

I posted on here about it a month or so ago. He's a welsh x shaggy native, rising 4yrs old. he lives out 24/7 and I rugged him this winter as he grows the longest coat EVER which ends up in dreadlocks and matts between his legs (even rugged up he has a longer coat than the other natives that weren't rugged!). 2 or 3 months ago I noticed he had some bare patches on the inside of his thighs - I thought it was mud fever at first as it'd been very wet. But it wasn't scabby, and hes not itchy. The hair just comes away leaving bare patches. I applied sudocreme and that seemed to help - it cleared up and the hair grew back but then it started again. Now he has it on most of his legs onthe outside of his thighs and on both sides of his face which is very unsightly. He doesn't seem bothered though. And the hair does grow back.

After studying the internet I reckon he has seasonal alopeacia (or however you spell it). I've read that it comes from unseasonably warm weather as they moult and it has been warm one week and then cold the next etc. here. I've checked him for mites etc. Its not crusty, oozy or scabby - like I said he's not bothered - it just looks awful!

I feel so glad that this might explain it AT LAST. He's seeing the vet next week anyway but I really think that this explains it. It seems to be a big problem in the US from the posts I've read. Shame there's no cure....