Those who own grey horses.

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littlen

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How much do you worry about skin problems/ sarciods etc.

I ask because I own two greys (I must be mad) and I am forever paraniod about the problems asociated with greys and light skin. I do all I can to protect them but I recently found a small wart on my girls leg. Vet suggested I keep an eye but I am worried it is a sarcoid or something worse. What would a sarcoid look like in the early stages anyway?


So, how do you protect your greys, can you protect them from skin problems?

Do you worry or is it just one of those things?
 
Hi,
I have a grey, am aware of the skin problems, but tbh I worry no more than I would with any other colour horse. She does have a pink snip on her nose so I use a full face fly mask in summer to keep the sun off it aswell as keeping the flys off as I would be more worried about her catching the sun. She does have a couple of small sarcoids which i am keeping an eye on, they are flat and aren't causing a prob so I'm leaving them be. Fwiw my partners mare is a bay and had sarcoids requiring surgery in the past so it's not just a colour thing! If she had pink heels or more pink bits on her generally then I think the sun would be more of a worry though.
 
I too have a grey and worry a little about skin problems. To a degree he's protected because as a mild sweet-itch sufferer he is covered 24/7 in a Rambo Hoody from April-October and then in TO rugs for the rest of the year. He gets about 3 weeks' 'naked time' in March! But the only pink skin he has is his nose and two heels; they get plastered in Factor 45 sunblock and so far I've had no problems.

Afraid I don't know what early-stage sarcoids look like - have only ever seen mature ones.
 
Hi
This isnt going to do much to stop you worrying... but i own an Appolosa x Cob pink and black mottled skin... but grows through white (thats a different story tho!) and these days im very very cautious!

We have always tried to protect his nose from sunburn... which is 99% of the time a success... but last year he was diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma, or in laymans terms skin cancer... he had a cancerous tumour on his lower eyelid... was treated and we are towards the end of the healing process... but its really highlighted to me the risk he is at sometimes... it is rare but it can happen!! SO he will always wear a fly mask now when the sun is shining... coz its easy to forget about the pink skin on show round their eyes!!

Otherwise he is genrally sensitively skinned... so far we have clocked up...

2 x bacterial skin iffections... 2008 and most recent feb 2010
1 x BIG allergy to Fly bites (now has calcified lumps all over his skin from years of reaction.. but we jsut have to live with them and they dont cause him any discomfort)
1 x allergy to clipper oil... (now uses special hypoallergenic pet stuff!)
1 x skin cancer
and a few sun burn issues... (anyone want to buy my horse! :P)

so poor darling.. he is rugged through the winter...

bathed regularly in the summer... and now (since the skin cancer) wears a Rambo Fly Buster rug... with UV protective properties!!! (bang goes £106 of my hard earned cash... lets hope it last a few years before he wrecks it!)

WOuldnt change him for the world... but yes i do worry... but in his case with good reason!
All you can do is do your best...
Suncream in summer...
fly spray a plenty...
and take your vets advice on that potential sarcoid...

i dont know anything about sarcoids so cant advice.. but fingers crossed its nothing!!

I would even knowing all this have a grey again tho!
 
Flashbacksj said:
Hi
This isnt going to do much to stop you worrying... but i own an Appolosa x Cob pink and black mottled skin... but grows through white (thats a different story tho!) and these days im very very cautious!

We have always tried to protect his nose from sunburn... which is 99% of the time a success... but last year he was diagnosed with a squamous cell carcinoma, or in laymans terms skin cancer... he had a cancerous tumour on his lower eyelid... was treated and we are towards the end of the healing process... but its really highlighted to me the risk he is at sometimes... it is rare but it can happen!! SO he will always wear a fly mask now when the sun is shining... coz its easy to forget about the pink skin on show round their eyes!!

Otherwise he is genrally sensitively skinned... so far we have clocked up...

2 x bacterial skin iffections... 2008 and most recent feb 2010
1 x BIG allergy to Fly bites (now has calcified lumps all over his skin from years of reaction.. but we jsut have to live with them and they dont cause him any discomfort)
1 x allergy to clipper oil... (now uses special hypoallergenic pet stuff!)
1 x skin cancer
and a few sun burn issues... (anyone want to buy my horse! :P)

so poor darling.. he is rugged through the winter...

bathed regularly in the summer... and now (since the skin cancer) wears a Rambo Fly Buster rug... with UV protective properties!!! (bang goes £106 of my hard earned cash... lets hope it last a few years before he wrecks it!)

WOuldnt change him for the world... but yes i do worry... but in his case with good reason!
All you can do is do your best...
Suncream in summer...
fly spray a plenty...
and take your vets advice on that potential sarcoid...

i dont know anything about sarcoids so cant advice.. but fingers crossed its nothing!!

I would even knowing all this have a grey again tho!
Click to expand...




Sounds awful! I hope thats the end of your problems with him :)

Your horse sounds similar to my boy who is a pink skinned grey.
- He has an allergic reaction to fly bites. He comes out in hundreds of lumps that weep and ooze stuff every year.
- Mud fever.
- Sunburn.

and now my mare has got this wart thing on her leg. I am so hoping it isnt a sarcoid as I dont even want to go there with that sort of thing! I dont know what to look for with it or if theres anything I can do to it though, so heres to hoping!
 
I can not understand how you can put a hoody on a horse. Horses are often too molly coddled as it is without depriving them of their summer month sense of liberty. Lets not forget that Nature made it grey and they are not house pets. So no, I don't worry about sarcoids on my grey as I chose a grey and worrying changes nothing.
 
we have two greys, one a dapple grey and the other is white. Our 'white' mare has melanomas under her dock and also has one at her jowel(SP?) now. There is nothing that we can do about it, the vet checks them every time he is out and they dont effect her in any way but she does wear a fly sheet in the summer and gets factor 50 on in the summer but so does my bay cob who has a blaze so she isnt really treated in any way different to the other horses that we own.
 
''I can not understand how you can put a hoody on a horse. Horses are often too molly coddled as it is without depriving them of their summer month sense of liberty. Lets not forget that Nature made it grey and they are not house pets. So no, I don't worry about sarcoids on my grey as I chose a grey and worrying changes nothing.''
I would love mine to have her liberty, but to leave her without her fly rug and neck cover whenever she is turned out would mean that she would spend the whole summer intollerably itchy and rubbing her mane and tail out. I don't see it as molly coddling, it is something that helps her feel more comfortable and enjoy her turnout. It is something I can provide for her and as her owner it is my responsibility that she is comfortable, happy and healthy.
 
goldanas49 said:
I can not understand how you can put a hoody on a horse. Horses are often too molly coddled as it is without depriving them of their summer month sense of liberty. Lets not forget that Nature made it grey and they are not house pets. So no, I don't worry about sarcoids on my grey as I chose a grey and worrying changes nothing.
Click to expand...

Well you have your experiences and i have mine... and mine have shown that a "hoodie" is necessary in MY horses case... if you had a horse that reacted badly to the sun... or flys in ways that affected his health and happiness if not managed and preventative messures taken then you may feel differently.

Belive me if i had a horse that was able to go naked all year round... and never suffered as a result then i to would be of the mindset that "hoodies" are unessesary.

Please do not judge me putting a "sun rug" on my horse as me depriving him of his naked time... it is needed for his health and well being unless you would prefer me to allow my horse to go through regular trips to horspital, high doses of radiation (for 2 weeks at a time..) all whilst in isolation away from horse and human conact whilst the cancers are bing treated... all because i felt i woudl be molly coddelling him to put a rug on to prevent it!
 
I would love mine to have her liberty, but to leave her without her fly rug and neck cover whenever she is turned out would mean that she would spend the whole summer intollerably itchy and rubbing her mane and tail out. I don't see it as molly coddling, it is something that helps her feel more comfortable and enjoy her turnout. It is something I can provide for her and as her owner it is my responsibility that she is comfortable, happy and healthy.[/QUOTE]

Well said!
 
I have a grey mare now 12yrs old and currently in foal . She is more sensitive than our bay mare but loves to be bare in the Summer and do this when not bright hot sun .Other times she has a fly sheet and mask on and sun cream on her pink nose !
Do not worry about sarcoids as our bay pony has just been treated with Liverpool Cream it is not colour related at all. yes they can look warty in the first instance. Get your vet to check when next out.
Enjoy your greys but they are a devil to keep clean !
 
littlen said:
Sounds awful! I hope thats the end of your problems with him :)

Your horse sounds similar to my boy who is a pink skinned grey.
- He has an allergic reaction to fly bites. He comes out in hundreds of lumps that weep and ooze stuff every year.
- Mud fever.
- Sunburn.

and now my mare has got this wart thing on her leg. I am so hoping it isnt a sarcoid as I dont even want to go there with that sort of thing! I dont know what to look for with it or if theres anything I can do to it though, so heres to hoping!
Click to expand...


Thanks Me too... i have had him 10 yrs and on the whole we cope with everything but the last 12months havent been the best... but through it all he has been a star really!

ooo we have mudfever too.. but we seam to manage that ok... there have been others on teh yard (none greys) that suffer worse... so thats just a horse thing!!! bless em!

Well fingers firmly crossed for you then! Xx

ETA: forgot to mention in my first post that my lad is stabled in a cool barn in the heat of the day in the summer and lives out a night, it suits him and works well on the sunburn front!
 
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I have 3 ( pet ) greys and another 5 or 6 that are at home ( OH's stud's horses ) ... Other than the fact that they are a total pain in the ar*e to keep clean there is no difference between them and any other colour ( medically / skin wise ) IMO... Yes they are prone to sunburn etc, but any coloured horse with white bits get sunburn unfortunately, if ou keep them protected it should never be a problem...As for the whole rug thing - I also keep fly sheets from head to hoof on ALL of my horses all summer ( unless the sun / flies are nowhere to be seen ) Fly bites can be nasty...fly spray helps, and they get covered in this too but a fly rug cannot be beaten imo...Surely anyone would want to protect their horses from unnecessary stress from the bloody flies at them all day?? They annoy me enough...
 
I have a grey, and I don't worry too much. She is 18 now and developed a small melanoma under her tail at 17, that is the only thing I would be looking for with relation to colour - sarcoids can affect any colour, but melanomas are more predominant in greys.

Mine is black skinned bar two pink socks (not that you can see them unless shes soaking wet), and her nose. She is freezemarked on her shoulder which is half pink, half black, so I do cover that in Factor 50 if shes outside, along with her nose.

I keep her in during the heat of the day in summer, which she prefers anyway, as she gets grumpy when shes too hot.
 
I have 2 grey's. One is a 12 yr old dapple grey going lighter every year as they do. Born almost black. No probs so far. The other is a 16 yr old. Born rose grey and was white by 5 yrs old. She developed melanoma's on under her dock, round her anus and between her teats. She did have a small one on the tip of her ear but it fell off. They don't ause any problems so far and I just get the vet to check them over when he does her vacc's.
Most horses die of old age related illness's before the melanoma's get them so no, I don't worry too much but I do keep an eye out.:)
 
One of our horses is a grey & he rarely goes out without some form of rug on wether it's a summer sheet or a fly sheet. He always has a full face fly mask in the summer as well. He's also used to having high factor sunscreen on his nose as well. So far, so good no sarcoids etc on him..... (trying to find some wood to touch in this plastic world)
 
I must be lucky as my very light grey boy has completely black skin, though he has the remains of dapples on his butt so he was prob darker once.
He gets the odd warty thing but they don't stay long - someone said they were grass warts???? I do keep an eye on anything unusual but so far so good. I don't worry about it. In the past I have only known bays with sarcoids.

He does have a fly rug for the odd infested days but I moved yards so hopefully he won't need it. I used to worry about dirt but now I have the attitude that it's ok, he's a horse and he loves mud!!!!
 
FOR ALL YOU WHITE HORSE PEOPLE
I have one who had multiple bleeding, ulcerated sarcoids, they are now all gone thanks to a wonderfull person who I have never yet met. They were treated with essential oils, so If anyone needs telephone nos or web address, I can supply these.
 
littlen said:
How much do you worry about skin problems/ sarciods etc.

I ask because I own two greys (I must be mad) and I am forever paraniod about the problems asociated with greys and light skin. I do all I can to protect them but I recently found a small wart on my girls leg. Vet suggested I keep an eye but I am worried it is a sarcoid or something worse. What would a sarcoid look like in the early stages anyway?


So, how do you protect your greys, can you protect them from skin problems?

Do you worry or is it just one of those things?
Click to expand...

Greys are no more prone to sarcoids than any other colour, it is melanomas that greys are prone to and most of those are nothing to worry about, although they can cause a problem if they suddenly increase in size and/or are in a place where they could cause problems.

Apart from melanomas, greys do not suffer from skin problems any more than any other colour either and as greys tend to have black skin they are not candidates for sunburn other than on pink bits like any other horse.

I have four greys.
 
littlen said:
Sounds awful! I hope thats the end of your problems with him :)

Your horse sounds similar to my boy who is a pink skinned grey.
- He has an allergic reaction to fly bites. He comes out in hundreds of lumps that weep and ooze stuff every year.
- Mud fever.
- Sunburn.

and now my mare has got this wart thing on her leg. I am so hoping it isnt a sarcoid as I dont even want to go there with that sort of thing! I dont know what to look for with it or if theres anything I can do to it though, so heres to hoping!
Click to expand...

If your grey is pink skinned all over then he is not grey, true greys have black skin, the only pink bits should be where they had socks etc when they were born. Yours, if he is totally pink skinned is not grey but could be cream.
 
goldanas49 said:
I can not understand how you can put a hoody on a horse. Horses are often too molly coddled as it is without depriving them of their summer month sense of liberty. Lets not forget that Nature made it grey and they are not house pets. So no, I don't worry about sarcoids on my grey as I chose a grey and worrying changes nothing.
Click to expand...

I also havn't a choice and have to cover my mare up through spring to end of summer,she is allergic to grass and reacts badly especially when the sun is very strong and it's windy. She has a Boett rung and full face mask,she is generally v sensitive and reacts to certain feeds and is a 'lumpy' horse,she reacts to fly bites also.

I don't worry so much about Sarcoids and Melanoma's,i do keep and eye out for them but i don't worry about it,if it's going to happen it will and i can't do anything about it at this stage!
 
My grey is 35 and has never had a sarcoid. The chesnut, on the other hand, had two...so I guess it's just a lottery.
 
taz is grey and he's had a few sarcoids nothing major just have to keep on top of them with thuja cream and the tablets and have had a great reaction to them and he wears a fly sheet in the summer and gets sun tan lotion on his nose as he gets sunburnt and it makes him really uncomfortable if only i new he got sunburnt when i first bought him poor pony!
 
My black skinned grey has had one sarcoid which was removed when he was 5. He's now ten and fingers crossed haven't had any problems.

My sisters dun horse and bay pony, both of whom have white noses really suffer with sunburn - lots of kids cream for them.

My black skinned grey never gets sunburn, he has a lovely black skinned, grey haired wuffley nose too :)
 
We always seem to end up with greys - I think they are beautiful. Our dear old boy was PTS aged 36, so I don't worry too much about these things - his skin colour certainly didn't shorten his life. My precious little mare has always had a melanoma half way down her dock and I don't even worry about that.

I didn't think sarcoids were particularly related to skin colour - but then I don't know much about them.
 
Having lost a horse to internal Melanomas at 18 I'd never have another, it's not what you can see that is worrying it is what's inside. Other than melanomas I'd not worry about anything else any more than any other coloured horse.
 
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