to clip or not to clip. that is the question?

[tanya86]

hey

just a quick one.

i have a 2yr old welsh a that was rescued 3 months ago from an evil breeder ( long story) but is showing gd signs of becoming a lovely little pony

the problem i have is she seems really itchy all the time? she has had 2 baths since ive owned her ( one teatree and one lice bath) and she still itches. vet has said she has not got lice and she has an amazin mane and tail so not sweet itch?

her skin is very scurfy and everytime she has the chance she will itch on anything she can find resulting in some sore patches on her chest. she is rather hairy now and was wonderin if it was worth clippin her out so i can see what the problem re itchin is and i can do more about it. have the rugs etc to put on her but she lives out 24/7 atm. soon to be comin in once our stables r finished being built ( feb time )

what would u do in this situation? any advise would be gratefully received.

Thanx xx

 

[Wagtail]

hey

just a quick one.

i have a 2yr old welsh a that was rescued 3 months ago from an evil breeder ( long story) but is showing gd signs of becoming a lovely little pony

the problem i have is she seems really itchy all the time? she has had 2 baths since ive owned her ( one teatree and one lice bath) and she still itches. vet has said she has not got lice and she has an amazin mane and tail so not sweet itch?

her skin is very scurfy and everytime she has the chance she will itch on anything she can find resulting in some sore patches on her chest. she is rather hairy now and was wonderin if it was worth clippin her out so i can see what the problem re itchin is and i can do more about it. have the rugs etc to put on her but she lives out 24/7 atm. soon to be comin in once our stables r finished being built ( feb time )

what would u do in this situation? any advise would be gratefully received.

Thanx xx

No, I wouldn't clip her. I would just give her a good groom each day with a nice scratchy dandy brush. The itching may resolve itself once she comes right.

 

[AmyMay]

You may have to clip her, yes.

However, get the vet to do a skin scrape first to see if they can find out the cause and offer treatment first.....

Also, are you sure it's not feed related?

 

[tanya86]

not sure it could be food related? she has a handful of chaff and she's turned out. may try a diff chaff and see if that helps maybe?

She has a full groom each day atm which she loves as i can get to all her itchy bits

im just at a dead end as vet aint sure wat it is and bathin aint making a dif?

a friend did say it could be somethin to do wit the fact she has been ivin on the side of a mountain in wales for the first 2 yrs of her life and has got so much crap in her coat it just takin a while to get out? not sure wat to think atm to be honest x

 

[AmyMay]

No, it doesn't sound food related, I agree.

Skin scrapings I'd say and go from there.

Good luck.

 

[tanya86]

thanx for you help vet is comin out to give jabs to the other one n the 23rd so will ask then i think. save on the journey costs lol. x

 

[MiCsarah]

Maybe just a bib clip? My old youngster used to be seriosuly itchy as his coat was so thick so made him hot and itchy. Bib clip and all sorted

 

[wattamus]

What type of horsey is she? some horses just have funny skin- mine for example, she has dermatitis, always has always will. I can spend a fortune on treatment which will aleviate the symptoms for a time and then they'll come back. Luckily she only has it on her legs and behind hwer elbows.
I have always been told to clip as close as possible to the area but this may not be the case with yours if shes a hairy native type it could be this. or it might be an allergic reaction. xx

 

[tanya86]

i was thinkin a bib or trace? she is itchy down her neck aswell though?
atm she is a hairy welsh a. her coat has come through thick and fast. she wasnt rugged up till last weekend wen the rain came ( just wanted rain off her back) but she has been itchin since aug ish?

i have thought reaction to something but not sure what? i will try her on a dif feed for a bit and see if that helps. will clean her rug aswell so i can eliminate that and may just give her a little clip and then see what happens?

my other native is just as hairy but not one scratch from her. bloody animals lol why cant i just have a normal animal just once x

 

[be positive]

Have you considered trying a detox, she could be reacting to the improved grass, the fact that you have wormed her and her system could be adjusting to the changes. I use either NAF detox or Global Herbs restore both with good results for unknown skin problems.

 

[Brandy]

Re it not being lice.

My native mare came back from loan very thin and itchy, with a few bald patches. As a precaution i treated her for lice, with powder, two weeks apart. The itching continued, bald patches grew. I called the vet as she was very uncomfortable. Told him the story so far. He checked for lice, said there weren;t any. Left me with mud fever cream (has a sterois in it and the bald patch on her bellly was now so large that tubes of normal steroid cream would have cost the earth) and a shampoo. Checked for lice - none.

Vet returned couple of weeks later, the bald patches that I was putting the cream on were better, but new ones appearing all the time. Vet baffled. Was going to do skin tests, had a quick look - lice. There hadn;t been any before as I had been treating. Never seen anythign like it, and have had feral ponies with lice before.

i clipped, bathed, doused in Coopers. Did again two weeks later and she was clear. Thank god she kept them to herself!

 

[Kenzo]

I don’t think it would harm giving her a clip, you probably will be able to manage her coat better through winter and of course it would get her used to being clipped anyway, as you have plenty of rugs to keep her warm and dry as well as some spares is she decides to shred a few.

She’s obviously itching for a reason, if you have ruled lice out, then it still wouldn’t do any harm in treating her with Coopers, not only does it kill any little cretters living in the coat but it does help to calm an itchy skin and other irritants as well leaving a lovely sheen to the coat and preventing lice.

If she’s getting a little warm and sticky in winter coat she may be getting blocked sweat pores, or it could be something in her feed that is causing a dry itchy coat, something as simple as Alfa A can effect some horses and cause an itchy coat.

If she is getting a bit uncomfortable in her winter coat, one minute she’s warm and sweaty, next she’s soggy and greasy, it’s just easier to get it off, some ponies cope well with winter coats, a small amount simply don’t but it's usually caused by something else like there diet.

Seaweed Supplement, can’t recommend it enough, really helps improve the skin and coat which in turn will stop the scratting, although be warned you’ll also notice after about 4 months that the coat colour will change slightly, normally a richer colour, so a chestnut for example will go quite a deep red liver colour.

 

[tanya86]

all i need to get is a neck cover if i decide to full clip her other wise all sorted

i will try the seaweed stuff. she's an iron grey atm so shouldnt change to much.

Seen as she's out 24/7 bein cold then warm the next then wet then dry prob aint helping. i will have a good go though everythin this weekend and see what happens. thanx x

 

[Lotty]

Have you considered trying a detox, she could be reacting to the improved grass, the fact that you have wormed her and her system could be adjusting to the changes. I use either NAF detox or Global Herbs restore both with good results for unknown skin problems.

I agree. I rescued a wesh x shetland and she was in a terrible state, after a few months she started to itch and her coat looked awful. I rang Global Herbs and they told me to give her Restore to detox her, also to give scratch and seaweed. About 4 weeks later she looked a different pony and her skin condition was super.