Trying to get my horse right. Coat hasn't shed properly in a year!

L

Loughlin

Member
Joined
24 September 2021
Messages
28
Visit site
Hello everyone,

Itchy, sweating, horse was in last thread. I'm trying to get him clean enough to clip now. He's big, I'm small - it's taking time. Managed a full warm bath today, leaving him looking suspiciously curly (negative for cushings), but every day of this effort I'm raking off a large bendy bucket of hair. It's like it's April/May. I cannot leave him without a rug or he rubs himself into a huge sweat, matting hair into loose whorls. Just ruined two nets out here, have hung higher and rehung, and put rugs back. WTF.... am I going in the right direction? Treated wtih powder for lice (farrier insists this could be it), and just retreated stable rug before putting on this evening. He's lost his manners too - very pushy looking for rubs and scratching. Grazed him in hand and he was pushing me around - not like him at all.

Vet seems disinterested.

Any similar situations, or advice welcome. Used a tea tree shampoo this time. Was using Dermoline up to now. Waiting on a companion in the first week of March. The last one, a loan was pestered by my horses for scratches - not in a good way.

Exhaused,
Kya.
 
I wouldn't bother trying to get him sparkly clean first if he's too hairy to dry out properly- dirt and grease will blunt clipper blades but that's not an insurmountable problem.
If you use livestock blades to get the majority of the hair off, you can then bath him after, which will be easier and he'll dry quicker. If you need to, you can then clip again with finer blades to tidy up.
 
If you had the ACTH test for Cushings, ask your vet to do the TRH-stim test, which us .uch more reliable. When we were suspicious of the symptoms in our Appaloosa mare whose ACTH levels were always within normal range but slightly higher each time, the TRH test came back 8x normal. Vet asked if I was sitting down when she rang with the results. She went straight onto Prascend as we already had another mare on it, so no need to order a fresh prescription.
 
Or maybe stress from losing his mate (is he on his own now?) has caused him to become allergic to something he was fine with before. I'd still get all the hair off though, especially if you suspect lice.
 
SpeedyPony said:
I wouldn't bother trying to get him sparkly clean first if he's too hairy to dry out properly- dirt and grease will blunt clipper blades but that's not an insurmountable problem.
If you use livestock blades to get the majority of the hair off, you can then bath him after, which will be easier and he'll dry quicker. If you need to, you can then clip again with finer blades to tidy up.
Click to expand...
Thanks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top