White spots...birdcatcher spots?

[katiejaye]

My friend has had her chestnut TB X ID 8 yr old for 3 yrs now and in the last year he has developed clear white spots on his coat about 2cm in diameter. He is quite a bright solid chestnut and these spots are really unusual. She was worried that it could be a food/mineral deficiency, but I was more in favour of it being a genetic thing. Does anyone have any experience of this or suggest what it could be?

 

[Enfys]

Can't actually help at all, but doesn't Zara Phillips horse have spots too, Toytown is it?

 

[JACQSZOO]

My chestnut mare developed these too as she got older. Apparantly it was the same disease michael jackson suffers from - veritigo (sp)

 

[Tierra]

Yea toytown has them. One of the dressage youngsters on our yard has started to develop them too. One appeared late last year and now he has 3 in his summer coat

I rather like them.

 

[Bananaman]

Years back I remember a horse in a yard I was working at developing the same. It was diagnosed as copper deficiency and a supplement cleared them up.

 

[_daisy_]

theres a pony on our yard that has them. Something to do with Copper deficiency

 

[katiejaye]

oh interesting Bananman and E_C_W, thanks, I will look into copper deficiencies.
Arnie has loads of them all over his neck and chest...he's starting to look like a leopard! They are quite funny, it's not often you see white spots on a bright chestnut!

 

[dotty1]

My chestnut mare started to get these at about 16 years old. she is now 21 and has about 4, each about a cm and in random places. Don't know what causes them and they don't affect her in any way.

 

[katiejaye]

Arnie is 8 and has loads of them...I think he's going to be completely grey by the time he's 21! This is not him but is a piccy of what his are like:

http://www.lexiqueducheval.net/images/couleurs/chestnut_birdcatcherspots.jpg

 

[druid]

Birdcathcer spots

 

[Gingernags]

Like these??

The pony always had some, about tem maybe, but when in foal she had 147!

Asti has 2 or 3 so will be interesting to see if she develops any when in foal (she's the foal in the piccy)

Ivy has black versions of them...

They were just coat markings in my mare...