Winter coat shedding out weird??

[dianneS]

I have a new horse from a rescue. I've had him since February I think? Anyway, he was pretty thin in my opinion when he arrived and he was covered in bite marks and really beaten up by the other horses in the pasture where he was being fostered. All of his cuts and bites are healed now and the hair growing back. He's shedding his winter coat, which was not a very healthy winter coat. Lots of long sparse hairs, but not thick and velvety like my other horses.

He's shedding in big areas like his neck, shoulders, and hips and he's losing the hair that I can see his skin! He's a bit dry and flaky, but doesn't look like rain rot or anything like that. It seems odd that his winter coat is falling out before his summer coat starts to come in? His back, legs and trunk are still really shaggy with long winter hair. He looks strange to me. I've never had a horse shed out like this?

His summer coat is coming in, but slowly and I still find it odd that he's losing so much hair that he's almost bald in areas before the new hair starts to appear? Anything I should be doing about this? What can I give him to speed up the growth of his summer coat?

 

[bluewater rangerbreds]

Since he's a rescue, you might want to rule out lice, mites and fungus.

 

[dianneS]

What has me puzzled is that he was with the rescue for several months and I would expect any skin conditions and such to be all cleared up by now? I'm wondering if he's got some underlying skin sensitivity or allergies to something or if its just a by-product of the fact that he's been in poor health in recent years? My rescued mini horse was a mess his first winter and spring shed-out and it took him more than a year to actually have a "normal" healthy winter and spring coat. Maybe this guy is going through something similar?

 

[bluewater rangerbreds]

Hair is protein and Keratins the same as his hooves only not as hard. If he's been lacking in the proper nutrition prior, then his body is possibly still trying to re allocate the nutrition to the right spots. Instead of going to grow hair, he may be using the new found nutrition to gain weight. but don't rule out lice and mites just because he's been in the rescue for several months because they are tiny little creatures and hard to see in the first place and even harder to see on a shaggy wooly winter coat.

 

[LauraM]

Is the horse a TB or have TB in his breeding?

It's not uncommon for thinner skinned horses with silky thin hair to have wonky shedding exactly as you described if the shedding season (overall climate) is not perfectly "normal." For instance, here we had really warm temps in March, way before it typically should be that warm and a month before the "normal" shedding season should really get started. My TB along with several other TBs belonging to various friends are exhibiting the exact same symptoms you are describing. I've seen this in other years, too. It's as if the horse is shedding the winter coat before the summer coat has had time to start.

Generally, the summer coat will fill in within a couple of weeks or so. Until then, if the bald areas are under where a saddle would go, you may not want to ride or use a good sheepskin pad to protect the skin. Make sure you hose or sponge the sweat off of those areas so the skin is not irritated.

Some Arabs and Arab crosses will do this, too.

 

[dianneS]

Yeah, he's another thin-skinned TB. We have had weird weather and he's had a history of poor nutrition in his recent past.

My TB mare however, is shedding out beautifully. She's a bay and her summer coat is visible under the remaining winter coat and its nice and dark and shiny.

This new guy is getting some new hair in the really thin areas. I'm hoping he'll look pretty good in a few more weeks.

 

[sawfish99]

We feed our horses 3/4 cup of ground flax seed (purchased as whole seed and ground at feeding time in a coffee grinder) one time a day. If makes a significant difference in their coats. After 11 years and trying a number of different supplements/products, flax is the most consistent result across all the horses.

However, I would also rule out the other things mentioned - fungus, mites, etc.

 

[dianneS]

We feed our horses 3/4 cup of ground flax seed (purchased as whole seed and ground at feeding time in a coffee grinder) one time a day. If makes a significant difference in their coats. After 11 years and trying a number of different supplements/products, flax is the most consistent result across all the horses.

However, I would also rule out the other things mentioned - fungus, mites, etc.

I think I will be adding flax to his diet. I'm glad to hear you've had such success with it.

No fungus, no mites, I think its mostly nutritional. He's looking better now. His summer coat is coming in, still has a lot of shaggy winter hair to lose. I'm treating his dry skin with a homemade remedy. Spray bottle filled with cider vinegar, water, olive oil (specifically for skin, not cooking) hemp oil, tea tree and lavender oil. I spray that on and brush it in with a super soft brush.

I haven't been brushing or currying him very hard either, just soft gentle brushing until his coat comes in and his skin clears up more, so its taking a little longer to get that winter coat out since I can't rub, rub, rub him like I do the others!

His new coat is nice and shiny and healthy looking too!

 

[sawfish99]

For the flax, I checked the scoop this evening and it's actually closer to 1/2 cup per horse.

 

[proudtobeafarmgirl]

I fed my mares flax ( 1 cup each, ground/per day - they were working hard at a cattle feedlot) all winter/spring and a good mineral supplement, their coats came in beautiful and shiny, one mare did not shed the hair on her ears and still had some long guard hairs left so I dosed her with Quest dewormer - did the trick!