my pony is a mess!!! please help

[midnightbay]

Im in need of you NR'S advice...
at the yard tonight i found patches of fur missing on my 26year old mare, she had been rubbing away at herself and has caused it to go bald.
on one side along her belly is the bald patch, just skin but on her shoulder and thigh she has done the same but there is blood.

i turned her out for a little fresh air and all she did was rub herself. when i brought her back in i noticed she has two little bald blood patches on either side of her nose. surely she cant itch herself there!

could it be mange? ringworm? ive checked for lice and found none. her coat(normally shiney and smooth) is greasy and coming out in chunks

sorry its so long im really worried and will phone vet on monday but wanted to know what it is? if its catchable? and can i do anything for it?
thanks :confused:

[Jessey]

Aw bless her, I would try some dilute hibiscrb or betadine and give those areas a good wash to start with and maybe try some aloevera to sooth the itching. I would be tempted to treat for lice even if you haven't found any, they can be so hard to spot, they normally congragate (sp?) round the mane and tail so have a good check there.
Re ringworm, it normally starts in small patches and leaves a bump/raised patch of skin and it will be red. I don't think mange is very common in horses but its possible and all of these things could spread to other horses so keep an eye on things. Good luck, I hope you find the cause :o

[becs]

Sounds like when our two old ponies had lice - easy to treat (& hard to spot!as Jessey says) so don't worry.

Jessey's suggestions (hibiscrub + soother) sound a good start until you get some lice treatment (we use Deosect / cypermethrin, bought at vets). Then if that fails, maybe get the vet to take a look?

Our 32 year old NF had his bald patches growing back within a week. And he stopped rubbing vigorously on trees all day...

When our welshie had ringworm near his tail once, it was a neat round area of no fur (with a paler edge) but he didn't rub / scratch it at all.

If you wash hands after treating it and don't share kit, it shouldn't spread. I'd disinfect brushes etc anyway.

If it is lice, don't blame yourself - it's common at the end of winter / early spring especially in the hairier ones! They still have lots of thick winter coat but the weather's too warm to keep the parasite numbers low.

[coss]

if its lice i recommend coopers plus, works a treat

[artemis]

Could just be long coat & warm winter. My shetland does the same at this time of the year.
Seaweed powder helps. I have used it for years.

[becs]

Seaweed powder helps is that a feed supplement, artemis? or do you rub it in their fur once a week?!!? lol

just keen for effective alternative solutions to our annual louse-fest...

[midnightbay]

if its lice i recommend coopers plus, works a treat

What is this(powder/liquid etc) and where would i get it from?

thanks for the advice everyone i have bathed her cuts in hibiscrub tonight and applied sudocrem. also de-loused her just in case. is there anything i can get for a dandruffy mane and tail? they are full of dandruff!

[becs]

Coopers is a liquid used for de-lousing, it's on the shelves of many tack shops, not cheap but it IS effective so worth it (many cheap / "gentle" lice shampoo / powders are useless from our experiences).

[coss]

coopers is as becs said, liquid. it comes with a sponge cloth and a pair of rubbery gloves as its irritant to skin. don't know if its suitable to put on cuts but i use it in the summer as its meant to help sweet itch and i have used in on a pony with lice. you should be able to get it from your vet and/or tack shop and it does the job quickly. if i remember correctly it is meant to sooth the itch.

dandruffy mane and tail... the only things i have found to work is washing with shampoo and thorough rinsing and/or putting the coopers on.

[artemis]

It's a feed supplement NAF do it plus others. I've told others about it & it does help.

[Jessey]

The cheap remedy I use for scurfy/itchy mane/tail is 1 pot of aquious cream (can be got from any pharmacy inc tesco) for about £2, I tiny (15ml) bottle of teatree oil (again you can get this at more pharmacies, I found Savers cheapest) for about £2, pour all the oil into the cream and mix well, then apply by the handfull :D
Aquious cream is the thing doctors recomend for echzema and dermititis etc it is a natural water based super moisturising cream :D and teatree is a super healing and soothing oil that disinfects the skin and helps rid of nasties etc too :D
When you apply this you do get a bit of a white mess but I just try to get it down to the roots and rub the rest along the hair shaft, it will soak in over night and really does help loads, and leaves a nice shiney soft mane/tail too :D

[alexander]

sounds like you have the same problem as we do, itchy and rubbing but no sign of anything. We have tried most of the vet recommended washes and they didnt help much, only got a good result from maleseb, but back to square one again three weeks later................so guess it's the unusual winter weather not killing any insects.

[becs]

back to square one again three weeks later................so guess it's the unusual winter weather not killing any insects. that was my conclusion last winter, in the same situation. We had to treat our NF 3 times from winter into spring.

It's a combination of rugs, long fur & warm weather giving the parasite population a boost, ugh.

[midnightbay]

The cheap remedy I use for scurfy/itchy mane/tail is 1 pot of aquious cream (can be got from any pharmacy inc tesco) for about £2, I tiny (15ml) bottle of teatree oil (again you can get this at more pharmacies, I found Savers cheapest) for about £2, pour all the oil into the cream and mix well, then apply by the handfull :D
Aquious cream is the thing doctors recomend for echzema and dermititis etc it is a natural water based super moisturising cream :D and teatree is a super healing and soothing oil that disinfects the skin and helps rid of nasties etc too :D
When you apply this you do get a bit of a white mess but I just try to get it down to the roots and rub the rest along the hair shaft, it will soak in over night and really does help loads, and leaves a nice shiney soft mane/tail too :D

Thanks im definately going to give that a go! will it have soaked into the mane/tail properly by morning or will i have to wash it out?

[Jessey]

No it should just soak into the mane, I just rub it along the hair shafts so its not in a big thick glob and its normally all gone by morning - If you don't want to see it that day (riding out right after or something) just don't use quite so much and blot the excess off the hairs with kitchen towel or something :D It just is so cheap so I tend to go for overkill with it :D