Scarring

[StormyJ]

I've been meaning to ask, how important is a small (about the size of a 2p) scar on a Welsh D for showing?

When we moved yards Phi was kicked on her inside near hock. A protruding nail from the offending hoof (ironically, another Welsh D - talk about taking out the competition!) made a puncture wound on her leg, which got infected and so she had to go on anti-biotics etc.

She now has a sort of golden colour - not white like when the hair dies - scar on her leg. There is scar tissue behind it but with regular vigorous massage that is starting to break down.

So the question is, how much is it going to affect us in a showing class? Do you think it will ever grow back? There is ginger hair (her colour) mixed in with the gold so I'm hopeful. Any tips for encouraging it to become her colour? We are going to start putting Vitamin E on it which is for scars.

I just really don't want what I think could have been a successful career ended for such a trivial thing :(

[Glider]

It really will matter very very little, compared to other things it's not something most judges will be concerned about unless it's likely to affect function of the joint.

You can use a shoe polish the same colour as her hair to cover the patch (some showing shops sell special make up for this).

[Palomino Mare]

hi, what colour is your horse? im afraid i'm a novice in the showing world but i would presume that you could use some horse hair dye for that?

[horse__obsessed]

depends how obvious it is i think

[Daffy Dilly]

You should be able to cover it with a toner. Just find the closest match, mix it with whatever is needed and apply it before the show. If you wanted to go the horse-makeup route, you'd need to mix red-black/brown with white. None of them do a ginger as far as I know.

If it's any consolation, Daffy had two white scars on his back from an ill fitting saddle when I got him three years ago. He doesn't any more. I can't remember how long it took, I just remember looking one day and them not being there. He also had his legs rubbed raw a year ago. Began with some white hairs, but every time his coat changes these get less and less.

From the sounds of things the hair is damaged rather than killed, so I imagine that it will sort itself out.

[StormyJ]

What a relief!
Apparently you can scars removed aswell, which we have considered doing if it's not gone in about 6 months.
I did think of make-up and dye, but she has a really interesting coat that would be almost impossible to match!
Someone at our yard with a massive cobby version of Phi said Ben got one like hers and it just vanished.

Thanks for the help :)

[Mehitabel]

mascara comes in a lot of colours, and you can blend it - that is good for covering white marks.