Dandruff in horses?

[pengapenga]

Hi

Recently I have noticed that Frits seems to have dry skin or dandruff in his mane. As I don't want him losing anymore hair, is there something I can either feed him or put in his mane to help the condition? Or is it something that needs a vet visit? He does not seem to be worried about it and I have not noticed any mane loss, I would notice as I am trying to get his mane to grow since he lost a lot of it during shipping. Before I dash off to the vet like a neurotic mum I thought I would do a sanity check here first :)

[Jessey]

How about sticking some oil into his feed, cod liver oil I think is the best for skin but I just use Veggie oil :D

also check out my reply to your post about cider apple vinegar as thats meant to help too.

J x

[cvb]

I prefer veggie or corn/maize oil just cos I'm anti feeding animal protein to a herbivore. Plus Fi hated it :rolleyes:

Its more likely to just be dry skin - dandruff is smelly and normally not white. Most of us just have flakey scalps not dandruff, but the shampoo sells better if we say its anti-D !

So - how would you treat yourself for dry skin ? Diet is one, but wouldn't you also condition the skin and hair ? Test him, but if he's not allergic to baby oil, thats quite an easy one to use. Don't over use, just a little bit helps separate the hair and keep it conditioned. (after all, we use hot oil on ourselves ;) ) But you could also use a mild conditioner if you're giving him a bath.

[pengapenga]

Thanks for the replies :)

Jessey I am going to try ACV :)

I have been using a conditioner in his mane but not everyday so I shall try using it more often :)

About the oil, how much can I use? Frits being friesian can put on weight very quickly so don't want to overdo it. He is also fed a good quality grain mix which has oil in it (I think, will recheck :rolleyes: :o ) and his coat is shiney other than the mane. I am taking the plunge and am entering him into a breed show in a months time so he is going to have a good bath, (it is winter here so I have not given him a good wash in case he catches a cold) so I shall shop around for a good shampoo and conditioner :)

[entreat]

I've been feeding oil to Casper & his coat has improved heaps!
I was giving him about a half cup/feed, but we only hard feed him 2-3times a week & we want him to put on more weight.

I read on the HRCAV forum that someone feeds their horses half a cup a day, but theirs are in full work. Have a play with it - if he's looking plump, or pooping butter :eek: :D , you might want to cut back.

[pengapenga]

Thanks entreat :D

[cvb]

Ditto - ours just get a splash in their evening feed. For Fi it was cos her summer coat gets really thin and I worry about sunburn :rolleyes: The old chap gets some too for general health, joints etc.

So they're only getting maybe a tablespoon or so. It does depend a bit what the other feed is - as some of them have oil in them already...

[Jessey]

You can feed up to 10% of your hard feed as oil :eek: but thats alot, Mine get varying ammounts, our old boy gets about 1 1/2 cups in winter but that is because he struggles to get the goodness out of grain due to a lack of teeth, Bo gets about 1/2 - 1 cup depending on the level of work he is doing and jess gets about 1/2 cup just to keep her in tip top condition.

If you find he's gaining weight with the oil but you still want to give him it to keep his coat nice you could reduce his other grain, oil is very natural for horses, it is easily digestable and has lots of goodness in it, to be honest it probably is better than a high starch feed.

J :D