# If your horses eat manes & tails you need to read



## Windstorm Minis (Sep 24, 2006)

I wanted to post this for everyone's information, it may not be a "new" thing, but it was for me.

A couple weeks ago I sold a 15 year old, 30", mini mare to a lady. A week after getting her home she called me to say that she came home from work and found the mare dead with a foal part-way delivered. (she wasn't due until next year)

She had a necropsy done and the vet said she colicked, stomach ruptured - from a HAIR BALL the size of a soft ball!!

Found long white hair - he figured it had been building up for a while.

I never, ever saw this mare eat a mane or tail - only had 2 minis with white hair and their manes and tails were never eaten, so don't know if this started before I bought her or if maybe mane or tail hair was "snagged" on a fence and she ate it...just have no idea.

She never, ever showed any signs of colic with me, or discomfort - nothing. She was a super friendly mare and that never changed a single day that I had her. She was a little overweight, but other than that nothing ever wrong.

She aborted a filly.

I'm wondering if she lasted with me because I don't feed hay - short grass pasture, beet pulp, small complete pellet, alfalfa cubes - which would all be "small" when it hit the stomach and maybe pass through and then she got hay, which may have caused a blockage?

I don't know - whole thing is strange, but I wanted to give you all the info - the "hair ball" really blew me away.

Have any of you ever experienced this or even heard of this?

Sorry, I can't spell today.


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## Nancy (Sep 24, 2006)

How sad . I had a friend that lost a beautiful Arabian stallion from a ball the same size it was like a rock they cut it open and there was a tooth in the center.Apparently swollowed a long time ago.


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## RJRMINIS (Sep 24, 2006)

Yes I have heard of this, when horses groom each other, they tend to pick up hair, doesn't mean they eat manes and tails, but if you watch them grooming, they pick up hair and usually up by the mane and neck area. I am sure over time if it isn't passed it can cause problems.

So sorry to hear about the mare and the aborted filly. How tragic.


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## Nathan Luszcz (Sep 24, 2006)

My barn manager's filly had one just a few months ago, presented with reaccuring mild colic. Turned surgical after the third time in two days and they removed a hair ball made up of her dam's tail. She was muzzled for the next month, except to eat



She's all better now and learning how to get ready for showing as a yearling next year!


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## Bess Kelly (Sep 24, 2006)

The mutual grooming, especially in Spring when they are shedding, is the MOST usual cause of this. It is probably more common than many of us think. Spring colics may very well be started by this problem and we just don't give that a thought.....always grass, sand, feed change, etc, come to mind.

Well, just watch them! Most of the mature ones try to "spit it out" bit I'm sure some is swallowed. Obviously it is too much for some. My concern is always when the new FOALS begin to learn to groom :new_shocked: It is most often exactly during shed time and they just don't know (like most babies



) that you don't put everything in your mouth and swallow! Plus their systems don't always process everything well at this age, their still working on it.

Most go through life without an issue. But, it is a consideration for you. If you ever LOOK a a fresh pile this time of year, you will most likely see hair in there -- not balled up, thankfully, but hair in there just the same. I've gotta say that it is a reason to clip those winter woolies off of them.



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## Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis (Sep 24, 2006)

Maybe this is a stupid question but for those that have seen there horses eating hair would a cat hairball medicine help I wonder?


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## eagles ring farm (Sep 24, 2006)

Does anyone know some regular type of additive to feed to possibly prevent this ?


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## love_casper (Sep 24, 2006)

:new_shocked:



i'm sorry to hear about your mare. very sad.

and....



> Does anyone know some regular type of additive to feed to possibly prevent this ?


umm,,,do you think maybe syllium would help? like Sand Clear? or does that only affect sand colic....maybe it could help with other build up too?????


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## wendi leigh (Sep 24, 2006)

I'm so sorry to hear about your mare. Unfortunately, I am all too aware of this problem:

My only foal this year had recurrent bouts with diarhhea which was thought to be due to the mare's foal heat cycle, but at 4 weeks of age she had a severe colic episode that wouldn't ease with pain medication. I took her to the hospital in the middle of the night and they did surgery the next morning. She had a hairball in the large intestine made up of mane and tail hair from the mare. She came home a week later and I kept the mare's mane braided and tail bagged from then on out. I thought we were in the clear after two months of making a complete recovery... then she coliced at the end of July, and again 10 days later, and then over Labor Day weekend. Over Labor Day, the banamine wouldn't ease her pain and nothing would pass after tubing, so I took her back to New Bolton and she had surgery for the second time -- at just 4.5 months of age. This time she had a hairball in the small intestine made up of the body hair from grooming her dam. I had seen them grooming each other just like all horses do, but didn't realize she had been eating the hair. She now has a post-operative adhesion that has an area of peritinitis around it so she's getting IV antibiotics and she's developed ulcers despite being on gastro-guard so she's getting meds for that too. She is still in the hospital three weeks later, and she also tested positive for Salmonella, which she probably picked up in the hospital. On the positive side, she hasn't had a fever for the last week and she tried to kick the vet the other day, so her spirits are picking up!!

Please send Melody your best wishes for a speedy recovery so she can come home soon. She turned 5 months old on Sept. 14th.



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