Please help

[Samantha S]

I hope you guys can help, I don't post often but read the forum everyday religiously. Some of my minis were rubbing on trees, feeders anything and everything. At first I thought it was because they were starting to shed, but now some have rubbed the hair clear off and have small raw spots

They are all current on worming, we rotate our types of wormers and they are wormed every other month. We had a random sample done on some manure and they are clear of worms(done about 1-1 1/2 months ago.)They have free access to salt and mineral blocks and are currently eating grass hay and being fed 12- 16% horse feed that contains minerals,vitamins,selenum etc. We closely inspected the bare spots to see if they possibly have lice or mites. We could not see any( I realize they are very tiny), we did go ahead and Monday we dusted all the horses for lice just to be safe. I called my vet today and he was on emergency farm visits and is supposed to call me back tomorrow. I was hoping you guys may have some suggestions or ideas. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[chandab]

Are your horses still in the process of shedding winter hair? If so, its possible they are just itchy from the old icky hair.

I've been going through this, and finally gave up and clipped everyone. There has been little to no rubbing since I clipped everyone. And, wouldn't you know our weather is going to turn colder for several days.

Not saying this is your problem, but could be.

 

[Samantha S]

Yes, they are still shedding their winter furr. We are constantly brushing trying to get some of the loss hair off of them, but it is still 30 at night here and I don't want to clip and then make them sick. We have owned minis for some time,and had them to rub, but not this bad. They rub until no hair at all. You would think they would stop at the summer coat, but they go clear to hide and then some spots that are raw. They are doing this to their neck, sides, butt, and some around their face. I now I am a worry wort, but I hate the thoughts that they are itching so bad that they are making themselves have sores

.Thanks for you reply, it least I know I am not alone.

 

[Keri]

My minis did this when we had a heat wave and then cold spell, etc. I couldn't find anything wrong with them and concluded it to dry skin. I added 2 tablespoons of oil to their feed and they stopped rubbing and the hair has grown back. Maybe you should try this. With the winter hair shedding, it hard to keep them from rubbing to itch. OH!

 

[shoegirl]

I know we all have the itchy horses this time of year.

I put a 4x4 post in the ground and bought 4 soft broom heads at Lowe's, then screwed the broom heads to the post. It makes a great scratching post for my horses and they won't get sores from rubbing on hard objects, the fence, or things they could get hurt on.

It's neat to watch them because they look like cats when they keep rubbing the post.

 

[MountainMeadows]

Sounds like lice to me - yuck! But with minis it kind of comes with the breed - just get some lice powder and have a dusting party -- don't forget to wear a mask & gloves -- probably need to repeat in 2 weeks. I personally wouldn't dust any pregnant mares - those would get a good bath if possible, and a dose of Ivermectin - then after foaling another bath & then the dust.

Don't stress out over it, minis have such thick, long coats that they are a natural "safe-haven" for the little pests - it is kind of gross, but certainly easily treatable.

Stac

 

[angel_cowgirl]

My gelding did that many years ago when he was even in the barn for show season, but we believed the cause to be allergies. He'd been in the barn in previous years for show seasons and hadn't done this, but one year he did, and we did an allergy test. So, just an addition to the list of other things people have said - maybe they developed some allergy.