My gelding usually sheds pretty normally in the spring. Now, he’s an itchy, sensitive-skinned Appy, so by mid-to-late summer he’s rubbing and gnawing himself bald/raw from insects and heat and what-not, but springtime usually isn’t an issue.
A couple of weeks ago he got what looked like maybe rain rot around and a little bit on the dock of his tail. He’s never had rain rot in his life (I’ve owned him 16 of his 17 years), but I washed and treated. It cleared up pretty easily and hair is growing back in VERY slowly. I also thought maybe pinworms, so hit him with Equimax, which I normally do in later spring, but whatever.
That has cleared up and he’s been shedding like crazy, but he’s dang near bald over his loin, between his back legs, on his shoulders, and chest. It’s not unhealthy looking, skin seems fine, it’s just so weird! It’s like he blew out his winter coat before his summer came in.
It did get unseasonably hot for a spell (highs hitting 90 a couple of days and humid) and that’s when he got his first bath of the season and the hair started going bye-bye.
He’s on a very good diet, lots of Copper, Zinc, Biotin, Vitamin E, etc. 24/7 turnout with access to nice shelter, a little grass but not much, very nice hay, and I’ve added spirulina since the itchy/hairless situation. He IS itchy.
The only things I can think of are the hot weather spell we had AND I had kept him off of any soy for a few years and now have reintroduced it. My thinking was that soy never made him itchy in the winter back when I used to feed it, so it probably wasn’t the cause of his itchiness anyway. He itches in the summer with or without soy, so I just don’t think that’s the likely culprit.
Anyway. Just wondering if others are seeing or have seen this shedding to baldness before. I assume his summer coat will come in and he’ll be just fine. At least I sure hope so.
