Cushing's horse not shedding

[saitou_amaya]

My 22 year old Friesian gelding was diagnosed with Cushing’s in fall 2019. I started him on Prascend that fall and he has been on 1mg since then.

Other horses in my barn (in the midwest) have started shedding but my horse has not at all. I’ve also had Facebook memories pop up of pictures of him I’ve posted in the past when he is shedding. I looked at all the pictures I have of him from years past, and he is always starting to shed by now.

I trace clipped him in November because he gets so hairy I can’t work him if he isn’t clipped. He hasn’t started shedding where he is clipped or unclipped and the long guard hairs have grown out where he is clipped. So he looked pretty ugly right now. And these last few days it has been in the 60s so he has been pretty hot when I ride him.

Will he eventually start shedding? Is there anything I can do to help? At some point if he doesn’t start shedding, I assume I will need to body clip him, but when? And won’t he look ugly if I body clip him in the spring since I’m also clipping his new summer coat just coming in?

[joiedevie99]

Nope, just body clip. Many of them end up needing to be clipped every other month year round. Also schedule some blood work to make sure his dose of Prascend doesn’t need to be changed.

[No1]

Clip him when he’s hot. If he’s hot now, it’s a good time.

[Mango20]

You may need to eventually clip him whether he sheds or not. My departed Cushing’s pony would shed his extra long coat every spring, but his summer coat grew in to be as long as a normal horse’s winter coat. He would need to be clipped a couple of times in the spring and summer.

[WildGooseChase]

Cushings horses have a really hard time letting go of their winter coat. I would do at least another trace clip, and talk to your vet about his maintenance medications to ensure the dosages don’t need to be changed.

[Mulligan314]

Yep - we clip ours every few months from about this time to September/October. We don’t have hot water at the barn, or we would have already bathed and clipped her this year. She’ll more than likely be clipped by the end of the month. The other horses are already DUMPING hair.

[PaddockWood]

Our weather is going to the 60’s starting today so I started the clip on my Cushing’s guy yesterday. Will finish today. He does not shed either. I HATE being hot so feel great empathy for these horses. I just throw a Rambo liner with a rain sheet on at night to keep him warm and then already pulled this morning.

[afjordlife]

My 28 y/o retired guy barely sheds at all anymore. He’s always been a fluffy guy (Irish cob) but now his winter coat comes in like a full blown mammoth. He was diagnosed with Cushings when he was 25 and has been on Prescend the whole time. The retirement barn where he lives has to full body clip him several times a year.

[JB]

It’s also time to re-test to see if the 1mg Prascend is keeping things under reasonable control

[Renn_aissance]

Chiming in to reassure you that this is very normal. Every year is different with these guys and while it’s good to keep their personal histories in mind, you can’t necessarily predicate one year on the other. Another development you might see in future years is patchy shedding, or shedding of some areas of the coat before the others.

I clip mine about once a month from March to November. Mid-Atlantic, pony-coated, poor sweater. Currently holding off on the body clip until such time as either he breaks a sweat in work, or until clipping him makes it easier to rug him instead of harder. You will not damage the next growth of hair coat by clipping him at whatever time he needs clipped. He might look a bit mousy for a week with the hairs shortened, but it won’t impact the ingrowth of his new coat. Promise.

[saitou_amaya]

Thanks, your reply makes me feel a bit better! I am going to hold off on clipping him a couple more weeks. It looks like we will dip back down into the 30s and 40s later this week so no need to clip right away.

The vet is also coming out next week for spring shots. I’ll have him draw blood work again to make sure his levels are okay and we don’t need to adjust his dose.

I feel a lot better knowing that if I do clip him, it won’t impact his new coat. I’ve always been told that if you clip a horse in the spring, their summer coat will grow in dull but maybe that is a myth?? I honestly don’t care for how black horses look when clipped, that mousy grey color. But of course I would rather him be comfortable than pretty.

[Renn_aissance]

@saitou_amaya

I’ve always been told that if you clip a horse in the spring, their summer coat will grow in dull but maybe that is a myth??

Yes, it’s a myth. Shortly after clipping the hair coat may look dull because you’ve shortened and blunted the hair shaft, but that’s temporary. Once it grows out a little and there’s more hair shaft to refract light, and you groom the horse to work coat oils down the new length of the hair, he will shine right back up.

[S1969]

@Mango20

You may need to eventually clip him whether he sheds or not. My departed Cushing’s pony would shed his extra long coat every spring, but his summer coat grew in to be as long as a normal horse’s winter coat. He would need to be clipped a couple of times in the spring and summer.

This is my experience as well. Every hair on my Cushing’s pony has decided to let loose all at once this week. There is a pile of hair in my barnyard the size of a large dog this morning.
But the summer coat won’t be short and sleek like the rest of them so it may need clipping depending on climate/work. My guy is a tiny little thing so he is not in work so I don’t usually clip him but if it’s really hot in the summer I will give him a trace clip just for his own comfort.

[PossumHorse]

I typically clip my Cushings guy in phases as the weather warms He’s on full turn out. In past years he has shed his guard habits but not the under coat.
Last year I clipped the neck and shoulders in late March, the barrel and thighs in mid April and then the rest early May. He typically has a full new summer coat by July, if I wanted to wait.

As a previous person said. Clip him as needed to keep him comfortable.

[Hayburner]

My old gelding didn’t shed even when on 2 Prascends a day. I just clipped a few times a year

[GoodTimes]

Yup it’s a myth. Many h/j show horses are clipped every month or two year round. Good nutrition and lots of brushing keeps them shiny. After a week or two any clipper lines won’t be as obvious either.

[Clover5]

A clipped coat should not be dull, but clipping too late in the winter can affect the summer coat. If you look at a horse’s hairs, you may notice that they often get darker at the tips - this is why you might clip a chestnut and get a sort of pumpkin colour, or clip a silver dapple and go from a chocolate colour to a really crazy dapple pattern. If you clip late enough you could be cutting the new hair short enough that it will show as a different colour in the summer.

The H/J show horses are clipped year-round head to toe, so you can’t usually see the half-grown out bits. Fine Lady 5’s behind the stall door has a conformation shot where you can see they changed where the saddle and spur patches went, leaving half-grown hair contrasting against the fully clipped and unclipped sections. If you trace clip your horse and don’t clip him in the summer you may end up with a racing stripe.

A clipped coat can sun bleach unevenly. I clipped my horse into a skeleton a couple of years ago. In the spring, the unclipped sections shielded the new hair from the sun, but the hair growing into the clipped sections was lightly sun bleached, leaving outlines of his ‘bones’. This was especially apparent over his ribs. He had light bars running across his barrel that made him look too thin at first glance, even though the actual ribs were under a generous layer of fat at the time. He wore a blanket most of the time too so this was from a few hours/days of sun exposure here and there.

If you’re going to clip him I’d do a full clip, leaving head, legs, belly, and a saddle patch, not a trace clip. If either of the above occur, it will be the least obvious with that clip (short of shaving him head to toe).

[Renn_aissance]

@Clover5

If you’re going to clip him I’d do a full clip, leaving head, legs, belly, and a saddle patch, not a trace clip. If either of the above occur, it will be the least obvious with that clip (short of shaving him head to toe).

This is a good point.

OP, since I mentioned upthread that every year is different and that you may also see unusual shedding patterns- my fellow had previously had very little shedding to mention, but all of a sudden, today, he’s blowing gray coat all over the place. It looked like it snowed all over my breeches.

He is a bay.

I have no idea where he is getting all of these gray hairs from, but I look forward to clipping him and finding out what color he has decided to be underneath his winter hair coat. My money had been on seal bay with visible dapples, but apparently I should be betting on roan.

[eightpondfarm]

my 20 yr old cushings Morgan mare is on Cabergoline (LA). She still has tons of coat. We’ve had a few warm days already, but i think i’ll not clip her until we shear our sheep, so about a month. Saw my vet yesterday and he thinks that she will probably shed on her own (this is her first year on meds)

[pony_grandma]

Please throw your horse hair out for the nesting birds!
I have some together in a shadow box.