Ear plaques...help

[Libby2563]

I noticed over the winter that my young horse (coming 2 this year) was sensitive about being haltered on very cold damp days. I checked his ears and sure enough he has aural plaques. They aren’t too big, cracked, etc. yet and he typically lets me handle and halter him no problem, as long as it’s not too cold and wet.

I used to own a TB with severe ear plaques and he would not allow a halter or bridle to be pulled over his ears at all. He was wonderful about everything else but adamant about that, and I think someone may have really manhandled his ears in the past trying to treat them. I tried Desitin once or twice but ended up just working around it as they didn’t seem to bother him except to the touch. If possible, I want to prevent my young horse from getting to that stage of sensitivity, especially since I’m hoping he will be an FEI dressage horse and I don’t need head shaking.

My question is: should I try anything to keep these developing plaques from growing? Or would over-handling his ears just be more likely to create fear and issues? I know there’s no proven remedy but some people report anecdotal successes. I just don’t know if any are worth trying at this point.

Should I just buy him a fly mask with ear nets and hope the donkey doesn’t take it off him every day?

[findeight]

Offhand, I don’t think there is anything you can do to keep them from growing. You might ask your vet about removal but I honestly don’t know. Seen show horses with them so have a hunch removal is not that easy or too expensive and not covered by insurance, unless something new has come along.

Just handle his ears normally during your daily grooming routine and use a little care haltering and bridling. Since the ones I have seen were all in show barns, I doubt they bother them that much unless somebody fools with them too much or rushes thru bridling if they do hit a sensitive spot. I wouldn’t mess with trying to put Desitine on them. Or anything else unless your vet recommends it.

I don’t recall any of them shaking their heads either, really don’t think it bothers them, or at least it did not bother these.

[merrygoround]

My observation was that if you were diligent with fly repellents, and/or facemasks with ears, the plaques went away. Many show horse have clipped ears, and the barns are casual about fly repellents.

[Libby2563]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;8053750]
My observation was that if you were diligent with fly repellents, and/or facemasks with ears, the plaques went away. Many show horse have clipped ears, and the barns are casual about fly repellents.[/QUOTE]

Thanks! I never clip ears and I do use fly predators and repellent, but this particular horse did not wear a mask last year. Maybe I’ll try that to start and see how it goes.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;8053750]
My observation was that if you were diligent with fly repellents, and/or facemasks with ears, the plaques went away. Many show horse have clipped ears, and the barns are casual about fly repellents.[/QUOTE]
That is so not true. Maybe keeping a fly mask on the horse affected helps possibly prevents the transfer of the virus, but the care has nothing to do with whether or not your horse is going to get them: and once your horse has them they don’t go away.

So little is known about plaques, even the transmission.

[SuckerForHorses]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;8053750]
My observation was that if you were diligent with fly repellents, and/or facemasks with ears, the plaques went away. Many show horse have clipped ears, and the barns are casual about fly repellents.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8054018]That is so not true. Maybe keeping a fly mask on the horse affected helps possibly prevents the transfer of the virus, but the care has nothing to do with whether or not your horse is going to get them: and once your horse has them they don’t go away.

So little is known about plaques, even the transmission.[/QUOTE]

I’m sorry, but you’re telling someone their OBSERVATION of what THEY have seen is not true??

If so little is known, then why are you the know-all about it, enough to tell merrygoround her observation is false?

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;8054057]
I’m sorry, but you’re telling someone their OBSERVATION of what THEY have seen is not true??

If so little is known, then why are you the know-all about it, enough to tell merrygoround her observation is false?[/QUOTE]

I am questioning if her observation is really about aural plaques. It may be her observation. My observation has been exactly the opposite. Am I not allowed to say so?

I have a horse with plaques. I’ve taken care of horses with plaques. I’ve been at barns where the care has been the best and their showstring had a few horses with plaques. Management has never, my experience, changed the fact they had the plaques. Treatment is ineffective. Once they have the plaques, they pretty much die with them.

If you’re interested in the subject, do a search on the forum. You’ll find everyone’s observations are parallel with mine. I apologize for brevity - I am on my phone.

[Drive_NJ]

the product DERMAFAS has been effective for many people with horses with aural plaques
(caveat - not effective for everyone)

it was originally aprivately owned company but was bought by NunnFiner
You can find the stuff on Amazon

a little goes a long way

[norcalammie]

When I bought my horse they had tried to remove them and eared him so that he was terribly head shy. I had to take the bridle apart to put it on him! By working with him slowly I have gotten to the point where he loves having his ears scratched and brushed. I can clip his ears without putting a halter on him and he just stands there in his stall. Over the years his plaques have gotten smaller and I have done nothing other than regular grooming. Good luck.

[cloudyandcallie]

When my friend lived here (she’s since moved to another state), she treated the ear plaques on her 3 drafts with the freeze off wart treatment, Compound W. I used to help her do it when we boarded at same barn. It worked.

[redpanther]

I came across this when I was looking for sarcoid treatments…

http://www.cvm.umn.edu/cic/completedstudies/lamedsurg/aldarafaq/home.html#auralplaque

http://www.cvm.umn.edu/cic/completedstudies/lamedsurg/aldarardvm/home.html

[Elouise]

I had a young horse that was terribly ear sensitive due to plaques. My vet removed them (it was a bloody mess…) and I applied some sort of ointment for about two weeks to his ears. It worked! They were gone and now 10 years later, still no sign of them. After about a year without the plaques, he allowed me to bridle him without taking the bridle apart and to this day, is still easy to bridle.

I don’t recall it being very expensive for the removal in my barn. Farm call, drugs, ointment and like $75 for their removal. Worth every penny! I would give it a shot if your vet thinks it will work.

[Snowdenfarm]

I bought a horse with aural plaques (diagnosed by vet in PPE). Correlation is not causation, but I did use tea tree oil as a fly repellant in her ears that first year and they did disappear within a few months. Seven years later, they have not returned. I do not use a fly mask, but I do put either a squirt of fly spray on her ear hairs or some type of cream/oil as a barrier. Perhaps in some horses they just go away once the ears are protected?

[merrygoround]

[QUOTE=beowulf;8054103]
I am questioning if her observation is really about aural plaques. It may be her observation. My observation has been exactly the opposite. Am I not allowed to say so?

I have a horse with plaques. I’ve taken care of horses with plaques. I’ve been at barns where the care has been the best and their showstring had a few horses with plaques. Management has never, my experience, changed the fact they had the plaques. Treatment is ineffective. Once they have the plaques, they pretty much die with them.

If you’re interested in the subject, do a search on the forum. You’ll find everyone’s observations are parallel with mine. I apologize for brevity - I am on my phone.[/QUOTE]

Darn and I had a horse that I thought I saw no more plaques after careful mask and flyspray application. I thought I never saw them again. I guess I just wasn’t seeing things, :lol: :lol: :rolleyes:

Checking the COTH:http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?272774-Ear-plaques

                     http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?272774-Ear-plaques

[Gestalt]

[QUOTE=Elouise;8055101]
I had a young horse that was terribly ear sensitive due to plaques. My vet removed them (it was a bloody mess…) and I applied some sort of ointment for about two weeks to his ears. It worked! They were gone and now 10 years later, still no sign of them. After about a year without the plaques, he allowed me to bridle him without taking the bridle apart and to this day, is still easy to bridle.

I don’t recall it being very expensive for the removal in my barn. Farm call, drugs, ointment and like $75 for their removal. Worth every penny! I would give it a shot if your vet thinks it will work.[/QUOTE]

Same here! Whenever I hear people say that there is no treatment I wonder if they consulted a vet to get that prognosis.

[beowulf]

[QUOTE=Gestalt;8055299]
Same here! Whenever I hear people say that there is no treatment I wonder if they consulted a vet to get that prognosis.[/QUOTE]

i did. dr. brett gaby (essex equine) & dr. jamie carter (southern equine). dr gaby said a waste of money and bothers the person more than the horse - dr carter suggested a treatment but professed it was not always effective.

[QUOTE=vicarious;8055252]Darn and I had a horse that I thought I saw no more plaques after careful mask and flyspray application. I thought I never saw them again. I guess I just wasn’t seeing things, :lol: :lol: :rolleyes:

Checking the COTH:http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?272774-Ear-plaques

                     http://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/showthread.php?272774-Ear-plaques[/QUOTE]

then i guess you’ve had stellar luck – much more than the collective horse-people i have known. myself included.

[Elouise]

Beowulf- it WAS Dr. Gaby that removed the plaques on my horse. How funny!

[AC1]

Using a surgical laser and Aldera cream a few times post surgery we finally got my guys Aural Plaques gone. Flymask with various topicals did not work. Just the laser alone did not work. Dermafas cream by itself did not work. The Aldera cream was obviously very painful on the open wound and he needed to be heavily sedated to clean out the sites a few days after application.

So yes the stubborn ones can be removed…but it is not for the faint of heart or wallet.

[Cat_Tap]

One of my grays had one ear completely filled with them. Now this is just a theory but when I had a horse with a lot of warts an old vet told me just to pinch one until it bleeds so the horse will develop antibodies and the warts will go away. I thought maybe this will also work with plaques. So I tried it a few times and the plaques went away.

So I am not sure whether this worked or was just a coincidence.

[DQ01]

I’ve also had 2 vets tell me aural plaque cannot be treated. My mare has it in both ears but it doesn’t seem to bother her too much, she’s gotten much better about me touching her ears. No problems putting the bridle or halter on. My vets have said you can treat it but it will just come right back. Hmm.