Funny Patch of Skin

[Beaudacious22]

Two weeks or so ago I noticed one of my horses had developed a pretty good size lump on his neck, right where the neck and shoulder meet. I would say it was maybe the size of a quarter. It was a little warm when I touched it but didn’t seem to be causing him any discomfort. A couple of days later I notice the hair had fallen off and it was a little oozy. I sprayed it with an iodine based topical spray. The following day I noticed he had a raised patch of hair next to and below the original spot, maybe the size of my palm and it was noticeably warm and slightly sore. The warmth and soreness lasted for 2-3 days. No longer warm or sore but now the original “dot” is healed over and the palm sized portion is flaking off. I should also mention the skin in this area is very loose and stays raised longer than any other areas if I pinch it.

At first I thought it was just a bug bite, then I was thinking he may have had some kind of abscess under the skin. It almost seems like a fluid pocket had developed below the original spot and compromised the skin in that area. However, after extensive googling I’m worried it could be ringworm. I’ve never come across a horse with ringworm and I’m not sure this 100% fits.
Also, my horses live at home and it’s just the 2 of them. Neither have gone anywhere in months and it’s been a good 6 weeks since farrier or vet have been here as well. Also the barn is new and this property never had horses on it previously. But I imagine ringworm can appear on its own as well. Horse #2 is fine so far.

Any ideas?

[Pally]

That doesn’t sound really ringwormy to me. It does sound more bitey, maybe spider-bitey? Also fits the season better (presuming you’re in the northern hemisphere) as ringworm doesn’t like sunlight, but insects sure do.

[Beaudacious22]

A spider bite did cross my mind as well, we are in the Northeast and definitely have some nasty looking spiders in our area!

[EmilyM]

Pentosan injection site?

[cayuse]

Tick bite? When mine get a tick bite it will swell a bit and ooze and then the hair falls out in a clump.

[Beaudacious22]

He is not on Pentosan and the location and timing doesn’t match up with a vaccine reaction from hai spring shots. Good thinking though!

[Anna.m]

It sounds a lot like an abscess my mare once had but in a different place, but when in doubt contact your vet.

My mare, and a bunch of other horses in her pasture had developed a lump under their chin. The vet in my area was unavailable to come out. Over a couple days, the lump got larger, then the hair in that area fell out, and it was warm to the touch. As the lump got larger, it turned from black (horse’s skin colour) to red/pink, then to a creamy white. At this point we were able to tell it was an abscess. My mare’s popped before the vet was able to come out, just kept it clean and draining as much as possible as it could not be wrapped. One of the other horses abscess was not able to pop on its own, it got larger and weapy, as the infection and puss leaked out through the skin. The vet was finally able to come out, lanced the abscess, and found a thistle inside. The conclusion we came to, is that there were thistles in the hay, and these horses got them stuck under their chins, and it became infected. Once healed, It took a bit for the skin to go back to normal, as it was stretched out for so long.

Could your horse have rolled in thistles or another thorny plant? Could maybe have been stung by a wasp? and gotten infected?