I imported a horse from Canada last winter. Last summer he started losing all of the hair from his mane. We thought he was rubbing, and there was indication of rubbing (broken hairs and hairs of different length, so we strung hotwire around his paddock and all of the mane grew back. Until now…
He is currently losing the hair from his mane again, except this time there is no indication of rubbing. No broken hairs, no hairs of different length. Just hair missing. It started as a small patch, about 1/2 inch long and 1/4 inch wide. It has grown to almost 3" long and almost the width of the mane (almost a complete bald spot).
Is it possible that a pasture mate might be chewing on it? I have seen mine stand next to each other facing in opposite directions and “groom” each others manes with their teeth.
My gelding did this and COTH suggested it was to much Selenium. Its not in the ground here ( like Kentucky)but I changed my feed and the problem resolved though sadly that part of his beautiful mane never grew back.
This horse is actually on elevate SE for some mild shakey-like hind end. I wonder if it is a contributing factor, and it starts coming in to play in the summer months when the hay is better???
You migth want to check his levels of SE as horses need very little SE and more might be causing his shakiness. Horses need very little SE, not an expert but have been told to stay away from supplements. You could look up what happens to horses on selenium rich pastures. I think its very serious.I assume your vet advised to supplement him?
Do you know if you are in an area with high SE soil levels? Staying away from SE supplements is a broad a statement, since it depends on many factors. Selenium levels vary greatly by region, and it all depends upon how much total selenium a horse is consuming in: pasture, locally grown hay, hay that is grown elsewhere, commercial feeds, grain based feeds, and vitamin supplements containing SE.
Horses need 1-3mg daily and in some very hard working cases, more. To figure out exactly how much your horse is consuming, calculate all SE sources. Hay needs to be analyzed to determine SE content. If on pasture, local SE soil levels need to be taken into consideration. Feed labels need to be read carefully for SE content, then calculate pounds fed to determine how much SE a horse is consuming. The same for any SE containing supplements. Add that all together to get total SE in the horse’s diet.
Nickelodian, how much Elevate SE is he getting and how much in other sources? Did you get his SE levels tested?
If you are feeding elevated selenium levels you need to get your horse’s levels tested. The difference between enough and too much selenium is quite small and selenium supplementation needs to be monitored carefully.
No roundbale feeder. I have taken him off of the Elevate SE, and moved him to a paddock with only tape fencing. The mane is getting worse. Two new spots of missing hair this morning, and there is some flaking in these spots. I have also tried:
Yes, do test his selenium level. It’s a simple and fairly cheap blood test.
It may just be the way his mane grows. I have one Fjord who had a reasonably decent mane when he came to me last spring. He has sweet itch and I thought he was rubbing it, as it got thinner when summer started to arrive and he started to shed in general. I could not find evidence in his stall where he had rubbed that area of the mane. Our fence is electric rope, so no rubbing on that either. He wears a full flysheet and neck cover when turned out during bug season. The more I looked, the more I noticed that his mane was just thinner from his withers to a whorl midway up his neck.
To deal with other itchy patches of his sweet itch, I started him on MSM, flax, and treated the areas (including the thin mane with aloe vera gel). I also had a full nutrient panel run on him for a number of other reasons. It came back looking surprisingly good. By late summer the mane was getting thicker again (as his winter coat started to grow in, perhaps). Now that he has pretty much shed out, I notice he is a bit thinner again, although not as thin as last spring. I think it is just his natural growth pattern not to have a heavy mane in that area in the summer. Overall he has a finer, very different coat than my other Fjord.
My mare started going bald this year. First her bridle path, then under the noseband, then cheek pieces. I cleaned all her tack, she was only ridden 4x per week lightly and lives outside without a halter. It was so strange! then her entire belly went bald. We ended up putting her on flax appeal and the issue is slowly resolving itself. Her hair has completely grown back on her face and her belly is filling in nicely.
Ringworm might be an interesting thought, but it’s not anywhere but mane. Definitely not rainrot, pristine ‘A’ show condition. How would I know on Lice??
Neck threadworms (aka Onchocerca Microfilariae) are a type of worm that actually live in the ligaments in horses’ necks (ICK!), and can cause both itching & for the mane to fall out at the root, leaving bare patches.
They’re best treated w/ a double dose of ivermectin.
I’d never heard of them before either, until the barn where I worked (and was keeping my horse at the time) had a bad outbreak of them. =/ It was crappy too – ‘cause the barn owner continually insisted, “no, no. no worms here! the horses are just eating each others manes!” …which I halfway bought into…for a while, when it was just the horses in one paddock which were losing hair…but then, almost EVERY horse ended up w/ large patches of mane missing down to the skin – including my own horse! And my gelding was only ever turned out w/ one other horse, a gelding I’d used to own for a long time before the BO bought him from me for her lesson program, and I KNEW that gelding he was turned out w/ had NEVER enjoyed munching on a bite of mane in his life. I’d done the research, and had been trying to convince her that it was definitely neck threadworms & not, as she seemed so convinced, all the horses suddenly developing a taste for their paddock buddies’ manes (which, to me, would’ve been another issue in & of itself – some sign of nutritional deficiency or something). I had ivermectin I wanted to give my horse, but she kept repeatedly telling me NOT to worm him, because she was “just about” to order a big box of dewormer & do the whole barn, & wanted all the horses to be wormed at the same time …which I do understand, but she was always “just about” to order wormer, and never did! For quite a few weeks this went on before I finally just decided to go ahead & deworm my horse. I gave him 1 tube of ivermectin, then roughly a week later gave him 2 more tubes, and what do you know – his mane started growing back w/ vigor almost immediately! Yet somehow the BO still could not be convinced of the worm infestation. :rolleyes:
I left that barn not long after…just too many issues there for me to deal w/…
Anyway, sorry for the personal rant…but it could very well be neck threadworms (w/o a photo it’s harder to say), and if it is, a hefty dose of ivermectin should take care of the problem.
use MTG. I just posted this on someone else’s question too–lol. Seriously it stops itching and grows hair and will take care of any underlying cause. Just do a patch test first to make sure horse not allergic to sulpher. A little MTG goes a long way but it works!
This used to happen to one of my redheads with thinner mane solely because of frequent braiding for shows in the summer. Sometimes, if severe, the scalp would get a little gross, but for the most part just flaking. He just didn’t handle being braided often well, and my braider was very good (read: braids were very tight).
ETA, we lived in the southeast and did show in the winter months, but for some reason, this was really only a spring/summer problem. Frequent bathing with mild soap, really massaging in there not just swiping over the mane with a sponge, seemed to help.
