Maiden mare. Have to wonder if it’s an old injury, the deep pockets are irregular and worse on one side. The vulva is not tipped, it’s these weird pocket that collect debris. The deep irregular pockets are below the anus and on the upper sides of the vulva. One side is much deeper than the other. They collect smegma. There could be some manure, too, but she doesn’t have a messy backside. She just has these problematic deep pockets. She is very happy to have it cleaned but it’s impossible to keep it clean. I put anti-yeast cream in these areas. She is itching her rear end. Not the tail itself, but on the very top sides of her tail and into the tender skin under her tail. She has a few permanent small scars under her tail that might be from previous itching. Does anyone have a mare like this? Because this is a chronic problem, I’m wondering if the vet could sew these deep pockets up to eliminate the problem?
Can’t comment on the sewing option, but one of my mares is built like this. I use baby wipes to clean with every grooming. I also use a good tick repellant on the tail bone. I have found that tick bites are the biggest cause of tail scratching around here.
star
I’m having a hard time visualizing this. Photos? Yeah I know no one wants to see but they’d be helpful.
Is this an older former brood mare? Is everything in place on the inside? Does the skin around there get saggier when she’s in heat?
I think daily cleaning with just water is your best bet. Go easy on any cleanser that might strip oils and increase body decorations to compensate.
Thank you, Star. How deep are the pockets on your mare and is she itching herself? This one is loosing some body hair off on either side of top of tail and has lesions on the sides of her dock from rubbing. One of the pockets it’s about 2" deep. Which tick repellent do you use?
Thanks Scribbler. I was wondering about posting photos, too. I agree that they’d be helpful. Not sure I’ll have time to get some today, but I’ll try. There’s a bit of a deformity. Very deep pocket on one side and top of vulva opening seems a little offset that direction. Almost like she backed into something. No obvious scars in this area.
This is a maiden mare. As far as I know everything is in place on the inside. I’ve never noticed any sagging when in heat. Doesn’t show her heats. Is turned out with a gelding and another mare.
Unless the pockets are debrided, I can’t imagine sewing them up would work. They’ll still fill up with oils from the skin and hair and sweat, eventually abscessing.
Sewing the opening closed won’t stop the skin inside from producing oil and shedding dead cells. Simkie is right.
Thanks, but not quite what I was thinking. I mean sew them closed in a caslicks type suture, so that the pockets are completely gone. With casklicks the vet snips both edges of the tissue and then sews them together and they heal shut. In this case, remove the pockets, sew tissue together. No more pockets.
This is a question for your (very expert) reproductive vet when they examine your mare. There is no way that anyone here can advise you about a condition that we can’t see. Even when (and if) you post photos, which would be helpful, and perhaps lead to an educated guess , I think this will definitely be a veterinary call. :yes:
I hope you’ll come back and let us know what the vet has to say.
My mare was built like that, too. I just cleaned it out with grooming… but it never was the cause of her tail-rubbing. For me, tail-rubbing was always linked to needing to be wormed and/or ticks…
Thanks skdy. My question was if anyone else has dealt with this. I have sutures and lidocaine injectable, but no, I would not do this myself. 
Thanks BlueDrifter. This one’s not tail rubbing, but trying to rub the skin underneath. All the horses are wormed regularly. No ticks on horses in 20 years on this property. Grass is kept short and there is no brush, just some large shaded trees. There could be ticks in the forest areas not on my property. I’ve never heard of anyone finding one or getting bit, any dog or horse having ticks, but they are probably around.
I understand. It will be interesting to see if anyone else has had a mare with this deformity and how their vet has managed it.
Mine has pockets that are about 1 inch deep, with lots of folds. As long as I keep things clean, she doesn’t rub. The tick product I like best is Ovitrol (https://www.amazon.com/Vet-Kem-Ovitrol-Plus-Spray-16-Ounce/dp/B000EMWMJG?SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffsb-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B000EMWMJG) I apply it on the tail bone and under the mane hairs, as well as along the belly.
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Color – have you tried keeping her fastidiously clean for a week – maybe twice a day, and put something like Desitin on her current rubs, so you can see if being clean reduces/eliminates the rubbing? Maybe the rubbing is from a vaginal infection and not the exterior smegma in her folds?
The only way to do that is to debride all of the skin in the pockets down to flesh. That’s a lot more complicated (and prone to infection) than a caslicks. Is it possible? Probably. Is it easy? Nope. I would expect that would need to be done in a hospital setting, perhaps with the horse completely anesthetized, and there would probably be quite a bit of cutting that area open to get into those pockets to remove the skin and ensure sterility. Drains would also need to be placed and managed. Given the location, there’s high risk of infection and even after all that, you might STILL have drainage tracts that don’t heal all the way…only now they’re much smaller and harder to clean.
As caslicks type suture is a totally different beast than what you’re talking about.
Since we have no photos, I still don’t know exactly what OP is dealing with. But all mares have space in there where gunk gets trapped. I would wash daily with a warm hose and minimal or no baby wash, so as not to strip all the oils. Desitin is a great idea. I don’t think the suture idea is workable at all.
No, all mares don’t have a space where gunk gets trapped or an area that gets filled with smegma. These are abnormal pockets, hence the question.
Like I said I can’t quite visualize.
What I meant was there is space in there where stuff collects, not necessarily pockets, on all or maybe most mares. I certainly wash stuff out of my mares folds.
What color is she? The thought occurs to me, since you said this is an irregular,not symmetrical, issue is that there could possibly be a melanoma that is pulling/pushing things. If you have not already had a Vet do a thorough exam on this, please do that ASAP. We all will be very interested to know what the findings are.
I am not a Vet, but just from the basis of common sense, I cannot imagine that suturing would be a solution. Is she also thin,or not? A thin mare is more likely to have a ‘sunken’ appearance under the tail. The solution to that is weight gain, and exercise to build up ‘butt cheek’ muscle, unless there is a mass of some type that is growing.
