Paint mares pink skin dry/flaking/scabbing.

[ThatGirlTina]

Hello! This mare is my first horse with pink skin, I have owned her since May. On her right shoulder in particular (the side the mane falls away from) the pink part of her skin is flaky and scabbing and scaling. Her pink parts of her nose was similarly irritated in the beginning of summer but some lotion helped soothe it and it cleared up.

Would applying lotion to a large portion of the shoulder be a realistic option? Anyone with pink skinned horse have similar issues, if so have you found it to be related to sun exposure? She has dark colored patches too, no irritation there at all. She likes it being rubbed some but I avoid it because I’m not sure what it is yet, has calmed and come back over the last few weeks.

[tpup]

I have a paint colored gelding w/a pink nose and last year had the pink, raw and flaky shoulder. If you don’t apply sunscreen, it will sunburn. I mix a squirt of sunscreen with diaper rash paste (zinc oxide paste from Walmart, purple tub). My horse has gotten used to it and I no longer get half of it on me

For the shoulder, if you apply lotion that is NOT sunscreen, it could burn worse. Last year I applied Deo Clac for insects. It ended up acting like suntan oil on his shoulder and when the hair spreads on the shoulder when he grazes, the sun burned his pink skin in that white area It took weeks to clear up and eventually he needed a prescription cream and SMZ’s.

Try the suncreen/zinc paste mix on the areas that are burning. She is most likely getting sunburn. (PS - our Walmart sometimes has the paste in the baby section, and other times in the beauty section…when I couldn’t find it there I ordered it from Walmart.com)

[Kodiak]

Yup, sunburn. Plain waterproof high-spf human sunscreen applied daily works fine, too, though the zinc oxide is super-high spf and really sticky. It’s what lifeguards put on their noses.

[Highflyer]

I agree, it sounds like sunburn. I ride a Paint mare for someone else, and she has to be on night turnout this time of year as there was just not enough sunscreen in the world.

[Inclinedtowhisper]

Agreed on the sunburn. My young pinto gelding came in one day with the same thing on his shoulder. I mixed coconut oil and aloevera gel with a bit of lotion and rubbed it in his shoulder in the mornings to help protect it and keep it from being so itchy and breaking it open.

At night I put two drops of Rocky Mountain Oil’s First Aid essential oil straight on it.
It was really bad for a few days until i started using the First Aid essential oil on him. And within two days it had healed over and the scabs were coming off cleanly. In another two days his skin was back to normal with no sign of sunburn

[Halt_Near_X]

Try a fly sheet. Get a light colored one so it will reflect the light better.

Sunscreen is only effective for a few hours, so unless you keep the horses at home or your barn will reapply for you throughout the day, it’s probably not going to help much. I know it only lessened the sunburn on my horse; it never prevented it completely.

But a long-nosed fly mask solved the problem with zero mess and fuss.

[SaratogaTB]

Equiderma lotion will clear up the current flaking and scaling

[walktrot]

Are you using fly spray? That could also contribute to the problem. I have a Paint gelding and use Coppertone Sport sunscreen on his pink nose, but have not had a problem with pink skin otherwise. I do find that sometimes he gets some flaking of the black skin between his forelegs if I use fly spray there, so I stopped spraying. Now I am using a mitt to do the spray and the coverage is better.

[RnR]

I have a paint that burns on his shoulders and nose every summer. Zinc oxide (40%) cream with a layer of sunscreen over it is definitely a miracle worker. Helps heal the scabs that have already formed, and prevents future burns. I also got him a fly mask that covers his nose, and if it’s really bad, I have a shoulder guard that I put on him. If I used the zinc oxide about every 3 days though, I don’t normally need to put the guard on him.

[Bearskin]

Very important — do you have any clover in the pasture? If so, your pink skinned horse is showing classic signs of phototoxicity. Not to scare you but this is a serious situation which in some cases can lead to liver failure (if she has a ton of white it is more dangerous) and death

[CHT]

I agree a fly sheet is the best option, although lotion and then letting her roll will also work as a sunscreen.

I also agree that clover may be making the issue worse.

I board a white/pink skinned horse, and the only time her body got flakey was on her branded area, and the places where her hair is short (ears, muzzle, eyes) but we keep her covered as much as possible.

[cloudyandcallie]

Welcome to the world of pink skinned horses. When I bought my grey and white pinto, I discovered that he sunburned on 50% of his body. Because I live in the south, the sunscreen sheets are too hot. The fly sprays with sun screen don’t stop the pink skin burning. The sprays, human sunscreens, don’t work and I used them all. Actually, they made his skin peel off from the ingredients in them.

Only thing that worked was zinc oxide, but with a big warmblood, and one who sleeps lying down, that did not work out well. Too messy.

Only solution is for him to stay out of the sun. I’ve seen horses with more white on them not sunburn, but my horse has thin skin and cannot take the sunshine. So he stays inside during the midday sun. Owning a pink and light grey horse is not easy. And his pink nose is the only thing that doesn’t sunburn as it is always stuck in the grass.

[Katy_Watts]

[QUOTE=ThatGirlTina;8307682]
She has dark colored patches too, no irritation there at all. [/QUOTE]

Please read up on photosensitivity and find someone to ID the plants in your pasture or hay. Clover and many other toxic plants cause this. It can get serious- don’t wait that long because it can cause liver damage.

[ndirish07]

I have a horse with pink skin and he will get sunburn. I mix a high SPF sunscreen in with his fly spray. I just shake it well before use and it really helps.

[Scribbler]

I put zinc oxide on my Paint mare’s white nose, if she shows sunburn symptoms at pasture. But it’s also true that she burns on pasture with clover, but not so much last summer with 24/7 turnout in a dry lot. So maybe the clover does create sun sensitivity. But try putting zinc oxide with cod liver oil up a horse’s nostril! She just hates it, but it works.