Recommendations for skin and coat supplements

[Judy_in_Texas]

We are in the very hot South. Our horse tends to not have much hair, but this year she has even less. She has access to pasture 24/7 and also has barn and tree shade available. She has dark skin.

She is on a good diet of Equidine (alfalfa and bermuda pellets with mineral supplement plus a little One N Only, which is lo-cal but she thinks is cookies) to supplement the pasture. When we brought her home from her show career we put her on Farrier’s formula double strength due to poor-quality hoof growth. Her hooves are much better, but that supplement didn’t do anything for her coat.

This summer I have been hosing her off every day (no shampoo, just water and a chance to stand in a wet spot. She has even less hair than usual, and she is uncomfortable and looks for ways to scrape her skin.

I know fly sheets can offer some sunblock, but with the temperature over 100 degrees every day and no flies or mosquitos I hesitate to use one.

In the past I have used Omega Horseshine for horses that seemed to me to need some oil to gain weight. This horse does not need to gain weight. She was very likely to gain too much weight when we brought her home, and over the past 3 years with high quality but low calorie feed we have gotten her to where she maintains her weight at a good level. I have used Platinum and Glanzen 3 for two horses that had substantial nutrition deficits when we got them.

Would you recommend any of the supplements I have used in the past to improve her skin, and perhaps at least restore her ability to grow a little more hair, or would you recommend something else?

[Scribbler]

What about plain whole flax?

[Judy_in_Texas]

Thank you! I have been searching since I posted, and the two recommendations that stood out on past posts were Triple Crown Golden Ground Flax and one I hadn’t thought of for this case, but have used on most of my older horses, Chondroitin Sulfate.(I have used it as Cosequin for cats, dogs, and horses.)

I found the Cosequin recommendation on the extended Supplements for itchiness/allergies thread. This horse has not usually been itchy, and has no known allergies, but maybe just the stress of our last month of heat has made he sensitive. In any case, I would have put her on Cosequin in a couple of years anyway, so might as well start now.

I don’t have a good source for whole flax except maybe Whole Foods. The Triple Crown is stabilized, as is the Horseshine, but the TC is more available to me right now, as my feed store can get it.

Thank you so much for your recommendation! Grand Prix – I am impressed. I once trained a horse to second level, using entirely Henry Wynmalen’s book Dressage, which I bought when it came out and I was 14. I used his book as a training manual all my training life.

[Texarkana]

My unpopular 2 cents:

Whole flax (fed whole) has done more for my horses than any stabilized ground flax product, including the Triple Crown ground flax.

[avjudge]

@Judy_in_Texas

Grand Prix – I am impressed. I

“Greenie,” “schoolmaster,” “Grand Prix,” etc. are a remnant of some old software that generated labels [ETA: based on] posting count or membership history or some such thing.

My horse’s coat was fine except that it never seem to have the sheen that I expect a healthy horse to show. Ground flax never did it, even when I upped the amount, but this summer I tried fish oil (EO-3 at 1/2 the recommended dose, 1/2 Tbsp 2x/day) in addition to 4 oz. flax/day and I did think her coat looked better. My husband thought she was less itchy, too. She usually ate it fine but we did sometimes have some problems with her not finishing so I did not restock and I’m watching to see if I notice a return to the duller coat.

[Scribbler]

I stopped using flax this summer mostly because I was tired of rats eating my horse manure and I am seeing a bit of skin crud for first time ever.

[2DogsFarm]

Based on a suggestion from this BB, I’ve been feeding BOSS (black oil sunflower seeds) for at least the last 10yrs.
Minimal quantity - 16h horse gets a heaping 2T measure twice daily, 13h pony gets a level 2T, 34" mini gets a bit less than pony.
Their only other grain is whole oats, mini gets TC Sr instead.
I groom… Well, never & all 3 have soft, shiny coats - as remarked on by my vet & anyone who sees them.
Winter floof is also soft & shiny.
Horse in Summer:

[PaddockWood]

That’s interesting you say that. I was feeding flax oil and stopped and instead bought flax seed again and grinding. It’s all kept in the sealed tack room but now seeing rat feces out in the aisle.

When I was feeding whole flax it got so bad I was seeing rats. Once I stopped never saw one again.
So now I moved the bulk of the seeds into the house and will keep a small amount in a sealed Tupperware container.in the tack room.

[hopper20]

I was giving mine a double ration of biotin this spring to help grow out some broken hoof walls. As a side effect I’ve never seen his coat look so good—better than flax or BOSS.

[RedHorses]

I don’t know how your horse’s coat might be affected, but my younger horse had scurfy, dandruffy, itchy, dry skin for years. Every minor scrape below knees/hocks would go fungusy before it healed properly.

I chased a case of fungus around his leg one summer and finally asked the vet about it. We tested vitamin E and selenium, and some other stuff. His vitamin E was just barely above the low end of the “normal” range and I tried supplementing with an additional 2000i.u. per day. Six months later his E value was 0.1 lower, however the leg fungus was gone, and his skin wasn’t as scurfy and dandruffy. I bumped his vitamin E up to 3000/day and over the next several years everything kept improving.

Even his coat, which had been longer and denser than a normal horse in summer, and shorter and denser than a normal horse in winter, changed. It was longer in winter and shorter in summer, though still more dense in both seasons.

You could also try that magic Camelina oil that seems to fix every possible issue with only 30cc/day. sarcasm It is supposed to be a great source of Omegas so it might be helpful for skin issues

[RhythmNCruise]

I have an itchy appaloosa who usually rubs himself raw and bloody over the summer. This summer has been the best in years, although I hesitate to say that because he’s started scratching/rubbing more lately. But the bugs have been worse over the past couple of weeks, so I’m wondering if that’s it.

Anyway, I’ve fed Omega Horseshine for most of his life (he’s 15 and I got him as a yearling). The difference now is that I’m feeding much MORE of it than I used to. He gets 2 cups a day instead of 1 cup and for a while I even fed him just 1/2 cup. That wasn’t cutting it. So, he gets a lot of OHS. I’ve tried taking him off of it now and then over the years, and it usually leads to him being tenderfooted (he has thin soles and is barefoot), so it’s part of his diet for good. I think it helps his skin and hair as well, but he still gets itchy and still rubs himself on the barn, the hitching post, etc.

Another thing I’ve started this summer is CocoSun oil. I’ve tried to eliminate soy from his diet (I have, actually), so that’s why I chose the more expensive CocoSun over CocoSoya. It HAS seemed that since eliminating soy and adding the CocoSun oil, he has had less trouble with being itchy. His coat was dry and faded in the middle of the summer, but is now darker, shiny, and has dapples (which is rare for him!).

In conclusion, I don’t know if anything I’m feeding (or not feeding) has made the improvement I’ve seen in his coat. I am discouraged to see him scratching and rubbing now when he’s been doing so well all summer, but maybe I should count it as a victory that he’s only having issues now right before fall rolls around. Last year by this time he had awful, bloody, scabby sores on his legs, chest, and belly, and he was miserable. I’m hopeful that cooler weather and less bugs will prevail soon and he can be comfier again.

[Judy_in_Texas]

Thank you. I have the CocoSun on my list to check out. I am considering Flax instead of OHS, but rats in the poop? I have more to learn!

[Judy_in_Texas]

I forgot to mention in my first post that I had put the horse on Vitamin E and Selenium about a month ago. Her skin did seem better, but then we had the month of extremely hot days and she is at least holding her own.

I had not heard of Camelina oil, so I will check that out too. I will try some Omega supplement.

Thank you!

[Judy_in_Texas]

Texarkana, My horse’s teeth are pretty good, so whole flax might work, but I don’t have a good source of it so will probably try the ground flax first. Thank you for your recommendation! It’s o.k. to be on the margin. I usually am.

[Judy_in_Texas]

2 dogs farm, I have BOSS on hand, so I will try that first! Thank you!

[Judy_in_Texas]

hopper20, Biotin did help, but not so much her coat, and I still feed her more that the recommended amount of it. Thank you for your recommendation!

[RhythmNCruise]

Totally anecdotal, but every time I’ve tried to switch my guy from Omega Horseshine to another brand of flax, it’s shown in either his feet (tenderness) or coat (dullness). I’m thinking it’s the biotin in OHS that probably helps his feet, but who knows? There’s so much more in it besides flax. But holy moly it’s expensive. Especially as much as I feed. I wish I could eliminate it, but 14 years of trying to and I’m just going to have to deal with the fact that it works for him.

I really wish I could stop CocoSun oil, but I’m worried his pretty coat will go bye-bye. I tried substituting with just Canola oil from the grocery store once. Nope. My $500 horse has to have the top shelf of everything in order to not look like he cost $500, LOL!

[Judy_in_Texas]

avjudge, Thank you for your recommendation. I am going to avoid anything she might not eat at first.

After I posted the question I thought probably the Grand Prix was related to the posting record of the commenter, not her show history, but it brought back a pleasant memory anyway.

So, for today, I am going to order Cosequin, weight-tape the horse to be sure we are still ok to add an oil to the diet (it was really hard to get her to hold her weight) and try some BOSS because we have it on hand.

Thank all of you for your advice and support. The horse is being a really good sport during all of this and I hope I can help her.

[mrsgrieves]

all of our horses get TC ground flax seed, 2x a day about 2/3 of a cup. No skin issues, great coats, etc.

[LCDR]