Hi all, my mini, Bean, has had a rough go this summer with itchies. We’ve done everything we can think of for him, and are just trying to keep him comfortable. Vet saw him about a month ago, diagnosed fly/insect allergy. Tried a course of Dex, didn’t help. Starting last week I noticed that he seems to be ‘shedding’ quite a bit of hair, but it seems to be mostly the white hair on his back. He seemed to slick out fairly nicely earlier this spring after losing a horridly thick winter coat. This ‘shedding’ concerns me, and I have read that mini’s shed twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall. I don’t know how true this is. It’s summer, not fall.
Bean gets 7 lbs of grass hay per day, and a sprinkling of alfalfa morning and evening. He’s fed 3 times a day. I’ve tried vitamin supplements, but he won’t eat them.
I’ve also noticed that his poo has become ‘large’ and clumpy, where he normally has small fecal balls. I wormed him on Saturday with Equimaxx, partly due to his coat issue/poo issue, and partly to see if maybe a parasite load of some kind is causing his itchiness, i.e. neck threadworms. I’ll repeat worming in two weeks. He’s developed a pretty round belly as well.
It’s been horribly hot and dry this summer, so don’t know if that could affect his haircoat. He does have shelter, but the sun beats down relentlessly here every day.
Bean has just turned 3, and I’ve had him just less than a year. He came to me in pretty poor shape, was gelded, wormed, and vaccines done. Overall, he’s been a pretty healthy guy so far. Any suggestions would be appreciated, want to make sure he’s okay!
Every horse sheds twice a year - they change from the thinner, shorter Summer coat, to the thicker, longer Winter coat.
The longest day of the year was June 22. From there, daylight hours shorten, imperceptibly at first, then faster. Mid-end of July, or into August, depending on how far North/South you are, most horses are noticeably shedding.
I’d say the double dosing of Equimax every 2 weeks is a good plan to see if the itchies are a neck threadworm issue. Given his condition when you got him, it’s likely he was not dewormed very well. At some point you do need to get a FEC done, but that can wait for later, as it needs to be at least 12 weeks after a dose of ivermectin.
We did a fecal in April, came back clear, but that doesn’t mean something couldn’t have cropped up since then.
Just for comparison, my two minis and welsh pony shed a lot about two weeks ago. It lasted about 5 days. I ended up having to body clip two of them as they started looking velvety instead of slick. We went to a show this weekend and everyone was commenting on their minis coats losing that nice summer sleekness. So as far as Bean’s shedding goes, it may be normal for the time of year.
Do you know when and with what he was dewormed prior to that?
We did a fecal last October, and treated with Equimaxx based on what they found in the worm load. Tapes being one issue. We wormed twice, two weeks apart, and retested. Came back clear in November, and again in April. I always do fecals twice a year, in October and April.
I was taught that horses grow their winter coats for conditions of the previous year. Did Bean come from the mountains, or a cool-winter area?
He didn’t really come from a cooler area. Maybe 5 degrees or so. He had already started his winter coat when I got him in October. It was super soft and fluffy (like dog hair). I believe he had a double coat.
Also wanted to add, I started him on Sandclear this weekend in case that may be the issue. He doesn’t eat it very well, but I’m giving it a shot. My other gelding won’t touch it.
You may be on to something. Good plan.
My mare starts shedding winter hair around Jan 1 and summer hair around July 1. We are far enough North that there is a 16 hour difference between daylight at the winter and summer solstice.
Nature has equipped the horse with a brilliant coat system for handling the extremes of winter vs summer weather. It is quite noticeable here as we swing from -35C to +35C (getting closer to -39C and +39C this year!).
The horses who live outside shed in the late winter once it started to warm up. Winter coat growth pretty much stops after New Year, but we don’t see waffles in the curries until February. The light change in June triggers the summer coat shed and the short hairs are flying by the end of June as the winter coat begins.
Here’s where the brilliant bit is - as the horse sheds his summer coat it gets thinner, and the new hairs are far shorter as the weather turns to the hottest part of the year in July. As the nights begin to cool off into August those winter hairs are getting longer, the coat is getting thicker and this continues as the temperatures continue to drop through the fall.
Clever, isn’t it? 
The thing I can’t explain is how my horse knows in the fall how much fluff he needs to grow to handle the coldest part of the year (January). 
I can tell in December how cold the winter will be by how much coat my older horse has. He hasn’t been wrong in the last thirteen years…
Also in a hot September you sometimes don’t see the winter hair starting. Horse looks totally sleek until a cold rainy day when it “lofts” up.
Yep, sometimes the only way I now the new coat really is coming in is they get darker (all mine are bay/brown/black).
Thanks all for your replies. Haven’t noticed much change, but no worse except for the itching. I’m at a total loss as to what to do next to try to help him. Will wait and see if the second dose of wormer makes any difference.
Have you tried an antihistamine for the itching?
Also, vitamin E has made a noticable improvement in my pony who is prone to skin allergies.
Just thought I would mention those two things in case they might help.
Hope you get Bean sorted out soon.
Cayuse, I’m at a loss with the itching. So frustrating. He did see the vet a few weeks ago, diagnosed with a insect allergy. No skin scraping was done, but the vet didn’t see evidence of mites, lice, etc. Here is what we have tried over the last month or so: All of these have given minimal to no result in helping with the itching.
Benadryl, Zyrtec, flax oil, course of Dex (per vet instructions), hydrocortizone cream, zinc oxide, anti itch creams, vetricyn (for sores for biting his legs), Microtek anti-itch spray, oatmeal shampoo twice a week, chlorhexidine 4% shampoo, switched to an organic fly spray, and just last week, Equimaxx wormer for possible NTW.
He wears fly boots in the evening/night. He has a custom made set of light cotton jammies with a belly band that I put on him from dusk to dawn. Fly mask during the day. We don’t have a barn with stalls, only run-in sheds in each run, getting a fan to his would require an electrician, and my husband is not on board at the moment, so I’m doing the best I can.
I did try dosing him again with Benadryl last night, and so far today he seems less itchy, but I don’t have much hope.
He bites mostly at his legs, and chest. He’s got small bumps under his chin as well. Occasionally I catch him scratching his butt on the fence, and has recently started to rub his mane out and bite at his belly as well. Sores are again appearing on his lower legs and pasterns. His skin on his legs is very pink, he has four white legs. Not sure if this is due to irritation or sunburn.
Next to try is the spray on Calamine lotion, but unsure if this would be safe on his legs, as I don’t know if it’s good for him to ‘eat’ it when he bites on his legs. Bought some cotton knee socks to put over his legs if this becomes an issue.
I’m interested in the Vitamin E. What kind, where do I get it, and how much for a horse that weighs around 300 lbs?
My younger horse had skin issues that included itchiness - though not to the point of rubbing/biting himself raw. I had his vite and selenium levels tested after talking to the vet. While his E was within normal range it was right down at the bottom end, so I started supplementing. Our working theory is that he has some malabsorption issues - he doesn’t get all the nutrients that are in his feed the way he should.
Generally 1000iu per 1000lbs body weight is the starting point. My boy is 1049 on the tape and I supplement him at 3000iu. We started with 2000iu and when retested six months later he was actually down a tiny bit. While he still enjoys a good scratching he is not obnoxious about it, and his other skin issues have resolved.
I’m using Elevate vitamin E supplement.
Selenium might be worth testing as well as too much or too little selenium can cause skin
problems. Vitamin E affects selenium uptake. The body needs vitamin E to be able to get the selenium. Both can be tested with a blood draw.
Ditto to the Equimax dosing, as well as adding lots of Vit E! My retired mare’s allergies start showing up if she’s low in Vit E. MSM can also be helpful as well.
I had an aged warmblood in my care this spring that has previously thought to just have sweet itch. I double dosed him with Equimaxx twice since he was pretty “classic” neck threadworm. Made a huge difference! I also added Vit E, and started his Smart BugOff earlier than was instructed. (Personally I think he was bad enough that he shoulda have been dosed a few more times with Equimax to really make a differences, but he’s no longer in my care.)
I’ve found (naturally) that there seems to be a big correlation between horses that have been neglected and/or not recieved diligent deworming and nutrition, and significant neck threadworm issues. Those damn NTW’s are pretty pervasive…
I hope you figure out something that helps your guy!
Thanks all! Poop looks normal this morning. Itching continues. Will email vet today about bloodwork to test vitamin E and selenium levels. Am considering starting him on Mega cell, just as a supplement in case he’s missing anything.
