to show or not to show: baby with warts

[silanac]

my yearling unfortunately grew warts over the last month or so-of course just in time for Warrenton. They are pretty localized to the left side of his face: a small cluster of 3 on his ear, 1 small cluster on the left side of his chin and several tiny bumps around his left eye. That is it. They’re nearly impossible to see unless you are 2-3 ft away from his head. He got an equi-estem injection, he is on herbal Thuja, and we coat them in castor oil 3x a day to suffocate them. They have stopped growing, but are not quite falling off yet…

The question is, how taboo is it to show a yearling with warts? I have had some mixed answers. But it being the Sallie B Wheeler and what not, I don’t want to make a fool out myself bringing him if it is really bad to show a baby with warts. It’s a shame to pass it up just for bumps because my god has he blossomed this summer!

Also, there is the controversy of if they are contagious or not. Some vets say yes, others have told me no. I know it is a virus. I thought for sure he got them because a yearling now at our house came to us covered in them, and at the time we were assured they were not contagious and now, well…

I do not want to be ‘that girl’ at the show who a) has no business showing because the yearling has warts or b) jeopardizes other babies by being in the vicinity of wart-free babies. We would be trailering in and of course keeping our distance to be safe, anyways.

thoughts?

[dianehalpin]

I would show, especially if you are trailering in and in no direct contact with another baby. I’ve kept youngsters from attending inspections and competitions if they had a snotty nose, but, unless the warts are horrible and badly placed, I would show.

Diane Halpin/Laurel Leaf Hanoverians

[ise]

We don’t show on the line anymore. But we did have one of our boys who had very bad warts as a weanling. I was told an old remedy to get rid of them… pick some off and feed them to him. Sounded crazy but it worked.

[Foxtrot_s]

I don’t know about any taboo.

It is a shame to miss the show, esp. as they are minor.

They are very, very common in babies - esp. if raised in a herd.

Mine had quite a few, and then one day I went out and thought, gee, haven’t noticed the warts lately, and true enough, they were gone. Guess his immune system fought them off.

The show is so valuable for youngies, as an experience, with or without ribbons.

[scheherazadetbmare]

You do know that pool water will eliminate warts? I learned that when I was in grad school and had a wart on a finger. Which I hid with a ring. Come spring, I went into complex pool and within days, wart was gone. Swimming pools have all that chlorine so i guess that killed the wart. Otherwise, it was all the…nevermind, in the pool.

And the freeze off water removers work for skin tags on horses. So I guess they also work for warts since that is what they are sold for. Takes a week or more though.

So go dip some pool water and apply daily. Or get the Dr. School’s freeze off wart remover and follow instructions.

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

[QUOTE=scheherazadetbmare;7133750]
You do know that pool water will eliminate warts? I learned that when I was in grad school and had a wart on a finger. Which I hid with a ring. Come spring, I went into complex pool and within days, wart was gone. Swimming pools have all that chlorine so i guess that killed the wart. Otherwise, it was all the…nevermind, in the pool.

And the freeze off water removers work for skin tags on horses. So I guess they also work for warts since that is what they are sold for. Takes a week or more though.

So go dip some pool water and apply daily. Or get the Dr. School’s freeze off wart remover and follow instructions.[/QUOTE]

I can’t believe I’m sharing this, but I got my first and only wart on my foot when I was a life guard and swim instructor back in college. I was in the water for hours every day. It was kept at appropriate chlorine levels (we tested daily) and shocked once a week. Didn’t do anything to the wart…I’m guessing your immune system kicked in and took care of it.

Also, my vet said picking a few off, or burning them, can cause an immune response and sometimes the body will then rid itself of the rest. That worked for my horse. Never have been told to feed them… ewww.

[Kyzteke]

Don’t have any suggestions for you, except to say I don’t think they ARE catching. I recall I groomed a TB gelding who had them (remember, they start TBs at about 18 mos), in fact, his barn name was “Wart.”

He was turned out with the rest of the boys in the afternoon and no one else caught them.

And I’ve had one horse here who developed them, but none of the rest of the babies did. I didn’t try to get rid of them…they just went away as she matured.

My thought is that anyone who knows anything about judging horses would not penalize a horse for having them, as it is neither a conformational or genetic fault and would not effect performance.

But what do I know? I’d take him, myself…

[lauriep]

It is a rare yearling who doesn’t get warts, and we have had many. All have shown while they had them and the judges didn’t seem to care.

They aren’t contagious from horse to horse. The virus lives in the soil, and it has been at every farm we have leased, so seems to be very widespread in the central VA area.

Show him! Shows like Warrenton only happen once a year, and it would be a shame to miss it for something strictly cosmetic.

Picking them off (not feeding them to the horse) stimulates the immune system and helps them go away faster, but probably not before Warrenton. But you can start picking them. You don’t have to do them all, just a few, but they have to bleed.

[silanac]

thanks guys! after being on the fence about it, I have decided to pack him up and show him. Got a lot to do in the next week, yikes!

thanks for the encouragement to take the plunge

[Laurierace]

Pool water won’t kill it but picking a few off will help his body mount a defense against them.

[quietann]

For human warts, covering them with duct tape for a few days often helps. It stimulates an immune response, probably the same as feeding a horse his own warts would (ick!)

(I had a giant, and I do mean giant, wart on the ball of my left foot. Tried everything – topical medicine, oral antivirals, freezing, even had the damn thing cut out of my foot, after which it came back worse than ever within a few weeks. Finally slapped a piece of duct tape on it and left it there… and within 2 weeks it was GONE.)

[Lynnwood]

[QUOTE=scheherazadetbmare;7133750]
You do know that pool water will eliminate warts? I learned that when I was in grad school and had a wart on a finger. Which I hid with a ring. Come spring, I went into complex pool and within days, wart was gone. Swimming pools have all that chlorine so i guess that killed the wart. Otherwise, it was all the…nevermind, in the pool.

And the freeze off water removers work for skin tags on horses. So I guess they also work for warts since that is what they are sold for. Takes a week or more though.

So go dip some pool water and apply daily. Or get the Dr. School’s freeze off wart remover and follow instructions.[/QUOTE]

As scary as this is it I 100 percent had the very same experience. I had a small wart on the underside of my pointer finger I’d tried EVERYTHING to get ride of it to the point of digging it out myself. Went to the local community pool with some friends wart died dried up and fell off within days. Never came back.

[silanac]

oh i keep yanking them off, making them bleed and even feeding them to him. it worked on the other yearling at our place, but not him-not yet anyway.

[Ticker]

My post was not restored so I’m re- posting.
I purchased a weanling many years ago that broke out in warts. He recovered just fine. I talked to the stallion owner and he basically stated that all of his yearlings break out in warts…every year. He has the virus on his farm. Several years after purchasing my wart faced beauty, I started breeding my own foals. None of my foals have ever broke out with warts in nearly 20 years. If you are breeding every year and have the warts on your farm, you probably have an on going active virus.
I don’t want this virus or any other virus on my farm.

I leave my youngsters at home because I don’t want them infected at a show. Health certificates are meaningless and not always required. Youngsters just don’t have the immune system of an adult, plain and simple.

So, I think of it this way.

Not everyone will stay home even when they know the youngster is ‘not quite right’. I believe that the lure of a ribbon and the non- refundable entry fees is a huge factor in some peoples decision to show, regardless of the current health status of their horse. While I do believe most people will make a good decision, some people will not.

Are warts critical? Most likely not. But consider that if you are willing to bring a youngster to a show that may or may not be able to pass his ‘wart virus’ what do you think other people might be willing to bring?
Here is a useful article.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/10622/warts
If you can’t see the article without logging in, just drop the above URL into a google search minus the http ://
Just my thoughts.

[lauriep]

Ticker, you do what you want with your horses, but this particular virus isn’t passed horse to horse. It is important for young horses to get out, see some of the world and be socialized. Because we see so many come in of all ages and experience levels, I can tell you unequivocally that the ones kept at home without experiencing life have a MUCH harder time adjusting when it is time to go to work.

I think you are assuming too much in people’s reasons for showing.

[Ticker]

[QUOTE=lauriep;7136896]
Ticker, you do what you want with your horses, but this particular virus isn’t passed horse to horse. It is important for young horses to get out, see some of the world and be socialized. Because we see so many come in of all ages and experience levels, I can tell you unequivocally that the ones kept at home without experiencing life have a MUCH harder time adjusting when it is time to go to work.

I think you are assuming too much in people’s reasons for showing.[/QUOTE]

The OP wanted thoughts, I offered mine.
A young horse does not have a mature immune system. A young horse fighting a virus has an immune system that is already working hard and could be at greater risk for picking something else up. I have dealt with a nasty virus in my youngsters…recently. We believe it came in with the vet but can’t be sure. It’s expensive, it’s a lot of work and you can loose them to complications. One yearling had a very hard time recovering. So, it is a real risk that I hope very few people have to experience.

People don’t always leave their sick horses at home. I saw a young couple bring a mare and foal to a breed class where the foal was in a walking cast. Obviously not contagious but illustrates my point. I wonder what motivated them to do that? We asked them, they wanted to win.

Anyway, I Never met a wart on a young horse that wasn’t contagious at some point to other young horses with immature immune systems. Does the OPs youngster have ‘special’ warts?

[lauriep]

Warts are not passed horse to horse. That is fact. Nothing special about them.

[Ticker]

You are correct. Warts are not passed from horse to horse, only the virus that causes the warts is contagious yes?

[dianehalpin]

I’ve never heard of anyone NOT showing a youngster because it had a few warts! Most get them, most loose them, and I tend to pinch them hard and they die and fall off. I’d only not show a baby with warts if the youngster had MANY of them or had them in very prominent sites. I’ve never heard of anyone who worried very much about the temporary state of wart affliction in young horses. At any rate, the OP is trailering in, showing, and trailering out. I’m editing to add that there are MANY more important diseases, malfunctions, injuries to worry about with young horses.

[ThreeFigs]

Every youngster gets warts. No biggie.