My 12 year old TB mare was completely shed out by mid-March. Now, just like the past 2 years, she’s growing a coat again, and I expect I’ll need to clip her by late May/early June. Typically I associate Cushings/PPID with a horse who doesn’t shed at all - but could this be the early stages? Or something else?
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Excess coat growth is one of the two coat related symptoms associated with PPID. Failure to shed being the other.
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Get her tested. A 12 year old having Cushings or metabolic issues isn’t unheard of. If you catch it early it can be managed by diet and/or meds depending on exactly what’s found. The sooner you start managing it (IF that’s what it is) the better!
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Yes, I think this could be a sign. My late gelding was almost certainly metabolic and had PPID in the later years of his life. I never had him tested, but he went through a spell a few years before his death (broken leg) during which he lost a lot of condition, etc. His last spring/summer, he was shedding like mad in February. I was raking off handfuls of hair that went right to his skin. It was snowing and he was not blanketed, standing out in freezing temps blowing his entire coat out. Then he regrew it in April and in June was all screwed up. He did eventually shed out again, and in September when he broke his leg, he looked great. 
He was 22 when he died, and had probably been dealing with metabolic issues for ten years and full-blown PPID for maybe five or more. I was kind of in denial, I think, although I was also less educated back then.
He never had a shaggy “Cushings coat” or anything like that, but if he’d lived on, I suspect he would have gotten there.
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Right - I have always thought of excess coat like excessive Chewbacca hair, but I guess this could be a different kind of excess hair growth.
Yep, this sounds like it - but since I am showing I haven’t waited to see if she will shed again, so I ended up just clipping in June. And then it’s back to a normal schedule again. (Sorry about your horse 
)
On further thought, last summer she really was quite itchy - like I was convinced she had bird mites in her stall. But if it was actually allergies…another potential clue towards early stages of PPID I think.
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The hunter farm I work at had 4 horses clipped yesterday. A 6 year old Welsh pony, 8 year old WB, and 2 late teens ponies. One of the late teens is likely Cushing or IR. I feel like some of ours seem to have a longer summer coat. That is just who they are not related to Cushings or IR.
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Is she kept outside or is she in a barn? What’s the lighting situation in the barn? Now that the days are longer, are the barn lights being turned off earlier? Is this a well-lit barn or is it rather dark inside?
