Sensitive skin? Chaffing, scabs?

[kdunham]

I've had a little black, 3yr old colt for 14 days now. Just getting him going under saddle. The first week was great. We took it easy (I thought) and made a lot of progress. By our 4th (7th day total) ride we had w.t.c under saddle and everything looked great.
On day 8 I noticed the horse had his hair matted in his girth area behind his elbow. Looked like an area had become raw and weeped a bit causing a scab sticking the hair together. I softened the area with warm water, got rid of the scab, and just left a small raw area. I then center fired my cinch to get it off the area. Went to ride him and he acted sore when I got on the saddle. I figured he might not have appreciated the center firing or his raw area was bothering him. So, I took him home and just started doing a bunch of ground work, sacking out, ground driving, etc. I put my pack saddle on him the next day. Its cinch is way back from the area so I figured I could work him with something on his back without hurting the area (really was a small area).
Next day I notice that he is RAW BETWEEN his elbow and body (way far away from where the girth has ever been). At this point I get out the clippers and take all the hair away from the area because I figured it was pinching him when it got crusty. Now, I'm only doing sacking out and doctoring because I want that area to heal. Next day I notice the horse has little scabs from where his chest muscles rub together, between his front legs, on his elbows, back to where the pack saddles cinch was. I have clipped all this area and scrubbed him a few times now with a surgical shampoo. Today I noticed a bump on his withers. Looked like his skin got irritated by his rain sheet rubbing (it seems to fit tho!) I worked on that area and a quarter sized chunk of hide with fur came off. He also had a couple bumps in other locations where God knows what might have rubbed him. Now, all I'm doing is doctoring his scabs, afraid that if I don't get them off he will get an infection under them.
What in the hell is going on? I have gone really easy on this horse as he is so young and not worked the crap out of him. Mostly just trotting with the saddle on and the longest ride was about 15 minutes.
The cinch is neoprene but I don't think he is allergic to that seeing how one of my saddle pads is also and he has had no reaction to where the saddle pad was.

Any advise would be appreciated.

-Kathleen

[Buena]

Try a mohair cinch and put some gall salve on there. Buena is super sensitive and gets that until she builds up a callous of sorts. Takes a while. *sigh*

[fanaberia]

Yikes, what's the possibility of HERDA?

My horse is also sensitive... I use either nothing (clean and leave alone, just like you are doing) or sometimes that green stuff made by Bickmore Gall Salve for harness horses.

[Buena]

Oct 27, 2009 0:05:31 GMT -5 fanaberia said:

Yikes, what's the possibility of HERDA?

My horse is also sensitive... I use either nothing (clean and leave alone, just like you are doing) or sometimes that green stuff made by Bickmore Gall Salve for harness horses.

Sure hope not.

Yep, Bickmore's Gall Salve is what I use on Buena, too.

[winterlakesfarm]

I would put fleece over everything. Gossip is pretty sensitive skinned too.......She gets what I call "skin ick" pretty easily as well in random spots and for sure where she sweats and tack is contacting her. She does well with Fleece so that is what we ride her in.

You can get fleece girth covers and fleece 1/2 pads prettty inexpensively.

[zebradreams07]

The horse I leased over the summer was allergic to something that grew in the pasture during the warm months. Could it be hives from something where he is staying? It sounds like this is new since you got him.

[myhorsefaith]

when was he last dewormed, and what did/does his deworming rotation look like?

it may seem unrelated, but i've had multiple successes of clearing up skin issues with a more agressive broad spectrum deworming plan.

[monicabee]

Sounds a lot like rainrot - even if he is not working that hard, a little moisture could be triggering a latent condition to erupt like that.

I'd treat it both on the inside (worming and nutrition) and the outside (anti-bacterial, scab picking like you are doing) before worrying about something more serious.

Is he well-adjusted at the barn? The stress of moving and starting work could have impacted his immune system temporarily through stress or simply exposed him to new microbes. At three, he is still a work in progress physically and mentally.

When my horse came to the PNW he was itchy on his barrel and acquired small bald spots for the first year - not ringworm, according to the vet, but obviously uncomfortable - in spite of everything I tried. That has never recurred, happily! I did simplify his diet to avoid feeds that contained rice bran, soy hulls and other potential allergy triggers, but I am not sure that was really a factor. On the other hand, since he does nicely with alfalfa pellets and supplements, there's no reason to test it!

[kdunham]

I gave him Ivermecton (sp?) when he came here. I've been thinking about worms too tho. He was out with a bunch of other horses and he is kind of a scrawny guy. Ive been feeding him a ton but think I'm going to go pick up a power pac today and start him on that. I've heard horses with rain rot usually have an infestation problem so maybe he does too.

The weird thing is that when he gets rubbed there isn't an obvious place. You run your hands over him looking for bumps. Find bump and realize its a scab under the fur, soften scab, get it off, and there is a big raw spot.

[myhorsefaith]

what monica said. i always tackle diet and parasites first, and treat the outside with topicals to keep him comfy/healing.

in this case, i'd probably suspect parasites first, and then diet before jumping to other stuff- unless, of course, the horse's body starts failing and not healing.

this may not have much to do with his fungus issue- but when were his teeth done? i'd make vsure they are utd so he can chew up the food you are giving to him so he can make more efficient use of it.

[winterlakesfarm]

I agree with everyone-

I really honestly think Gossip's issues were caused by underlying poor nutrition and poor deworming. She has slowly improved over the last year with better diet and regular deworming.

If it were me I would either Panacur Power pac the guy or deworm monthly for a whole cycle meaning strongid, Ivermectin, Prazquantel and finish with Fenbendazole. You did the Ivermecting so 4 weeks out from that do Strongid and 4 weeks after that do the others one at a time.

I also would put him on a Antioxidant supplement. Dying parasites release a whole bunch of toxins so if he had a heavy load of parasites this could be an underlying issue. Then I would get him on a good balanced Vitamin/probiotic supplement. I use Equerry's Just the Basics which has the probiotic in it.

Sounds like he was behind the eight ball nutritionally when you got him and it is manifesting itself in poor haircoat and skin sensitivity.

[trillium]

While reading your first post, the thing that crossed my mind was HERDA also. Has that been ruled out? Because from my understanding it is first noticable when youngsters are being saddle trained and pressure is being exerted on their skin.
Do you know his breeding, because if there is Poco Bueno in there, I would worry.

I am hoping it is only something minor though.

[kdunham]

He is a Morgan so thankfully HERDA isn't on the table.

I was able to take some pics after I scrubbed him today.
These first two are between his elbow and body. Cinch wasn't anywhere close. If you look close you will see little bumps all over in the area with shorter hair. Also, in the second one you can see the tip of his elbow is raw.




This one is a bump I found yesterday on his shoulder. He hasn't had a blanket on for days. No idea what rubbed him to cause the bump under the fur. I got in there, softened the scab and a chunk of hide came off.


This little one is new today. Found another bump under the fur.


Now his back leg. He had a scrape a few days ago that I treated. Yesterday and today everything around it was scabby and when I treated it tons of hair and scabby skin came off!


I started him on a power pac today and probiotics. He is getting a ton of grass/alfalfa mix, beet pulp, orchard grass pellets, rice bran, oats, Ultium, and corn oil. We will see what happens!

[winterlakesfarm]

Looks pretty rain-rot-ish to me........but again rain rot is prone to happen in horses that are not well fed/groomed. Anything that lowers their immune system seems to cause fungus and skin ick to take over.

Kathleen have you thought about Trace clipping him? You would have to blanket him but it would help that stuff clear up and also be easier to cool him out......

[trillium]

How about this;

Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex: Introduction
The etiology of this group of diseases that affects cats, dogs, and horses has focused on an underlying hypersensitivity reaction. This is particularly true in cats and horses. Insect, environmental, and dietary hypersensitivities have been documented in cats, while insect hypersensitivity has been seen in some equine cases and in a smaller number of canine cases. Genetic predisposition and bacterial infections have also been seen in cats. In all species, idiopathic cases exist.

In horses, the disease has been termed equine eosinophilic granuloma with collagen degeneration, nodular necrobiosis of collagen, and collagenolytic granuloma. The lesions are nodular, nonulcerative, and nonpruritic. They often are found in the saddle, central truncal, and lateral cervical areas and may have a gray-white central core. Older lesions may become mineralized. Both insect bites and trauma have been suggested as etiologies, although the occasional onset during winter in cold climates and in noncontact saddle or tack areas suggests multifactorial causes. Histology reveals multifocal areas of collagen degeneration surrounded by granulomatous inflammation containing eosinophils.

In horses, solitary lesions may be treated with systemic antibiotics, surgical excision, or sublesional corticosteroid injections. Mineralized lesions require excision. Triamcinolone acetonide (3-5 mg/lesion) or methylprednisolone acetate (5-10 mg/lesion) is effective. No more than 20 mg triamcinolone acetonide should be administered sublesionally because of the potential to induce laminitis. Horses with multiple lesions may be treated with oral prednisone or prednisolone at 1.1 mg/kg, sid, for 2-3 wk. In horses with recurrent lesions, intradermal allergy testing, particularly with insect antigens, is recommended. Hyposensitization and insect control can be palliative in some cases.

And no, I did not just pull that out of my hat.
Merck Veterinary Manual is my source.