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Discussion on Paint horse with lumpy areas on white patches
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New Member:
klowe
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 6, 2007 - 8:04 pm:
A couple of months ago, I noticed that the black/brown areas on my Paint (which is also his name) appeared be depressed, and then decided it was actually due to the white areas being somewhat elevated,particularly where they border darker areas. I have had him for 8 months, and I'm sure I would have noticed it if his coat had looked that way at first. The white patches on his rump are particularly raised, and the hair seems coarser than the darker areas. They don't seem to bother him particularly. The worst place is on his rump, which gets the most sun exposure, and also where most of his weight would be when he rolls in the dust (which he does daily).
My first thought was sunburn, and I tried fly/uv protective sheets which didn't fit well (he's a crossbreed) and ended up being a waste of $$. I actually tried sunscreen also, but I didn't think it was getting down to the skin, and I can't see any peeling anywhere.
My farrier thought perhaps it was mostly impacted dirt, and recommended EZall, which I just tried this week. It's true that there was a lot of dirt. I know I don't groom him enough, the New Mexico heat gets me and there is little shade here on our place yet. The horses are turned out 24/7.
This horse generally seems to be very itchy all over. I use a biospot insecticide on him and I recently began to give him Vita B-1 crumbles to keep the mosquitos away. It seems to have helped. (I have taken B-1 for that purpose myself for 25 years, and I know it works for me.)
I use Iverease wormer every 2 months.
Sorry to go on so long...I will be grateful for any advice!
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Member:
juliem
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 6, 2007 - 9:03 pm:
Are you sure it's not just the difference in the white hair and the dark? Pinto and paint horses often have noticeable difference in the hair length as their winter coats come in. They look like the old high-low carpets that had two different lengths of fiber! The white is almost always more upright and appears longer than the dark which seems to lie flatter or be shorter. At the margins, it's very noticeably two different lengths.
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Member:
hwood
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Posted on Saturday, Oct 6, 2007 - 10:05 pm:
Yes, this is definitely so . . . especially on Appys with blankets. I used to close my eyes and run my hands over the rumps of a couple of my white blanketed Appys. One had a white blanket and red spots, and one has a white blanket and gold spots. In both cases, I can feel the depressions that are the darker spots. The white hair usually feels more waxy as well.
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Member:
paul303
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 7, 2007 - 1:04 am:
And, man oh man, just wait until that white hair starts shedding out next spring.
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Member:
dsibley
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 7, 2007 - 8:01 am:
Hello, Kathy! As a 'Paint Mom' my self, I wouldn't rule out sunburn. Those white patches are definitely more sensitive to burn and will react much the way you describe. Have you tried any of the fly sprays that have sunscreen in them? You commented that you live in NM and your place has little shade...I would think sunburn is a good possibility.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 7, 2007 - 8:49 am:
Welcome Kathy,
Julie's question is a good one as I a horse whose star has hair not only of a different length but different quality than the surrounding pigmented skin's hair. If you remain uncertain you could shave a small area at a junction to know for sure. If the skin is actually raised what does it look like?
DrO
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Member:
corinne
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 7, 2007 - 9:39 am:
The paint colt I am going to help train to be a therapy horse is an ovaro (excuse me if it's spelled wrong) and his patches are different lengths. He has white almost all over, brown patches outlined in black shadow, clown lips and a medicine head. I wondered the same question myself when looking at his hair so thanks for asking! Interesting!
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Member:
dres
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 7, 2007 - 9:55 am:
I raise Appy's and have to say that their coats are very unique.. My gelding with a lovely blanket and 4 whites socks is just to funny looking in the winter.. He grows into a French poodle!~ His white butt becomes longer and more dense, his 4 white socks become pom poms .. He is left out 24/7 so i never blanket him and the white can get pretty darn ''fluffy'' the dark spots stay low, he has a brail butt..
On the first day God created horses, on the second day he painted them with spots..
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Member:
hwood
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Posted on Sunday, Oct 7, 2007 - 10:25 am:
That's neat, Ann. A "Braille Butt." That's exactly how it is if you close your eyes and brush your fingers over the surface. I find it to be very comforting in what must seem to some folks as a very weird way. (I always liked stuffed animals  . . . maybe it's the same kind of tactile comfort that I got from them as a kid.)
Anyway, it's a very familiar and comforting feeling, and I think it is part of the reason I bought the 30-year old, lame, Appy from the ranch in CA . . . my 40 year old Appy with the similar rump blanket had died two years before . . . and I just need my "Appy fix."
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New Member:
klowe
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 9, 2007 - 10:59 am:
Thanks so much everyone for your quick responses! I've been pretty much freaking out as I am very inexperienced in horse care and am not sure what is freak-out worthy and what is not. The more I look at Paint's spots, the more it does seem to me that the these patches on his rump are just places that the hair is thicker and coarser, although why this would happen at the peak of the summer season is a mystery to me. Underneath the skin seems normal (although I do think he may get some sunburn on his neck where he is mostly white and his hair is softer and thinner). I don't see, underneath the dirt, any peeling or raised skin.
Also, it doesn't seem to bother him when I go poking around at these patches. He's about the sweetest animal I every met, equine or otherwise, but he does seem to have sensitive skin in general. Flies and mosquitoes drive him crazy.
I do like Braille butt, too!
Thanks again for all the info, and thanks in advance for putting up with neo questions!
Kathy
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Member:
hwood
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Posted on Tuesday, Oct 9, 2007 - 11:36 am:
Kathy, my horses always start shedding out their summer hair in June. Just short little hairs that come out with washing and brushing . . . and that's because the winter hairs are starting to grow in . . . and they don't come in 2 inches long overnight, but start as tiny, little hairs, and for awhile, are undistinguishable from the summer hairs . . . but eventually, as the days shorten and get cooler, they become longer and are often a different shade or color. You will notice your guy shedding out before it seems he should be, but the new hairs will be growing in. It seems to me that I remember April as being the really big shedding time (I've been in cold climates most of my horse-owning life) of making horse-hair carpets on the ground wherever I groomed my guys or wherever they rolled in the pasture.
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