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  Discussion on Hair color turns dark after laceration
Author Message
Member:
carol459

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 6:44 pm:

Last week, I saw that my 2 yo had scraped his neck and mane on a metal fence post, enough to take off a couple inches of mane and scrape the skin but no real bleeding. The area was a bit swollen and warm. I cleaned the wound w/water and put on Neosporin as best he would allow (at 2, he doesn't have much training yet). He's a very light dun, with very light tan hair and dark grey mane. Within a day or two, a patch of the light hair on his neck turned dark grey, same color as his mane, in the area below the wound. By the following week, the same thing on the other side of his neck -- an area of dark grey hair that used to be light tan, just below the mane. The area is not swollen or warm, just an odd color.

I had not called out the vet for the scrape, as it was shallow and seemed to heal up quickly and without infection. I'm now worried about the change in hair color on the neck. I thought at first it might be bruising, but I don't know why that would change the hair color. I'm fairly new to horse care, so please excuse me if this is something normal, but I've never seen it before. I'm afraid I might be overlooking something serious. Dr. O, can you advise?
Member:
mrose

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 7:38 pm:

I've had the same thing happen, where a bay will get a dark mark where it was injured, and a gray get a dark, steel gray mark. I've always assumed that the hair folicle was damaged by the injury and it's a type of scar.
Member:
carol459

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 7:58 pm:

I hope that's it, Sara. I've been second-guessing myself and fretting that I should have called the vet first thing, but he seems perfectly fine other than the new dark patches on his neck.
Member:
rtrotter

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 18, 2009 - 8:55 pm:

Carol,

I think Sara has something here as far as the change in color. My 3 year old colt had some sort of undiagnosed skin disease on the right side of his back for a year and a half, no matter what I did this fist size patch would not heal. I posted elsewhere on this forum about using a product called Effol, which seemed to have worked, the patch has healed and the hair is all but grown back, but as Sara says he is a bay and the patch is the color of his mane, very dark brown.

I am sure your horse is fine and you two will have many fine years together.
Rachelle
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 19, 2009 - 7:30 am:

Carol, if I understand your post the hair is coming in darker on both sides of the neck but he only traumatized one side. Seasonal shedding and new hair almost always comes in darker than the existing hair. I also notice this is a young adult and young horses often have some amount of color change, in either case if your horse is healthy otherwise I don't think a vet is required.
DrO
Member:
carol459

Posted on Thursday, Mar 19, 2009 - 1:37 pm:

Thank you, Dr. O and all. Oddly, the hair that turned dark was on his neck, a patch about the size of your hand, just below the scrape (which was mostly at the mane), first on one side then on the other. The hair didn't fall out and grow back dark -- it just seems to have turned dark over a matter of days. Same dark grey color as the mane, while the rest of his body hair is very light (white/tan). But yes, he is otherwise very healthy, and there is nothing otherwise suspicious about the injured area.
Member:
corinne

Posted on Thursday, Mar 19, 2009 - 1:41 pm:

It was suggested to me by a Farrier once to use Preparation H on scrapes of this nature as the anti-inflammatory properties helps the hair grow back the same color as it was prior to the scrape. I have used it on my horse and it seems when I do the grey hair comes back grey and when I don't it seems to come back flea bitten. Any truth to this wive's tail Dr O? Or was it just chance?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 19, 2009 - 9:12 pm:

The only way for the existing hair to get darker that I can think of is through staining. On the other hand the new coat coming in can be quite subtle.

Not that I am aware of Corinne but that does not mean it is not so.
DrO
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