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  Discussion on Unknown bumps on young Friesian mare
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Posted on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2000 - 2:09 am:

Perhaps Dr. O will respond to this post, or anyone who has encountered something similar--My young mare developed some strange little bumps in mid-October. They were initialy on her loin, barrel, chest and shoulders. They didn't itch and didn't seem sensitive to the touch. I tried anti-histamines for two days and the bumps disappeared for a day or two. Next, I tried dexamethasome on her grain. Same results--they went away, then came again. To make a long story short, we changed her food, her turnout, her bedding--and everything seemed to briefly help. Finally the vet gave her a steroid injection, with results (no bumps) lasting a week. This went on until the end of December, and she still occasionally pops out with a few more little bumps. I consulted two vets. One thought it was a reaction to something airborne, such as smoke from forest fires. The other thought it was a reaction to horsefly bites (as in the horsefly acting as a vector for some other parasite) that caused the bumps. Could this be Cutaneous Amyloidosis? Could this be microfillae? Could she be trying to drive me totally crazy? She is wormed every two months with liquid Ivermectrin for horses. Thank you. Eve

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2000 - 2:30 pm:

Hello Eva,
With no more description of the bumps than we have I do not know. I assume you have read all the articles on skin bumps and their various causesin the Skin Diseases topic. The next stop is a biopsy of one of the bumps.
DrO

Posted on Tuesday, Feb 8, 2000 - 2:30 pm:

Hi Eve,
I don't know if this will help at all, but I have owned 2 Friesians and they both had skin problems. One Friesian was nearly bald and covered with bumps when he came to me, and the other had to be closely monitored as he was also prone to bumps and skin problems. The first Friesian seemed to be allergic to everything - any type of insect bite, grass seed, muranti shavings mixed in the pine, etc. etc. I had skin biopsies done and they just showed allergies to everything you could name. I bathed him every 2 days with an anti-fungal/anti-insect/anti-everything shampoo and rubbed him from head to foot daily with an oil made up for me by an aromatherapist, of lavender and tea-tree in a jojoba base. This helped enormously, but he also had to go on a course of prednisolone 5 mg tablets, starting with about 30 a day going down to 5 a day. Once I got him off the tablets, I continued with the massage oil and made sure he was covered with fly oil when he went out and that no flies ever went near his stable. This controlled it, and his hair grew back so that he had a very nice coat. But when he left me to go back to being a carriage horse [he hated being ridden], the new owners unfortunately did not keep up the level of care necessary, and I know from friends that he has had continual skin problems and bumps since, even to the stage of bleeding shoulders, which is very distressing to hear.

I was a member of the Friesian dressage team for a while, and some of the other riders had problems with their horses' skin as well. We put it down to having Friesians in Africa, as they are probably suited to cold weather and not our climate, but it is no doubt far more complicated than that. Only your e-mail address shows in your profile, so I don't know where you live, but perhaps that is also the problem.

Sorry I can't be more specific - but it was a very frustrating time for me as well!

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 9, 2000 - 9:00 am:

Hi Eve,
It is interesting to see the postings about skin bumbs and sensitivity to bugs. I have a 1/2 Friesian mare and she is also very sensitive to bug bites. I really can't even use her outdoors in the summer. Our bumps are definately from bugs, and I have to work hard to make her comfortable. I have to drag her out of the barn, all 1300 pounds of her. I live in Minnesota and in the winter I have to drag her into the barn.
I am sure the black color attracts more bugs than the lighter horses and that doesn't help either. Whenever anyone tells me they would love to own a Friesian horse I invite them over for a ride. No offense, but she is not the greatest ride, very heavy. On the other hand she is turning into a great drving horse.

Posted on Wednesday, Feb 9, 2000 - 12:57 pm:

Thanks for the responses. Sorry that I can't give a better description of the bumps. They don't seem to bother her at all, she doesn't lose hair, they just appear and disappear, whether I do anything or not!!! I had feared an auto-immune disease. I just updated my profile, but we live in central California--temperate climate except for hellish summers. She was bred in the area. Recently, I've seen the same sort of bumps on a lesson horse I know. Its owner tells the same story as I do. The lesson horse is a chestnut Dutch Warmblood. What these two horses have in common--other than being "little" Dutch girls--is that my Hermein's breeder also a runs a large dairy at his farm, and the lesson horse lives at a large horse facility with huge dairies adjacent. Connection? I'll open a post in the "Lounge" section of the BB to let you fellow Freisian parents how my girl differs from yours. Thanks again.
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