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  Discussion on Donkey losing hair under duress
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Member:
annimule

Posted on Monday, Jan 26, 2009 - 8:49 am:

I hope I am in the proper section. I am assuming this is a stress related response but want to run it by you all.

I run a donkey and mule rescue. I placed a 15 year old mammoth gelding last week. He had been here for a few months, had settled into the herd with no problem. He was low man on the totem pole but ok with that.He is in good health, utd on all vax. He had been placed once before, but came back due to owner's issues. He loaded easily to go and to come back.

When we tried to load him to go to his new home last week he was very resistant. I try to keep it as stress free as possible, but the fact that we put a rope behind his rump to kind of steer him in, was obviously stressful to him. The ground beneath him was covered in slick snow so he had a hard time getting purchase. It took close to an hour to load him, but he finally went in fairly willingly.

When he arrived at his new home he had lost "fist sized" clumps of hair on his back. His coat was always "rough" while here, but he has been wormed regularly, and did not have lice or any other obvious skin conditions.

I know that dogs and cats shed when they are nervous but have never heard of it in equids. Anyone have any knowledge about this phenomenon?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.

Best regards,
Ann


Ann W. Firestone, President
Save Your Ass Long Ear Rescue
at Broomtail Farm
23 Saw Mill Road
South Acworth, NH 03607
www.saveyourassrescue.org
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Monday, Jan 26, 2009 - 12:18 pm:

No Ann, I am not aware of any common cause of psychologically induced stress related hair loss in equines. For more on assessing hair loss see Diseases of Horses » Skin Diseases, Wounds, and Swellings » Hair and Coat Problems / Itching / Irritated Skin » Overview of Hair Loss & Irritated Skin.
DrO
Member:
ekaufman

Posted on Monday, Jan 26, 2009 - 12:32 pm:

Hi Ann,

Is it possible that he broke a sweat either during loading or on the trailer, and that dislodged hair that was just sort of crufted on? I have a boarded horse here that is not groomed often in the winter, and she tends to show clumpy shedding which I attribute to an "off all at once" phenomenon, rather than any kind of medical problem.

Love the name of your rescue!

- elk
Member:
annimule

Posted on Monday, Jan 26, 2009 - 1:54 pm:

Thanks Elk and Dr. O. He did sweat like crazy on the way to his new home, so maybe it was from hair that wasnt on tight. <g> Volunteers groom him and the little girl who usually grooms him didnt come this week so maybe he did have some scurfy stuff going on.

Thank you for your compliment on the name of the rescue. Gotta have a sense of humor when doing rescue work. Thank you for your reply Dr. O.

Ann

Ann W. Firestone, President
Save Your Ass Long Ear Rescue
at Broomtail Farm
23 Saw Mill Road
South Acworth, NH 03607
www.saveyourassrescue.org
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