Article from Horse Journal Online - www. horse-journal.com - Copyright ©2014
The Itchy Horse Can Drive You Crazy
Out-of-control scratching can lead to
bigger problems and serious health issues.
Steroids: A Double-Edged Sword
When vets look at a skin condition, one of the biggest questions that
they ask themselves is, “Should I give this horse corticosteroids?” Corti-
costeroids are a class of anti-inflammatory medication that can have
wonderful positive effect in horses. They can make creaky, painful
joints move again and they can make red hot skin that is on fire happy
in a matter of hours. But they are not without another edge.
Corticosteroids can be risky in horses with bad gastric ulcers, a his-
tory of metabolic issues (insulin resistance, Cushing’s disease), or other
organ problems. Inform your vet about relevant medical history or
conditions in your horse before he administers a treatment or therapy.
Also, doing routine blood testing for equine metabolic syndrome (in-
sulin resistance) and Cushing’s disease (in older horses) is valuable.
Midline dermatitis, aka sweet itch, is
caused by tiny bugs called “no-see-ums.”
O
ne of the most infuriating,
frustrating issues is a horse
with skin problems. Thank-
fully, most horses don’t have sensi-
tive skin or allergies. But for the
few unlucky ones that do, owners
can be brought to tears, since the
problem never really seems to go
away.
Itchiness (also called “pruritus”)
can occur from a variety of causes
and can start at any time during a
horse’s life. We’ll take you through
some of the common causes, and
explain what you can do to mitigate
the problem.
HELP! MY HORSE ITCHED HIS
TAIL OUT! We’ve all seen it, heard
about it, or experienced it: a horse
scratching out his mane or tail.
Even though these are the most
common presenting complaints
when it comes to itchy skin, several
other behaviors and hair-loss pat-
terns are also reported.
Commonly, horses will experience
hair loss (aka alopecia) on their
underbelly and ventral midline.
Geldings may have firm, incredibly
itchy sheaths with dry skin. Some
horses will itch out hair on their
face or on their haunches.
In rare circumstances, mares can
present with a mammary gland
infection (mastitis) which is caused
when they “dog sit” on the ground
and rub their bellies in the dirt.
Dirt gets into their teat, which in
turn causes an infection. But even
mares with just dirty udders can
become master tail-itchers. Keeping
your horse’s sheath or udder clean
is step one in these cases.
Some horses will lose hair in
patches all over their body while
others will repeatedly break out
in hives. Regardless, these horses
are usually very sensitive to the
touch. Some of them itch so much
it almost hurts. They may even
want you to itch them to a point but
then become stand-offish if you are
over-zealous.
Although we don’t commonly
think of it, skin is a vital organ,
as are the liver, kidneys, heart
and lungs. If any of these became
inflamed, we’d definitely sit up and
take notice. Yet with skin, some of
us more or less give up when we see
lackluster results despite our strong
efforts. Well, don’t give up!
TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. Horses that
itch constantly can have serious
physiologic consequences. Obvi-
ously the skin itself can be dam-
aged by constant scratching. Hors-
es will often rub so vigorously that
they will macerate their skin. These
cuts and scrapes are painful and
can become infected. After many
repeated insults, skin can actually
become permanently thickened
and scaly. This process is called
“lichenification” and is irreversible
in some cases.
Beyond the skin itself, pruritus
can result in other physiologic
problems. In some horses, itching
is so intense that the horse can’t
sleep. After prolonged stretches
(usually weeks to months) with no
significant sleep, it starts to show.
Horses will become fatigued and
can actually “zone out” and nearly
fall over before they catch them-
selves. This behavior is not benign,
since we know that horses must
sleep in order to maintain proper
brain function. Some experts
postulate that the relentless itching
irritates horses to the point where
they develop gastric ulcers. So
clearly, horses that itch terribly can
truly be suffering.
(12 pages)
(21 pages)
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