This is Piper's Just-Rolled-Out-Of-Bed look:
Pretty cute, I have to admit. But take a closer look at that mane of hers:
Ugh! She started rubbing her mane on the corral panels AGAIN and now there is a huge chunk right in the middle GONE... right down to the skin in a few spots. She has such a pretty mane.... when it's all there. Now it's just a wreck. It's not like she is a show horse or I'm all that fussy about grooming, but this is just a pet peeve of mine!
She did this previously back at the beginning of the year. Someone recommended I use MTG, which I did. Once a week I rubbed it into her bald spot and by mid-April it had almost caught up to the rest of her mane. It was looking really good! Now this...
Anyone have any other suggestions? It's really not feasible to put something on the fence panels to keep her from putting her head through and rubbing. What I really want is to find something to treat the cause of the itching. I've tried all kinds of crazy ideas --- including baby diaper rash cream and witch hazel. She gets de-wormed on a regular schedule, so that shouldn't be the problem.
Oh Pipey, what am I gonna do about you? Help me out cowgirls...
12 comments:
I have the sme problem, my mare had super dry spots and its flaking off, I still use MTG but its gross and stinky, I would like more ideas too!
Teenagers love to experiment with their hair......maybe it's just a phase.
This year it seems every horse is itchy. Indigo mashed her tail up a few weeks ago on the barn and I know she does not have worms because she is tested. I use MTG and it stops itching normally. I would say she might be reaching through to eat grass. In my experience thats the most common cause of mane rubbing, cause you know the grass is always greener on the other side.
Hi Bridget I was wondering if she is really itchy inside her skin there and maybe some type of cooling gel/cream can be slathered on to try and abate the itchiness or maybe to cool the skin?
Not that I know anything about horses but skin is all the same and so are itches. Some creams may appear to 'cool' but sometimes they actually heat up the skin (I find that alot with face creams) - what about an aloe vera gel?
Anyway, maybe these ramblings may be of help :)
best wishes to Piper xxx
Annette
My neighbor used a sponge on treatment called Tea Clenz (http://www.healing-tree.com/Tea-Clenz.html) it's for rain rot, ringworm and sweet itch/rain scald. Her horse has some kind of itchy stiff that makes her mane fall out and has black flaky stuff coming off her skin. It's easy to see on her since she is pink skinned white horse. The directions say sponge it on, squeegee off excess water; repeat for three days. The horse gets this every year for some reason. Gilly has been itchy of late too so I am going to start his treatment tomorrow, his is mostly in his mane too.
Check out the link to read more about it.
The tiny no-see'um gnats are bad this year. I found out that a horse will rub a spot that doesn't itch if he cannot reach the spot that does. My gelding gets gnat bites on his belly and rubs his tail bone! Vet gave me a Rx to ease the itchiness, pills that I stick in chunks of brownie bites or old bits of cake.
My horse does the same thing. I have found out it is an itch caused by an allergic reaction to fly bites. I use Fung-A-Way every day to help. If you apply a good fly spray daily or every other day at the beginning of the season to prevent the bites it will also help. This does spread. My horse ened up with a 3 inch bald spot at the top of his tail, rubbed the hair off his neck, and started rubbing his belly.
You might want to try cocoa butter. It's some good stuff for the skin. I get it at the dollar store and it costs about $1.50.
Another thing I get is cholesterol cream. It's pretty cheap and really has helped my geldings tail to grow out.
Have you tried giving her MSM? You can get it in powder form and also apply topically. I get intense itching around this time of year on my shoulders thru Oct...have since my 20's and not sure why and the only thing that seems to work pretty fast is MSM in a high dose.
Not sure about giving it to a horse though. Read up on it.
Also coconut or neem oil applied topically might be soothing.
man oh man! Silly girl, but gotta love her! Miss y'all!
Join the club! MTG is the only thing I've found that helps. It is oily and stinky, but it does help. Actually the biggest thing that stopped me horse was making sure there was nothing she wanted to get at throught the corral. I make sure she is fed in the middle, so she can't push her hay out and then stick her head through to get it. That was the main reason she was sticking her head out.
Silly Piper - she does look gorgeous though!
From a summer of tearing my hair out over itchy, rubbing ponies, I've found that a fly rug is by far the most effective way of stopping itching.
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