Horse Skin Fungus - A Fast Cure

If Snowmaggedon rapidly followed by The Ultimate Blizzard of 2010 hadn't hit my corner of Maryland, I might have noticed the terrible yet hidden condition of the mare's tail earlier.

I feel awful about not noticing the problem sooner. The first indication of anything amiss was a small tangle at the base of Gigi's tail. It proved to be a piece of skin. This was not good news, although her tail looked fine - until closer inspection.

Underneath her long and bushy top bristles, the skin on the middle third of her tail bone was sloughing off in big scaly chunks, like a shedding snake. It was horrifying! I hadn't ever seen her rub her tail nor were there any broken hairs to indicate that she had. She let me touch the area without flinching. It didn't seem to bother her when I gently teased the dead skin off and handfuls of hair come out with it. I decided instead to clean the area off with betadine solution.

In the interests of honesty I rang the friend who had left her horse to my tender care and is very proud of her mare's tail. I was worried that the condition would spead and Gigi's entire tail would fall out. Luckily her owner was great about it and agreed that I should contact the vet.

Three feet of snow made the path down to my barn impassable by vehicle. The vet would not have been able to drive here to check Gigi: so she and I consulted over the phone. She determined that it was a fungus, and suggested I wash Gigi's tail in Selsun Blue.

Since the temperatures were in the teens and low 20s I didn't think Gigi would be keen to have me wash her tail, especially as I've had to shut off the hot water in the barn for now (long story). However, I went to the store to buy the shampoo.

I noticed there were two types: one had sulphur in it, the other had zinc. Just the day before I'd bought a product at my local feed merchant which contained both ingredients as well as mineral oil. It advertises itself as 'the single solution for' a host of horse fungal problems. I decided to try that first. All I had to do was wash off the betadine and apply the new solution daily.

Within two days the problem was already clearing up. The mineral oil was softening the dead skin and causing it to slide down the tail in smaller pieces instead of big chunks, without taking nearly so many hairs with it. What a relief!

Only six days into the treatment healthy pink skin is forming and new hairs are already growing. I'm hopeful that by the time my friend visits us on her annual trip from Florida to New Jersey, Gigi will have a full tail again.

I cannot recommend this product highly enough. It's called Shapley's Original M-T-G (Mane Tail Groom). Its other uses are mane and tail detangling and conditioning. It's not expensive - I paid $12.99 for a 32 fluid ounce bottle. I thoroughly checked my geldings for fungus and one of them had a tiny itchy patch on the top of his tail which cleared after one application.

If your horse gets fungus, rain rot, girth itch, scratches, sweet itch or dry skin M-T-G is the product for you! Check out www.shapleys.com if you're interested. And no, I have absolutely no connection with the company - I'm just grateful it exists.

You may also find my article on ringworm useful. Life is never dull around horses - I discovered the hard way that humans can get ringworm, too.

My Thoroughbred cross horse and his apparent reaction to sudden temperature drop

After four solid days of pouring rain, a swimming pool instead of a riding arena, watching Cruz roar around the field, rearing and spinning for lack of other exercise, and a missed horse show on Sunday as a result, the sun came out. Hurray! By late afternoon the arena was rideable.

As I groomed Cruz I noticed two things. One, his winter coat has suddenly sprouted and two, he is no longer sensitive about being brushed. He's been enormously antsy while having his stomach and even his back cleaned, and has several times tried to cow-kick me: that's not Cruz at all! I was very much hoping this new sensitivity was down to the change in season, and it looks as if it was. This is the first year it's happened. Maybe because of the rapid drop in temperature and his body's attempt to compensate fast. Now his coat is thicker he's back to enjoying being groomed.

After the second day of rain, which my British born horses usually don't mind, I brought them all in for a few hours to dry off. I didn't want them getting rain rot/scratches. They have the option of coming out of the weather any time they want, as I've set up the stables to act as run-in sheds as well, but they weren't taking advantage of this shelter.

Kinley and CD were fine, but Cruz was shivering. I put a net blanket on him and covered that with a light wool rug. He was immediately more comfortable, and soon warm and dry. The three horses then wore New Zealands until the temperature rose and they were happier without them.

Anyway, that's taught me that when the weather suddenly and dramatically cools down, the Thoroughbred part of Cruz has a tough time with it. Luckily for them, the Irish Draft in the other two overrides the sensitivity of their Thoroughbred side.

This is different from usual: Cruz is normally the horse wanting to be out in the rain, snow, ice, you name it. I always thought this was his one quarter Welsh Cob coming through - the rugged pony part of him. In Virginia he used to open his stable door so he could be out in some terrible weather conditions. So once again I put his atypical body reaction down to the suddenness of the temperature drop.

One has never learned everything when it comes to horses. That's why they never get boring!