Hair Loss

Question
Hi i recently aqquired two appaloosa foals and have noticed they have some patchy hair loss down to the skin. It is on their face and legs. It does not seem sensitive to touch but I have seen little white bumps in some of the bald spots. I just dewormed them to be sure it was not the cause. what else can i try and what could be causing this?

Answer
Hi Tara,

Thank you for your question.  Patchy hair loss in horses can be caused by a variety of issues and without seeing your horses first hand it is difficult for me to say what the cause may be.  However, the areas that both of your horses are losing hair from, accompanied by little white bumps, sounds suspiciously like mange (more specifically demodectic mange).  I would strongly urge you to have your veterinarian examen and properly diagnose your horses.

Nutritionally, hair quality is improved by a well balanced diet.  A few suggestions I always make for improving the shedding process is to ensure that your horse has an adequate amount of salt in the diet, and feed flax in some format.  Flax for horses provides quality vegetable fat in the ideal Omega 6:Omega 3 fatty acid ratio for horses.  There are many different sources of flax for horses, but my favorite remains milled flaxseed (that has had nothing added or removed during the milling process).  Milled flax is inexpensive, easy to feed and palatable to horses...feed 1-2 cups daily.

I hope that helps.

Thanks, Corlena