Properly Protecting Your Horse From Dangerous Sunburn Complications

I"m sure we are all well aware of the dangers of overexposure to the sun. Spending too much time in its potentially dangerous UV rays can lead to much worse things than nasty and painful sunburns. Sunburns are the leading cause of skin cancer. Why do you think it is so important to wear a high SPF sunscreen or light-weight clothes when you know you will be spending extensive time in the sun? You are doing it to protect your skin.

What most people don"t realize is that humans aren"t the only ones susceptible to sunburns and skin cancer from the sun. Your horse is too. Often people assume that since horses are big and strong that they are also infallible. Nothing could be further from the truth. As a matter of fact the sun rays have the same dangerous affects on our horses as it does on us.

Believe it or not, horses can and will get sunburn. There are instances where severe sunburn has lead to some liver damage, even. If you own horses that have characteristics prone to sunburn, such as white noses and pale skin around the eyes, then you will commonly yourself treating your horse for cases of sunburn. Although horses with darker skinned characteristics don"t typically get as easily aggravated by sunburn, they can have their dark hair bleached from the sun.

A sunburn on a horse looks pretty much like sunburn you would get. You"ll notice the horse"s skin will be a shade of dark pink or red. If you leave the skin untreated for too long it will chap and crack. Also, just like a human, severe sunburn will cause the skin to blister.

You need to watch out most closely for sunburn around the horse"s face. This is both dangerous and painful for the animal. However, treating a sunburned face is easy. The simplest way to fix the problem is to purchase the right equestrian supplies to cover the horses face such as a mask. Most masks come with extensions that protect the horse"s nose from becoming sunburned. If you can"t find a mask that covers your horse properly, get some sunscreen that you would normally use and rub its nose with it. This will actually do a very good job protecting the animal"s nose.

Some horse owners attempt to keep their horse"s coat from being damaged from the sun by keeping them inside their stable during the day while the sun is out and then putting them to pasture at night. This has two benefits. First, it won"t be exposed to harmful UV rays and there are less troublesome biting insects to contend with at night.