Grey horses and skin cancer

[Flyer]

I'm looking at purchasing a new horse and have been looking at a lot of horses. One of the horses I am seriously considering is a grey. I am concerned (since I'd probably end up with this horse for it's lifetime) that the horse may end up with melanomas or ? from the sun. Are there ways to lessen the risk other than keeping the horse inside all day? Do they make 'fly sheets' small enough for minis? Does human sunscreen work? Are there any other products out there that can protect a horse from the sun? How common is skin cancer on greys and how are people managing it? I've also tried to stay away from horses with pink skin surrounding their eyes for the same reason.

I guess I'm probably being a worry whort.

Thanks!

 

[justjinx]

Yes, they make flysheets small enough for minis.

I have bred and raised arabs in the past and never had cancer with my greys. my sister has a 26 year old grey arab gelding with no skin problems. I know they say that grey horses are more susceptible but i have not seen it. not sure about the minis...

jennifer

 

[Shari]

I have been around grey horses all my life and have owned a few.

Have one even now. So far, I have never had a problem with it.

Am also looking at two other grey horses for sale. Just get a good Vet check and let him know what to look for. If the horse gets a clean bill of health I would not worry about it too much.

 

[zacharyfarms]

The melanoma that grey horse get is not caused by exposure to the sun.

Grey is a cancer-causing mutation, and all horses that have it are affected to some degree. It can cause an average loss of six years off the normal expected lifespan of the horse and just over 80% of all greys will be diagnosed with a melanoma by the age of 15 typically beginning at the age of 5 If I remember correctly. This is disturbing information, is backed up by research and can be confirmed by reading the scientific papers on grey and its effects that can be found by doing a search of PubMed's database. (www.PubMed.gov) Melanomas are pigment filled tumors produced as the visible change in the coat occurs. Internal and external tumors develop. Why does this happen? As the hairs stop taking up pigment they turn white but the pigment or melanin remains in the skin. The pigment continues to be produced but does not go into the hair but remains in the skin and pigment-filled tumors form on the head,anal/genital region and along the digestive tract.The external tumors do not usually cause a problem. It is the internal tumors that typically shorten the lifespan. Many grey horses die from undiagnosed internal tumors causing blockage of the digestive tract. The horse will colic (from pressures/restrictions when the tumors get too large), die and no one has an autopsy done so the cause is not always known. As justjinx said about her Arabs; there is some evidence that Arabians have a higher level of resistance to the effect of the tumors that greying produces they evidently grow more slowly but grey horses always grow these.

The grey horse is genetically predisposed to the melanoma but it is not caused by sun exposure. In fact the grey horse has black skin, it is the pink skinned horses that we must worry about the sun exposure. Considering the lifespan of the miniature horse shortening 6-10 years could still mean the horse living 20 years or more. By the way one of the studies done was don on 200+ Lippizaners.. Marty you might know something about this. I learned of this information from an educational breed forum that I belong to and did the additional reading on the PubMed site and from the various articles from this one http://www.vetpathology.org/cgi/content/full/39/6/651

 

[Sue_C.]

I have only owned two grey horses, and one of them ended up with malignant melanoma at the age of 21, the other, I only had until the age of 6.

The 21 year old, "Dancer", had several non-malignant melanomas as well. She ended up severely anemic, and it was very difficult, but I had her euthanized, when it became apparent that nothing we could do, was going to help her.

I am sorry; but after watching my mare die slowly, from something that was genetic, but unpreventable, I will not have another grey horse. That is the only bad colour, a good horse can be, IMHO.