Opinions Please.

[End Level Farms]

My stallion has decided Spring is here and is loosing his hair by the HANDFUL. He looks so moth eaten its not even funny. And is itchier than itchy.

My question is should I clip him or should I just put a blanket on and shed him out naturally. (He is my only mini that will shed fully and naturally before AUGUST.)

No one else on the farm is loosing hair at all except the old mare whom I suspect is either in foal or having a false pregnancy. She did abort in late September. But it might have been a twin. The vet was not able to tell. So I'm treating her like she is but believing shes not.

I really want to clip him but hes not going to be showing anytime soon. The family all say to leave him.

 

[normajeanbaker]

What are your temps like right now? I have a mare shedding like crazy and would love nothing more then to help her out and clip her, but it's still very much so winter here in Maine, so obviously I am leaving her.

Jen

 

[Jill]

If it's hot where you are, then I'd say it would be good to clip him, but if it's cold, I would not.

You can use dog grooming rakes or this tool called "groomeez" (sp?) that's a brush thing and both these tools really pull the dead hair out -- way, way better than a shedding blade.

 

[SHANA]

Hey Jill you thought something similar to me. I would buy a furminator which dog groomers use to help de-shed dogs. Works great. Takes the shedding hair out nicely. I worked at a dog kennal as their groomer this past summer but am off do to my upcoming baby.

 

[The Simple Life Farm]

I agree, I would just use something to remove the hair rather than clipping him, unless you are having warm weather.

 

[End Level Farms]

No its cold here.

And its still suppost to snow several more times.

But when that happens hes tucked nicely inside.

I just hate the hairy clumps falling out by the bucket load LOL.

Ill just leave him be then.

Thank you for your opinions though.

 

[sedeh]

I use the "furminator" also on my molting minis!! It's a great tool.....gets rid of all the loose hair and clumps.

 

[midnight star stables]

It's Canada! It's Cold!

It's minus 20 degrees Celsius today - Even with a blanket he could freeze to death or get sick!

It's only February, wait until March. I prefer late May but to each their own

I know it's hard with so much time until summer, but for his comfort and health, IMO, please hold off a bit longer.

 

[hobbyhorse23]

Do not blanket a shedding horse, you won't be doing him any favors. It'll just trap all that moist heat and make an ideal environment for fungus to grow, causing him to be even itchier!

Plus he'll probably wreck your blankets scratching. Nope, sorry, I think you're going to have to put up with him being motheaten!

Just use one of the grooming tools everyone is recommending every day (twice a day if you've got time) and maybe use a horse vacuum to remove some of the deep-down dirt and help keep his skin healthier. Check for fungus under all that fur too, Kody always gets some by this time of year and that's part of why he starts scratching so bad. Right now we've got matching bald patches on either side of his neck from spring rubbing.

Leia

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

It's Canada! It's Cold!
It's minus 20 degrees Celsius today - Even with a blanket he could freeze to death or get sick!

It's only February, wait until March. I prefer late May but to each their own

I know it's hard with so much time until summer, but for his comfort and health, IMO, please hold off a bit longer.

LOL, apparently you have never been to the west coast. It is NOT like the rest of the country, they get spring in March. In fact by March they will likely have flowers in bloom and lawns greening up. Still, I agree that even for Langley the first week of February is a bit early. If it were me I'd wait until at least mid March and then clip, and annoy the rest of us northerners by bragging about it

 

[hobbyhorse23]

LOL, apparently you have never been to the west coast. It is NOT like the rest of the country, they get spring in March. In fact by March they will likely have flowers in bloom and lawns greening up. Still, I agree that even for Langley the first week of February is a bit early. If it were me I'd wait until at least mid March and then clip, and annoy the rest of us northerners by bragging about it

*LOL* It's true that spring hits the vegetation and soil by March here, but it's still not exactly warm!

That dang damp chill holds on until June half the time and it's killer on those clipped horses. Poor guys. :Cold-Scared You just can't get warm.

Leia

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

LOL

I guess it depends where you are from. Every time I've gone to the coast in march its T shirt weather to me. Makes it darn hard to return to the snow here at home. Still my point was that climate is not the same in Ontario as coastal BC (or the Interior of Bc vs Coastal BC either )

 

[dinno28]

ok it's 8 degrees here today and going below zero tonight ... I won't be clipping anything for months

 

[lilstars]

i would give him a good fly spraying and curry it into the hair. lice is a big thing this time of year, can really cause the serious itching and more shedding, can't hurt, i always fly spray during the winter as a friend of mine had your same issue and when she clipped in the spring there they were! ick, but the fly spray did away with them and i do mine all the time now, just a thought

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Ok first of all you got to find out the reason why he is so itchy? Does he have lice or a fungus or something? There are sprays out there you can use without having to give them a bath or to clip them.

 

[End Level Farms]

He has no lice. My horses are powered all winter long. Every 4-8 weeks. (I cant stand BUGS)

Around here we are in shirts and shorts for a lot of what we are doing except on certain days when its cold.

I have heat lamps and everything.

He was clipped in Feb last year. We were also at a different place. And it was much much warmer than it is this year.

I just find it majorly curious that other than the Old mare hes the only one shedding.

 

[Reignmaker Miniatures]

My stallions have all started to shed pretty heavily already too. And we are MUCH colder here. I hope they don't get too carried away or I'll be scrambling for blankets for them lol. Unless they know something about spring that I don't. Last year by mid February my bred mares and my stallions were surrounded by clouds of hair every time I groomed but I couldn't clip for months becuase it wasn't warm enough. Very frustrating and I hate the patchy look they get when they start itching on everything too.

 

[dragonfur]

Have you by any chance had a skin scraping done? It's possible he has mites of some sort. It's way too early for them to be shedding that much, even here in Texas (it'll be 70º tomorrow, although it isn't every day yet. Still--no snow or extreme cold--right now, anyway!) Clipping will just make you keep him blanketed, if mites are the problem, and he'll still itch like crazy.

I had that problem 5 years ago--had 3 horses rubbing patches bare. I had to wait until it was warm enough to bathe them to be able to kill the mites! We were all miserable, I can tell you! (I hated to see them and know they were uncomfortable, so I was as miserable inside as they were outside.)

 

[End Level Farms]

When he was sick a couple of months ago the vet tested everything and has continue to test time due to not knowing what almost killed him other than a bacterial infection that caused a rare form of colic in his intestines.

He always sheds early. I just usually clip him. My one other mare does the same thing. The rest dont.