Sunburn on a pinto? I've never owned anything but solids....

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Lil Timber Buck

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Okay, I am trying to think ahead here, but I have never owned a paint of any kind. I have however had friends with paints that sunburn on their white areas due to the pink pigment (or lack of it) in thier skin. One friend's horse's neck gets scabs it burns so bad. My little guy is a buckskin pinto with a white "saddle" area on him and 3 socks. We are preparing to shave him in the next week or so depending on weather and I am worried about that pink area sunburning since it has been protected under the coat. He has a run in barn he can go in, but is not stalled at all-shut completey in it. I was thinking I might need to get a fly sheet to maybe make the sunlight not so intense on his pink areas...Has anyone had experience with this? My friend puts sunscreen on her horses face, but I can't imagine putting sunscreen on this large of an area. That seems like ti would be awful for him. Here's a picture for reference. His white on the other side is about the same location and size. There is about 4 inches or so that crosses his back.

2011-09-02_16-05-57_362-1.jpg
 
I have a pinto with a huge white patch right on his back. What I've done in the past was clip all of his body, but leave the white on the top of his back and other highly exposed areas unclipped until right before we went to a show. Then, after the show, I would keep him stalled for about two weeks during the day until his hair had a chance to grow back a little. It seemed to work well.
 
I've had problems with face white sunburning, but never body white. I can't remember the brand, but I've seen fly spray with sunscreen added, which would probably help with the sunbrun issues, as would a fly sheet.

Forgot to mention, I have two cremellos, and they've not had sunburn issues. I don't usually body clip either, so maybe that makes a difference.
 
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Try clipping him with a #4 blade It will leave enough hair on him so he won't sunburn.Dog grooming places often sell #4 blades Might have to use sunscreen on his muzzle.We did that on 14.2 pony that would sunburn.
 
My pinto mare got sunburn on her face the first summer I had her--she hadn't been clipped but she sunburned very bad. We had some very hot weather with very high UV index for days on end. I tried sunscreen but it didn't help her & she hated the stuff. I got a fly mask for her & that fixed the problem. The white patches on her body did not sun burn--but again, she was not body clipped.

My pinto colt, who has more white than your horse does, was body clipped last year just before he arrived here. He was outside but did have shade (trees) and a shelter--I was afraid his face might sunburn but it didn't (even though we did have some very sunny, hot weather his first month here) I did try a face mask on him but one of his companions soon tore it off. I have to think that some horses are just more sun-sensitive than others are--just like with people, some get a good tan & others get a painful burn from the same sun exposure. Your friend's horse sunburns, but that doesn't mean that yours will.

Still--any horse that is body clipped should, IMO, have protection from the sun and bugs--flysheet and shade--or, turnout only at night (protects from the sun but not necessarily from bugs--no flies, but mosquitoes are worse at night)
 
I used to use a long face mask with nose protection on my big pinto with a wide blaze. For the minis, I usually use a #10 blade for shows and do whatever I can to avoid that "pink" look. Ours always have access to shade (and fans) and spend a lot of time there. I have also used people sunscreen on horse noses. I have never had a major sunburn problem with any of them.
 
I use *My Pony Sunblock* A lady in AZ makes it, it is absoutely wonderful and lasts forever. My little guy with a white back got sunburned two years ago pretty bad. I used Vetericyn (which healed him right away) let it dry, and then applied the powdered Pony Sunblock with the sponge dampened. You can apply it dry too. It works very, very well, one little tiny tub lasts forever, and most of all it does not wear off, it won't even wash off without scrubbing. At first I was skeptical and thought what a mess this will make, and it will probably come off the minute he rolls in the dirt. It wasn't and didn't. I had applied my personal 90 expensive sunblock on him before he sunburned and it did nothing. We started using it on our big paint mare on her nose. She had a long nose mask, but whenever she drank it kind of poofed up and didn't protect. I worried the sunblock would come off in the water. It didn't, and it is safe too.
 
I have a pinto mare that sunburned after I clipped her so now she gets smothered in sunblock for the first couple days after she's clipped. She doesn't burn in her natural summer coat.
 
Thanks for the info on the My Pony Sunblock. I have 3 pintos with nearly all white backs, one horse has a 1/2 white face while the other two have white/pink noses that i worry about. I still plan to use a full face mask for the one with the 1/2 white face because I'm concerned about the area around here eye on that side that I don't think I can protect with a topical treatment.
 

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