Warts on a horses muzzle

Miniature Horse Talk Forums

Help Support Miniature Horse Talk Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Kiss This

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
61
Reaction score
0
A yearling gelding that boards at my place developed warts on his muzzle. They are hugh. They look like small cauliflowers. The other problem is that now 2 other filly yearling are also getting them. How can I make them go away. The fillies are also client horses. They don't know they have warts yet.
no.gif
 
Unfortunately, warts seem to be a right of passage for many young horses (and contagious between them); the good news, although ugly, they do usually go away on their own in a couple months (sometimes longer, sometimes less time). There are home remedies and medicines for them, but whether you treat or not, they seem to take about the same amount of time to go away.
 
Yup, it is no "biggie", they will pass... I have crushed one of a bunch, (with a pair of pliers) because I was told that would set the antibodies to work a bit faster, but never really noticed it make a difference.
 
I cut some off, but as others have said, doesn't always help. So this year is pretty set in stone.

But, you can harvest warts and have a vaccine created and give it to new arrivals and weaned foals for 2 consecutive years in the fall to break the cycle. Warts are not something you have to live with.

Dr Taylor
 
One thing about warts, it doesn't much matter what you do (or don't do) to get rid of them--they will go away on their own.

I got a horse in late June of last year, and when he arrived he had warts. They were gone in less than a month. One of our other young horses got warts a little while after that & I thought we'd got by lucky if only one horse got them from the new gelding. Guess they just took awhile to spread--this summer/fall a number of others developed warts--and not just the youngsters. Two mares aged 7 and 8 have them--the 7 year old's are mostly gone now but the 8 year old still has a disgusting mass of red warts on her nose. Two geldings, both mature, have them as well. Seems like they stay forever but really it's only 3 months at most before they're gone again.

Years back we had young horses with warts--they were the ordinary grey warts. This time around they're red warts, and they look even more ugly than the grey ones!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Warts are caused by the papillomavirus, and they usually appear as blemishes on the face, mouth, or nose regions in younger horses. They appear as either single warts, or as clusters of warts that have a "cauliflower" appearance. While unsightly, they usually pose no threat to the horse's overall health and are considered merely a cosmetic blemish. In most cases, the warts will disappear on their own in a matter of time. But it is important to remember that warts are a viral, contagious disease and that proper steps should be taken in order to prevent them from spreading from one horse to another, especially if the horse is kept in the vicinity of other horses.

Younger horses are more susceptible to warts because they have less-efficient immune systems than older horses. Their skin also is not as tough, and they have less hair to ward off the insects that can carry the papillomavirus. The good news is that once a horse has been infected, it builds up an immunity and is less susceptible to future infections. Provided the horse is in good physical condition, has a good nutrition program, is wormed regularly, and is under good management, the warts should disappear within six to nine months. Short-term, the warts will not reappear because of the immunity the horse has developed for the virus.

I have heard apple cider vinegar and duck tape but have know experience with it.

Myself I would just tell the owners of the problem and explain it is common with horses and let them decide what to do.
 
I bought a horse a few years back that was delivered to me coughing, thick snots, and warts followed all over the muzzle. I was not happy. I tried a number of things I was told to do:

apply tooth paste

rub a raw potatoe on them

wart remover from Jeffers Equine

de-worm with ivermectrin

apply camphur oil and tea tree oil

and try to pluck them off

I was very aggressive and did ALL of the above and they were gone within a week. But because I did all of the above, I am not sure what it was that actually did work. But warning when I did try to grab one and bust it, it is not like popping a zit and rather, its a bloody mess. Major barff. Be sure to handle this horse with rubber gloves because it is contageous.

Good luck to you on this and wishes for a speedy un-warting!
 
I had a couple of weanlings come to me, year before last with them. I just made a few bleed by cutting them off and the body took care of the rest, gone in about a week to 10 days.
 
We have had them here before too. Can't stand them. Ours usually only get them if they take weaning a little more rough than usual. Otherwise, with our new feeding program we rarely see them. I always let them run their course. We tried cutting one or two and it never made a difference. So instead of risking scarring and infection we leave them be and they usually disappear in a month or two.
 
This thread makes me laugh .... a friend of mine had a young horse with a wart so large she decided to name it - "Bob" was what she referred to the wart as.

 

My little weanling has a good size wart on her nose. In remembrance of the wart on my friend's filly, we named this wart "Bob Junior" - or just "Junior" for short.

 

I have no worries the wart will be gone by the time spring & show season arrive. Until then, I look at "Junior" and chuckle.

 

Karen
 
Like everyone else has said, no biggie
default_smile.png
I got my one mare when she was a yearling (6 years ago) and she had warts on her muzzle; they went away in a month or two. It's a right of passage for lots of young mammals (including human kids).
 
I had a show horse with warts this year. He had one larger one and several tiny ones. Because he was going to be used for showing I had the vet take a look, normally I would just let them run their course. The pinched off several of the tiny ones. While she missed a few here and there she explained that pinching some off triggers an immune reaction in the horse, and not only would those pinched not return, but the others would go away too. She tired a wire around the larger one very tightly. After about a week the large one fell off and all the tiny ones left behind were gone. There was absolutely no scarring .
 
default_saludando.gif
my friend has a clydedale she had worts really bad she feed lots of vitiams and thay didnt take long to go
 
I had read old farmer's "cure" for warts on horses is to use castor oil on them a few times a day....may be worth a try. If you Google it you will see many supposed success stories with it.
 
About a month ago we were surprised to find warts on our 4 yr old gelding. thinking back, I believe we have not had them in long enough that we may see them on horses from 3-6 before they run their course this winter.

While I'm not worried about them, becasue we've seen them before, I am not taking my horses anywhere with other horses until spring to avoid spreading it on.

the main precaution I would add is that if a horse has a challenged immune system, they may get a much worse case than one that is in better shape. since one farm near us has a couple of horses who were injured recently by a dog-attack, I don't want to expose them to our virus. the worst case I've ever seen was on a big horse that had gotten a barb wire cut, she popped out with the largest masses of warts I've ever seen while she was recovering.

so far for us, only one has shown up with warts, and there is no scarring. He's got appy characteristics, and the spot across his nose where the warts were is lighter, but it was already lightening there any way.
 
Are you sure they're warts? Sarcoids often look very simpler to what you have described. Chances are that they are warts but you might want to have a vet look at them just incase. In some cases sarcoids are hard to get rid of. Years ago I used castor oil to get rid of warts on one of my horses, it worked. A couple of years ago I had a sarcoid surgically removed, I later found out that's not the best way to remove them. Last year I had another sarcoid on the same horse and used Xxterra Ointment, it worked great. I've been told that sarcoilds are also contagious.
 
CASTOR OIL!!!! That's it. That was one of the things on my list that I tried.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top