# little scabs all over body, any ideas ?



## whiteflower (27 October 2010)

i brought my boy about 8 weeks ago. ever since i collected him he has had little pin head sized scabs on him.

they are tiny and on the main part of his body and face, not in his mane or tail. i assumed they were fly bites as he was in a barn when i went to view him which was full of flys as the horses were weeing on mats with no bedding (nice!)

they are tiny and look like yellow hardened serum at the root of the hair. they are easily picked off.

the hair is not falling out or damaged and they are not visable but can be felt when grooming. he is itching him self with his mouth but not too badly and seems to really enjoy it when i give him a scratch !

im probably worrying about nothing but before i call the vet to be told they are fly bites does anyone have any ideas ?

(no lice seen in coat, coat is in good condition - he just seems a little itchy!)

thanks


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## ImogenBurrows (27 October 2010)

Hmm, if you've had him 8 weeks then I would have expected them to improve by now really....

I'd probably get you're vets to check him out, but may try giving him a good wash all over first with something like seleen or malaseb shampoo which you may be able to get from the vets by just talking to them first...

Ideally it's best to get an examination done first though.

Imogen


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## MochaDun (27 October 2010)

I just wonder if that's mild rain scald?  Mine had it one year, lots of very small scabs with sticky yellow goo at the base of the hair, which used to make him itch like crazy and really bad tempered as it pulled on the hair I think and his coat was all dull and flat.  I got my vet out and he said rainscald and as Imogen said my vets told me to wash them with malaseb shampoo to try and loosen the scabs a bit, then dry them thoroughly and apply some cream they gave me (can't remember what it was) - I actually chose to use aloe vera gel instead of the cream as he was so crabby with the scabs that it was easier to dab the gel on rather than incur his wrath by rubbing in cream onto endless small scabs!  You see pics of horrible cases of rainscald with vast patches of coat effected but I think you can get it like this too with small scabs dotted through - I think if they get wet and muddy in these mild autumns when the sun then comes out it can get the bacteria going I guess in their coats from the mud - dermatophilus congolensis I think it is, same as mud fever bacteria.  My pony had a really thick coat so the scabs weren't immediately visible until you felt them with your fingers.  Mine's had the odd one or two scab in his coat at the moment but I'm just keeping across it and treating when I find them.


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## Kenzo (28 October 2010)

Hmmm, I'd give him a good bath, if he's getting a bit too warm with his coat (often horses over heat a bit even if it's not obvious, produces blocked pores with can form into these little scabs) so I'd either de-rug a bit (if he's rugged) or clip in out so your can keep a eye on what going on exactly.

Could be that he's just changing coat and maybe due to his diet it's effecting his skin a bit.

I'd bob him on a seaweed supplement, it's fantastic stuff for the skin and coat, you'll see a difference in a matter of weeks, also Argo Vit Min (has cod livery oil in too) again smashing stuff for the skin and healthy coat.

You could try Coopers Fly Repellant Plus, it's not a fly spray as sush, it treats mites, lice and any other little bug or irritations in the skin, very good stuff, although make sure you read the instructions and do a patch test first, but I highly recomend it.

Also Alfa A chop can bring some sensitive horses out in a bit of a flaky scabby skin problem, so if your feeding this or he's been fed on that in the past, could be something worth thing about or taking out of his diet just to see if there is a difference.

Maybe just a good old groom? getting rid of the dead skin and coat, see how he goes, failing that, speak to your vet.


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## Tnavas (30 October 2010)

Sounds very like rainscald - try bathing him with Nizeral shampoo - you can buy it from the chemist. Dilute with hand hot water and lather up well working well into the base of the coat. Leave at least 10 mins before scraping off excess. I tend not to rinse as the ketaconisol needs a chance to work well.

If you use an old face cloth it is rough enough to gently remove any scabs that are ready to come off. 

Generally I've found one wash is enough but it doesn't hurt to wash again a few days later. 

Feeding a supplement containing Copper and Zinc also helpd to strengthen the skin from within.


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## soulfull (30 October 2010)

I would scrape some of the skin and the scabs and get vet to test it.

Micah started with this and it spread turns out it was ring worm and the only way do test for anything is to get the scabs tested


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## cptrayes (30 October 2010)

Is he clipped? Clipper oil reaction can cause exactly what you are describing.


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## Cobwanted (5 March 2012)

whiteflower said:



			i brought my boy about 8 weeks ago. ever since i collected him he has had little pin head sized scabs on him.

they are tiny and on the main part of his body and face, not in his mane or tail. i assumed they were fly bites as he was in a barn when i went to view him which was full of flys as the horses were weeing on mats with no bedding (nice!)

they are tiny and look like yellow hardened serum at the root of the hair. they are easily picked off.

the hair is not falling out or damaged and they are not visable but can be felt when grooming. he is itching him self with his mouth but not too badly and seems to really enjoy it when i give him a scratch !

im probably worrying about nothing but before i call the vet to be told they are fly bites does anyone have any ideas ?

(no lice seen in coat, coat is in good condition - he just seems a little itchy!)

thanks
		
Click to expand...

Just found your question on the forum. My horse has exactly the same condition you described. Did you ever find out what it was? And how to treat it?


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## Orchardbeck (6 March 2012)

My mare gets this when she has a rug on that is too warm for the weather, Eg if we get caught out by putting a med weight on the morning when it is cold and rain, then comes out sunshine in the afternoon, I under rug as a habit now, and she is much happier. It does tend to go away of its own accord, a bit like heat rash.


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## Spyda (7 March 2012)

Could be a number of things. I'd recommend your vet popping out to take a look. You could treat with bathing, etc., but in some cases it might need a little more than that and I expect you want your new boy looking as good as he can as soon as possible.


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## ester (7 March 2012)

I'd have the vet check first but they sound very like what frank gets yellow crustiness and sometimes they are very itchy sometimes less so. I have had him 7 years and they still come up occasionally, my guess is he gets a low grade bacterial infection as if I tend to leave them they spread. He gets them all year round, some I think are caused by fly bites and some I think are heat bumps which then get crusty. 

they are quickly resolved with some sudocreme with added sulphur powder, couple of applications, scab comes off and they are fine again. 

I did have the vet out and he was skin scrapped several years ago but nothing of note.


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## cptrayes (7 March 2012)

A thin skinned mare of mine got staphyloccoccus folliculitis, looks just like this sounds - tiny scabs that come off easily with a tiny pocket of pus at the bottom. She had it where she got hot under a saddle. I resolved it by washing her back down with hibiscrub immediately after every ride.  I think what happened was that she had the bug, which is common, on her coat and when she heated up her pores opened, and in it popped somewhere nice and dark and warm and damp to fester


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## ester (7 March 2012)

I suspect it is likely a staph on frank too, I could ID it if I could be bothered (doing microbiology and all that ). I am quite careful of keeping him washed off and not over rugging (although some are in very daft places like his belly or crest where I know he hasn't sweated when working!), it is also why he spends most of the year at least part clipped as it is less nice for the bug and easier to treat any occuring, I always spot a couple I have missed when I do clip (they def got worse this winter when he had a fuller coat than normal as not working)


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## whiteflower (7 March 2012)

hi, wow this is an old post. for those that were wondering i know have a diagnosis. skin scapes came back clear and antibiotics did nothing. the spots became more like blind spots rather than oozing.

finally after many vet visits a biopsy was done and its come back as inflamatory process and believed to be collagen necrosis due to some sort of allergic reaction. i was told the lumps would never go and more could come up.

he had a course of steroids which reduced them a bit but im now just using a cream and have added several skin type supplements and they have almost gone !!!

confused ???

the vet and i both are !!!


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