My gelding often gets white stuff on his back. First I thought he was rolling in milk weed but its not that. He was being kept in a larger solitary roomy barn with a nice run away from our main stable since he’s so aggressive towards other horses. Well today I moved him back into the main stable after I lunged him. I had already groomed the white stuff off, and now I hosed him. Then I put an old fly sheet on him and put him in his stall. (our stalls have runs but they are just dirt, there are no plants or anything in them.) When I came out later in the afternoon and took his sheet offf his back was covered with that awfull looking milky colored substance. And I had hosed him down earlier. I thought it might have come off the sheet, he’s gotten it before after he wore that sheet, but not as much as this time. Usually its just a few spots but this time it was all over his quarters over his croup. It comes about half way up his back from his rump, and its only on his back not his sides.
None of our other horses have this, so its not in their stalls or runs, thats why I thought it was comming from his own little barn. But since it appeared again after I moved him as stated earlier, I know its not. Its not rain rot or anything like that because it grooms off. Any ideas of what this is? I’ve been wondering for quite a while and it doesn’t appear to be affecting him at all. I also thought that there might be something on the sheet, but it appears on him even when he’s not wearing that sheet. Any ideas?
There is no hair loss. Not mites, he doesn’t itch it, and doesn’t appear to care when I itch it. It feels like he has dried milk or milk weed sap (or whatever you call the stuff in milk weeds) on him.
your horse is just sweating and when the sweat dries it leaves behind a little salt and other minerals. the reason he had so much on him after you took off the fly sheet is because it was probably hot and he sweet more with it on. don’t worry about the white stuff it will not hurt him at all if you keep it brushed off of him regularly so it does not accumulate.
May 14th, 2010 at 4:47 am
thats wierd…hmm, i dont know much about horses, maybe it wouold help if you posted a picture. Maybe dandruff? IDK. A picture would help alot.
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May 14th, 2010 at 5:24 am
Maybe dry skin my horse only has it on her neck she loves it when I itch for her.
Sarah
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May 14th, 2010 at 5:57 am
Maybe it is mites? Is there any hair loss in that area? I would maybe try calling a vet, that seems hard to diagnose over the internet. Good luck
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May 14th, 2010 at 6:13 am
It sounds like dry skin (dandruff) you may want to start adding Flax Seed to his diet, this will help a lot. Also you could bath him with Take 1if you can’t get it at a feed store try http://www.take1products.com You’re able to see it much better on his black. All the best;~)
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May 14th, 2010 at 6:46 am
A mystery indeed!
If your horse had a skin disease or fungus that was causing some sort of drainage to that degree, I’d assume he’d have visible sores, abrasions, rough skin, scabbing, etc. Since he doesn’t appear to have anything like that, then we can probably assume the problem does not origionate from him.
So you are going to have to some serious homework to determine the problem.
Could there be birds/bats/bugs of some sort in the barn that are eliminating on top of him? On our farm starlings will occasionally land on the horses and eat bugs, I have wiped off small bits of bird manure before. Could this be what you’re seeing?
Is there any sort of chemical or other substance that could be either dripping onto him, or near enough that he could rub on it?
Since it’s only the top of your horse that’s getting covered I’d suspect something falling on him from above.
One thing you could do is wash your horse well, and then put on a water-proof blanket of some sort. If the white discharge is on top of the blanket next time, then you know it does not origionate from your horse, but is a foreign substance falling on him. If you find the white substance UNDER his blanket, then some sort of discharge is coming from your horse himself.
Hope that helps. You are likely the only one who will solve this problem as we can only go on information from you!
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I own, show and train Paint horses in Canada.
May 14th, 2010 at 7:36 am
Could it be salt from when he sweats?? Or just dried sweat?? Sometimes when my horse gets really sweaty out in the field he will come in with white stuff on him also. It’s just salt and/or dried sweat.
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May 14th, 2010 at 7:57 am
Is it a total white coating or streaks of white?
Down here in Florida, the sweaty state, some horses sweat enough that they get white streaks over croup and even back area, always on the top, I think it is an accumulation of salts excreted with the sweat. It looks weird but grooms or rinses right off and the horses don’t seem bothered by it.
I would not want it accumulating though cause it could collect dirt and lead to rainrot. So you are doing the right thing by removing it.
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May 14th, 2010 at 8:40 am
i have a horse too and it happens too her too and my dad said that it happens to all horses nd don’t worry about it and just brush the horse
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May 14th, 2010 at 9:05 am
is there any cemicals on the sheet or something its hard to tell what it is it could be maybe dandriff or a type og mold
look around the stall maybe its sap or something from the wood
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May 14th, 2010 at 9:17 am
I may know what it is. At first I was thinking rain rot also, but as I read down it now sounds like some sort of fungal infection of the skin. Take a pair of clippers and shave off a small area close to the skin so you can look for anything that shouldn’t be there. Maybe it’s just an oozing of the skin that doesn’t show under the hair coat. The shaving will tell you that. I would use Betadine wash with some shampoo to see if the Betadine helps. Betadine kills most bacteria, fungus, etc. so this may solve the problem. Continue to check the shaved area for any oozing of the skin. This can also be cultured by a vet lab to see what it is. You can also try Head ‘n Shoulders shampoo. I had a Morgan mare that was allergic to flies. She itched so bad during fly season. I tried everything. The Head ‘n Shoulders helped the itching and scaling. She had horrible dandruff from the irritation of the flies. It sounds like the skin is oozing some sort of serum that’s drying on the coat hairs, which is what you’re seeing. There’s just no other explaination for the debris on his coat. The hair itself would not be able to produce this kind of substance. It has to be coming from the skin. Also, check with your local water company to see if it could be something in your water supply. Possibility? Maybe? It’s worth checking into.
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Horse lover, owner and breeder.
May 14th, 2010 at 9:36 am
your horse is just sweating and when the sweat dries it leaves behind a little salt and other minerals. the reason he had so much on him after you took off the fly sheet is because it was probably hot and he sweet more with it on. don’t worry about the white stuff it will not hurt him at all if you keep it brushed off of him regularly so it does not accumulate.
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May 14th, 2010 at 10:20 am
It’s fungus. Go see a vet. (You,not the horse.Next time take spellcheck).
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May 14th, 2010 at 10:43 am
bird poop?
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May 14th, 2010 at 10:58 am
I think Willard is right- what you are seeing is dried sweat and salt. Our horses live out 24/7 in the summer, and when it’s hot and humid, they sweat a lot and it leaves a crusty salt on their skin and hair which brushes and rinses off easily. You need to keep up with your grooming, but otherwise, I wouldn’t worry too much- this is a normal condition for horses to have when it’s hot out. Hope this helps.
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Horse owner ( we have 11 of them on the farm at the moment) and a horse professional.