So awhile back we thought that Duke, our mini, might have lice.
So we dusted him and the rest of the animals as well as dewormed them for good measure. Well, Duke continued to itch himself. So bad that he itched the hair right off his face. His neck, chest and beneath his mane got the worse of it. The rest of his body was untouched. I have no idea what lice look like, but when I looked closer beneath his coat, I recognized a case of very dry, flaky skin. We began to monitor how much water intake he was consuming and noticed it hardly moved if at all. Doing some research, I read that adding corn oil to his feed would help.
We also removed his halter to give his face breathing air and threw a salt block in his stall to encourage him to drink. Finally we are beginning to see some results. The hair around his face is beginning to grow in.
It looks even worse because he is also shedding his winter coat.
The patch under his mane has still not filled in, and if the corn oil does not work, then it will be time to call in the vet. I like to try all that I can do first before calling in the vet, because nothing is worse than being told something as simple as that my horse is dehydrated and I was too ignorant to notice. The other two horses are only having the usual hair loss do to the change of season, so whatever the problem, I believe it is Duke's alone. The stall divider's have only aided him in rubbing his itchy neck. Just the right tool to get the job done in Duke's opinion. And just another reason for me to be rid of those dividers.