Liv’s Tip of the Month – Take Care of Your Horse’s Skin from Head to Toe

Liv Gude’s advice on caring for your horse’s skin from head to toe! 

Between heat, sweat, dust, and just horses being horses, there are a lot of skin issues that can pop up.

It’s important give your horse the once over from top to bottom with your fingertips and not just your grooming tools.

Rubs and marks from straps, spurs, girths, and tack can all create pain and swelling for your horse. You will see hair loss, and your horse might even be extra sensitive in that area before a sore pops up.

You might also find flaky skin, hairless patches that are not under tack, hair loss, scratches, oily crusty skin, and even weird itching without any obvious culprit.

Before you reach for your lotion or potion of choice, make sure you know what you are dealing with. Your Vet can help you here, and will be able to prescribe meds to clear up any skin issues.

Know that some skin issues are contagious from horse to horse – like rain rot. Ringworm, a fungal infection, is also contagious to humans. Some dandruff and oily skin spots can be caused by mites and mange.

Liv Gude, a former International Dressage Groom for years, founded proequinegrooms.com as a way to unite Grooms in the horse industry. The educational website also serves to entertain and inform horse owners across all disciplines about horse care, grooming, and health. Click here to check it out!