Serious hair loss problem

I have 8 QH that have suddenly started balding. They are not "shedding" they are going completely bald in mass areas of their bodies. It started a month ago on a 2 year old gelding. At first I thought that he was scratching trying to get shed off until it started spreading to areas that I know he cant rub against his stall. It started on his face and moved to his arm pitts and shoulders. Before long there were large areas over his body that were completley bald. Now it has spread to all 8 of my horses. They have been checked for everything from equine lice and mites to parasites and fungus. Nothing. Its not rain rott. The skin is NOT irritated or red at all. It looks perfectly normal. They have their uslual energy and are eating and drinking normal. Everything seems fine but the fact that they are going bald. They are all current on their shots, have negative coggins, and are on a regular deworming schedule. My vet doesnt seem to have a diagnosis and has advised me to monitor them, but it is getting really bad really fast. He treated them for parasites and mites to be safe and no improvement. I have had horses my whole life and never seen anything like this. Does anyone have any ideas of what this might be? Has anyone heard of anything like this? I can provide pictures if that will help. I am desperate. It is very frustrating not knowing what I can do to help them. I fell really bad for them and I am at a loss. When I brushed one of the mares this morning ALL of the hair over her right hip and butt fell out. It is completely bald now. Im getting worried. I would greatly appreciate all of the help I can get.

It sounds like a form of Mange to me, the vet would have to take a deep scrap of the skin to be certain.

Send me a photo of what your horse looks like that wouldbe helpful.

i dont know if this will help but it covers some causes of hair loss withiout any othre signs of irritated skin

Many people are having problems with seasonal alopecia this year.  I've  heard the same complaint from people all over the country.

OK everyone, sorry that it has taken me so long to get back but I have been at a specialist out of state with one of my horses.

After allot of time and money the diagnosis was Seasonal Alopecia. What is, is due to the sudden change in climate, the horses have started shedding before the summer coat has started growing in. If you watch after a few days you will see very fine and thin hair growing in the bald areas. That is the start of the summer coat. It will be very thin for a while, but it will continue to grow and cover the areas. There is no treatment needed as the hair will continue to come in naturally.

It would not hurt to use MTG or products like it to help it come in faster but it will come in without anything. The only thing is to becareful for sunburn in the bald areas. I put sunscreen on mine before turning them out in the pasture.

Im not sure if this is the same thing that everyone is experiencing in their horses, but watch the bald areas for very THIN and FINE hair to come in. It might only be visible from an angle at first (that is what I have noticed). If after a week or so you do not see ANY hair growing in the bald areas then it is something else.

The vet said that this might not happen to every horse in the barn it all depends on the horse and the heat. If the horse it too hot then this will happen.

During the winter I add corn to the feed to help them stay warm (corn helps produce body heat) so the vet thinks that my horses were hotter than the other horses in the area due to the extra heat and that it is a good possibility the corn might have been what triggered this condition. Not exactly the corn,... but the heat produced by the corn. So for those of you who feed corn that are having this problem, the corn can be part of the problem.

I am also glad to add that several of my horses now have a thin summer coat,... its not much but it is there and it is steadily growing.

If you would like you can email me at peachiekeen83@hotmail.com to talk more about it. I hope this is what is wrong with everyones horses. Keep me posted.

Thank you for all of your help and suggestions. Just watch for hair regrowth before you go to a vet or specialist, trust me you will not want to get that bill,... I dont even want to talk about how much I just spent.

I have a serious hair loss problem at my barn also.  8 horses affected.  It is some kind of mite.  I have been worming with Ivermetin every 12 days and it has been working.  I also have been using cedarcide and a pymitherin(spelling?).  Most of my horses are now gaining their pretty summer coat but its been a hair pulling situation on my part!  I thought they had some kind of rain rot because they are outside alot even in wet conditions.  I treated them with a fungicide 3 times a week for 3 weeks and they just kept getting worse.  If you figure out what it is let me know but try Ivermectin and the two sprays they have worked for me.  Good luck.

I had a vet take a look.  She didn't know either.

Hi,

Did you ever find out why your horses were having hair loss? I am having the same problem with my horse.

I would appreciate if you could share your experience with me. I think this might be a case of Seasonal Alopecia, but it is the wrong time of year for this to be happening.

Your comments would be appreciated.

Tim

Hi Peachiekeen

It's been a while since you posted this comment but I tell you what it really helped me tremendously!!  Our horse has several low spots on his coat with balding by his eyes and across forehead. I wasn't terribly worried but I sure did look it up online because it did cause some concern.

After reading your posts which describe the problem perfectly I was really glad to find out it's relatively benign issue. As for the weather it's been really cold and really hot off and on so I am sure that Jet is reacting to that. Besides that he started shedding heavily about 2 weeks ago and it's still pretty cold at night so I thought that he was 'tricked' into shedding by the warm days... all of these changes I believe are what led up to this condition.

Well again thanks for all the info and for sharing it with us!!!