Josie’s Going Bald

 D. E. Larsen, DVM

The sun was bright this morning. It looked like it would be the first dry day we had seen for several weeks this spring.

When I pulled up to the office, I grabbed a bucket of stuff that needed to be washed from the back. All left from last night’s calf-pulling.  

When I entered, Lisa, a trim young mother, was waiting in the reception area. She had a couple of horses that I cared for.

“Lisa is here to talk with you when you have a minute,” Judy said.

“Hi, Lisa!” I said. “Give me a minute to get rid of this bucket and wash up a bit.”

“No rush, Doc,” Lisa said. “I just have a few questions.”

I dropped the bucket in the tub in the back. Then I washed up and went back out front to talk with Lisa.

“Let’s step into an exam room,” I said as I opened the door to the reception area.

When I closed the exam room door, Lisa’s calm demeanor changed to near tears.

“Doc, I got Josie in this morning to clean him up for a ride this weekend,” Lisa blurted out. “Doc, he looks terrible. He is losing large patches of skin on his rump; has scabs and sores all over his back and down his legs. It looks like he is going bald.”

“We have had a pretty wet winter and spring this year,” I said. “I sounds like a case of streptothricosis.”

“Oh, Doctor Larsen, that sounds terrible,” Lisa said.

“Rain rot,” I said. “Very common. He has been out in the rain all winter. He probably never really gets a chance to completely dry out, and he gets a superficial infection in his skin. In most cases, it resolves with more of this stuff we see this morning.”

“Can you look at him today?” Lisa asked. “I would feel so much better. I am afraid to put a saddle on him the way he looks. And I promised the girls I ride with that I would ride with them up Quartzville on Saturday. They are planning to use my trailer.”

“I have some time early this afternoon,” I said. I can stop by your place right after lunch if you have him in his stall.”

“Okay, I will have him in, and thank you, Doc,” Lisa said.

I hurried through the morning surgeries and treatments. There was a full schedule of appointments from ten to noon, but I was able to finish up the morning, and Sandy and I went to the Skyline for lunch.

Lisa was waiting at the barn when I pulled into her place.

“Okay, let’s get a look at Josie,” I said.

When Lisa led him out of his stall, it was obvious that she had not exaggerated his condition. His entire back was matted and had several large patches of hair missing. The matted coat extended down his legs, and his front legs were stocked up a little.

I did a quick exam, which was normal except for his skin condition, and then started carefully looking at the hair coat on his back. When I would come to a loose scab under the matted hair, I would pull it off, leaving another bare skin patch. I could see Lisa flinch every time I did this.

“This is a pretty good case of rain rot, Lisa,” I said. “But, like l said in the office this morning, it looks worse than it is. If you want to ride Josie this weekend, I will put him on some antibiotics; and leave you some medicated shampoo to bathe him. If this dry spell holds for a few days, bathing him daily will be helpful. Just make sure he has a chance to dry after each bath.”

“Do you think he will be okay to ride by Saturday?” Lisa asked.

“After you bathe him a couple of times, this skin will look much better,” I said. “The antibiotics will take care of the infection right away. The thing that you are going to have to make yourself do is to remove any scabs you find when you are bathing him. That will help the skin infection clear up. It will leave a bald patch, but his hair will grow back right away. Not by Saturday, but he will look slick in a few weeks.”

“Dixie told me you were a scab picker,” Lisa said.

“Those scabs just trap the infection against the skin. He is a lot better off with them gone,” I said. “You need to be pretty rough when you give him a bath. Really work the shampoo into his hair coat, either with your fingers or with a brush. Then let the shampoo set for at least ten minutes; fifteen minutes might be better for Josie. Rinse him well, towel dry, and then let him out in the sun. You will notice that he will feel better right away.”

***

Lisa stopped by the office on Friday morning. She was all smiles.

“Doc, I could just hug you,” Lisa said. “Josie looks so much better, and he feels better too. His hair coat is even looking a little like his slick summer coat. Those bald patches are still there, but I can see that some new hair is starting to grow back already. I am out of his shampoo. Do you think I need some more?”

“If he looks like he has a summer coat, you don’t need any more shampoo,” I said. “When you go riding in the morning, you will be surprised at how the other horses look. If they haven’t lived in a barn this winter, they will all look just like Josie looked the other day.”

“Well, Josie isn’t going to get in that condition again,” Lisa said. “I feel terrible for letting it happen. I guess I will have to blanket him in the future.”

“Blankets will help, but just remember, horses survived just fine for many centuries without being blanketed,” I said. “You can control that rain rot with a good brushing every few days and making sure that he has a chance to dry out completely.”

As I predicted, Josie was the best-groomed horse in Lisa’s group on Saturday. And Lisa enjoyed her status as she explained to the other girls in the group how they should manage their horse’s hair coats after the wet winter and spring.

Photo by Loli de Elia on Pexels.