Summer eczema is a recurring allergic skin disease in horses that manifests itself in severe itching and hairless, open patches of skin. The disease can occur in horses of all breeds, although Icelandic horses, Norwegian horses, Shetland ponies, and Haflingers are significantly more commonly affected, while warmbloods tend to be affected less frequently.
This skin disease is triggered by various blood-sucking insects such as black flies and midges. The horse's immune system reacts to the saliva of these mosquitoes with an allergic skin reaction. Why this hypersensitivity reaction occurs is not yet fully understood. A genetic component is suspected, but has not yet been conclusively proven. There are also several factors that promote the development of the disease. These include lack of exercise and incorrect or excessive feeding.
The first signs of the disease usually appear in spring, when the mosquitoes begin to fly. The most noticeable symptom is severe itching, which causes the animals to become restless and rub themselves, particularly against their tails and manes. The pustules caused by the insect bites are usually not even noticed, as the constant rubbing causes the hair to break off and fall out, leaving open and sometimes weeping areas of skin with crusty coatings. The open and bloody wounds attract further insects, often leading to secondary bacterial infections (infection with an additional pathogen). In addition to the tail and mane, the skin on the back, lower abdomen, and head, especially around the eyes and ears, can also be affected.
Due to the seasonal occurrence of the disease, the proximity to certain mosquito habitats and the typical symptoms, the treating veterinarian can usually make an initial clinical diagnosis. A special blood test can be used to determine whether or not it is an allergic reaction to the insect's saliva, thereby confirming the diagnosis.
The top priority in treating summer eczema is to keep the allergy-triggering insects away from the horse, as each additional bite leads to increasingly severe reactions and the eczema steadily worsens. This can be achieved simply by changing the location and grazing times. Affected horses should not be kept near standing water and should not be put out to pasture at dusk, but rather at night. Special eczema blankets that mosquitoes cannot bite through and insect repellents can also help.
If skin changes have already occurred, these are treated with itch-relieving and nourishing ointments, lotions, or creams. This allows inflammation to heal and the skin's protective barrier to be maintained. In severe cases, general anti-inflammatory medication is necessary in addition to local treatment. Antibiotic preparations should be used for secondary bacterial infections.
With the help of special desensitization or hyposensitization treatments, the horse's immune system can be accustomed to the allergy-triggering substances, so that the severity of the disease decreases in the long term. However, this immunotherapy should only be carried out by specialists, as it must be tailored to the specific allergen (the substance that triggers the allergy). Talk to your veterinarian about the possibility of desensitization to find out whether this type of therapy is appropriate for your horse.
If contact between the horse and mosquitoes can be prevented as far as possible, the prognosis is good. However, the necessary measures must be taken throughout the horse's life. If skin damage is already present, the timing of treatment determines the prognosis for recovery. Successful hypo- or desensitization therapy can lead to long-term improvement of symptoms.
The best preventive measure is to avoid contact with the insects that trigger allergies. As already described, this can be achieved with the help of appropriate pasture management, special eczema blankets, and insect repellent sprays.
Twice a year, our horses have a strenuous job to do: when they shed their coats, they need to perform at their best because their metabolism is working overtime. Some older or sick horses struggle with this. As a horse owner, you can help your horse get through the coat change more relaxed.
Dummkoller, formerly known as star gazer disease, is an incurable brain disease characteristic of horses, which fortunately is rarely seen today. Until 2002, this disease, which severely impairs consciousness, was one of the main defects that allowed a horse to be returned within 14 days of purchase.
Bitless riding simply means riding without a bit in the horse's mouth. There are many different reasons and just as many ways to ride a horse without a bit. Of course, there are always disadvantages as well as advantages. Think about which bitless bridle suits you, your horse, and your riding style in advance. And finally, practice makes perfect.
Sebadenitis is a progressive inflammatory change in the sebaceous glands of the skin in dogs and cats, which ultimately leads to their irreversible destruction. The disease was first described in dogs in 1986.
The most common types of horse husbandry are classic stabling, free-range stabling (active stables), paddock trails, seasonal grazing, and open stabling. One thing should be clear to every horse owner. Horses want to run. In the steppe, they sometimes spend up to 16 hours a day searching for food and water. They graze as they roam across the land. Now, our horses have been bred and domesticated for our time together with them; they are no longer steppe ponies. We feed them and care for them. Nevertheless, horses need exercise. We should definitely keep this in mind when choosing how to keep our horses. This also means that keeping horses exclusively in stalls without a sufficiently large paddock for free movement is not species-appropriate. In addition, contact with other horses must always be ensured, as horses are herd animals.
Hematology is a branch of internal medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the blood, the blood-forming system, such as anemia or coagulation disorders, and autoimmune diseases.
Vaccinations for horses serve as preventive healthcare and protect against possible diseases and their spread. Depending on what you want to do with your horse, different vaccinations are recommended and even mandatory for competition horses. All vaccinations are correctly documented by your veterinarian in the equine passport.
As a general rule, every dog needs a certain amount of grooming, some more than others. For some dogs, it is even worth taking them to a professional groomer. As a dog owner, you can also do some grooming yourself at home.
Taking in a foal and choosing the long road to happiness on horseback is a real adventure! It is an opportunity to form a bond that can mature over many years and to watch a foal grow into a horse. But it also requires commitment on your part.
Doesn't every rider dream of an unforgettable ride on their four-legged favorite? Whether over hill and dale, along the coast, or simply from place to place. The feeling of sitting relaxed on your horse with the wind in your hair is amazing. Exploring nature together, perhaps racing neck and neck in a riding group or bravely riding into a lake to swim – you probably have all these images and stories of wonderful riding trips with happy horse-rider pairs in your head right now. We all know that it's not always sunshine and roses on four hooves and that some riders work up quite a sweat when riding through unfamiliar terrain. But with a little preparation and a few precautions, you can create the right conditions for returning from your ride full of enthusiasm and wonderful memories.
Almost all of us are familiar with asthma in humans. But chronic respiratory diseases are also becoming increasingly common among our horses. Over the past few years, various terms have been established to describe a similar complex of diseases. In English-speaking countries, the umbrella term "chronic obstructive pulmonary disease" (COPD) was used for a long time, as it was assumed that the changes affected not only the bronchi but the entire lungs. In German, the term "chronische obstruktive Bronchitis" (COB) was mostly used. Although these terms are still often used today, in veterinary medicine for horses, a distinction is now only made between "RAO: Recurrent Airway Obstruction" and "IAO: Inflammatory Airway Disease." The central component of all terms is always the obstruction or narrowing of the small bronchi, which leads to breathing difficulties and coughing. The precursor to these chronic diseases is usually acute bronchitis.
This rapidly progressing muscle disease, also known as grass disease, has only been known since the beginning of the last century and is feared by horse owners because most of the horses affected die from it and the causes were unclear for a long time. It primarily affects young, well-fed horses that graze on rather unkempt, nutrient-poor pastures.
