# Does anyone have an "albino" sun sensitive horse with pink skin and/or blue eyes?



## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Hi,
Haven't had an albino, but had pink skinned appys. Swore I'd never have another sun sensitive horse, then fell in love with my current pink-nosed buckskin baby....:lol:

I believe albinos are a lot more sensitive than regular pink skinned horses, & I'd think the UV mask is probably your best bet, tho yes, it's hard if you're not around to supervise. I get by with zinc cream, but considering his eyes also suffer, this might not be good enough. Re going away for days at a time tho, I found that the first application or 2 of zinc for the year wasn't long lasting, but after a few daily applications, it stayed put well enough to last a few days between apps. So perhaps you could do both before you're going away, so that if he loses his mask while your dad's babysitting, it's not so important to get it back on.

BTW, the flakey nose is likely from sunburn/peeling IME.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Firslty - There is no such thing as an albino horse. The horse would have to have red/pink eyes to be an albino.

What you have is either a cremello, perlino, dominant white, or maximum white sabino.

I would keep a light white cotton rug on when it is sunny, a UV protecting face mask, as well as a cotton noseflap attached to a halter. Zinc/sunscreen are useless in the paddock as they learn to wipe it off. Zinc is great while riding.


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## Seattle (Jun 21, 2009)

Haha, I know. Sorry! Just trying to find a comparable term other than "sun sensitive". :lol: Thanks for your reply! 

p.s...where do I obtain one of these cotton noseflaps?



wild_spot said:


> Firslty - There is no such thing as an albino horse. The horse would have to have red/pink eyes to be an albino.
> 
> What you have is either a cremello, perlino, dominant white, or maximum white sabino.
> 
> I would keep a light white cotton rug on when it is sunny, a UV protecting face mask, as well as a cotton noseflap attached to a halter. Zinc/sunscreen are useless in the paddock as they learn to wipe it off. Zinc is great while riding.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

wild_spot said:


> Zinc/sunscreen are useless in the paddock as they learn to wipe it off. Zinc is great while riding.


Maybe it is for some horses, but has definitely not been useless for mine. My old boy(first horse) used to get a burned nose every summer before I started using it and apart from occasionally when I haven't been diligent enough at applying it, I haven't had a prob with sunburn on my pinkies since then.


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## Seattle (Jun 21, 2009)

Is a strong SPF sunscreen as good as the zinc cream? This is all so new to me! 



loosie said:


> Maybe it is for some horses, but has definitely not been useless for mine. My old boy(first horse) used to get a burned nose every summer before I started using it and apart from occasionally when I haven't been diligent enough at applying it, I haven't had a prob with sunburn on my pinkies since then.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

I live in Australia and found them in my local saddlery made out of the same cotton as rugs. However you could make them easily enough - Just a U shaped piece of material with another piece sewn along the top on the back so you can thread the nosepiece of the halter through it.

My boy has a pink nose and this is the only way we have been able to get it back to normal - Nose flap at all times in summer (Not as often in winter) and proper thick, white, people zinc when he is ridden.


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## Seattle (Jun 21, 2009)

I have a full-face flymask that goes down to the tip of his nose...do you think this will serve the same purpose as a nose flap? A nose flap is a great idea for winter though. Never thought of that before! 

I feel so bad for his cracked nose. Will it heal well if I keep that full-face flymask on do you think? He's really sensitive to anything being smeared or wiped on his nose. It always causes a big fight, and I hate to do it. I wonder if the flymask by itself will suffice. 



wild_spot said:


> I live in Australia and found them in my local saddlery made out of the same cotton as rugs. However you could make them easily enough - Just a U shaped piece of material with another piece sewn along the top on the back so you can thread the nosepiece of the halter through it.
> 
> My boy has a pink nose and this is the only way we have been able to get it back to normal - Nose flap at all times in summer (Not as often in winter) and proper thick, white, people zinc when he is ridden.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

A flymask on it's own didn't do anything for my boy, but I don't think we have proper UV rated ones. That's why we went to the nose flap.

I felt horrible with Wildeys - It would crack and bleed and was so painful. He was a pain about thezinc to start with but he gradually learnt it didn't hurt, and we learnt to be sneaky about how we approached him - Sneaking zinc up around the side of his head and applying from the top of the nose instead of in front or the bottom avoided any head throwing.

I also want to say that when his was really bad we didn't go straight to zinc - It needed a medical cream on it to help healing for a while before we could zinc it. We started with Prednoderm - Made for greasy heel I think and a horrible green colour that he wiped on EVERYTHING, but worked. We then went to septicide for a bit which was acid yellow and again he wiped everywhere, lol. Once the cracks were healed we left it without cream under the flap in the paddock and with just zinc when ridden. It now has no cracking and there is only a small area smaller than your palm where it is just pink skin with no hair.


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## loosie (Jun 19, 2008)

Seattle said:


> Is a strong SPF sunscreen as good as the zinc cream? This is all so new to me!


Am leery of all the other chemicals in conventional sunscreen. Animals are often more sensitive to these than humans, and my daughters & husband are all too sensitive to cope with normal sunscreen - they get a rash & we have to use the expensive natural one.... which is predominantly zinc.

The other thing is, the thickness of zinc means it tends to stay on better, and it doesn't tend to irritate my horses as much as any other topical on their face.


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

^ Yup, exactly my experience - The thickness of the zinc helps it stay on.

I also found with sunscreens, being thinner, they often acted like oil, heating up on a hot, sunny day - I haven't had that issue with Zinc.


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

Thats the kind of fly mask you'll need. I use a product called Filtabac on Ricky's snip. It is a specially designed horse sunscreen, but it also works as an anti-bacterial cream, antiseptic, and wound protectant. It really is a great product, and since I've been using it Ricky has never been sun burnt. He only has a large snip but I put on the stuff daily and he only has to wear a fly mask on the hottest of days.

I know I sound like I'm raving about this product, but I really like it. I don't know if anyone else has had any experiences with it though?
Filta-Bac


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Heard of it and seen it but never picked it up, don't know why!


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

I'd definitely give it a go WS. Its a really good product and if I have no antiseptic spray or anything handy, I just plonk that on and its great. Its really good at litte shows too for horses with snips. Just apply it carefully to the white area, and its bright white and protected from the sun on those long show days


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## IllComeALopin (Apr 6, 2010)

Go to your local store's baby section and pick up a hypo allergetic or non-smelly Desitin or 'Zinc Oxide' for babies. Thats what I use .


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## tarebear (May 28, 2010)

Your full fly mask with nose cover will probably help, at least some. My mare had a pink nose that I put Desitin on and it definitely helped. Tara doesn't have any pink skin, but I do use Vetrolin Shine wit sunscreen (there's other sprays on the market that are actual sunscreens, not just coat conditioners with added sunscreen...I think Absorbine's Santa Fe line has one). That might help some too, at least for areas not around his face


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