# Does This Look Like Rain Rot?? **picture**



## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

She has a few of those over her whole body... the thing on her sholder i think is from her rubbing.


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

It's not rain rot, possibily ring worm?


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

shes on a daily worming scedual. Its just spots with missing hair and dried skin


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## FGRanch (Feb 9, 2008)

I'm pretty sure that a wormer won't do anything for ringworm. You have to use a fungacide. I've found that "Blue Lotion" works great for it.


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

we had the vet out and he didnt say anything about ring worms.. Do u have a link??


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## southafrica1001 (Mar 24, 2008)

HorsesAreForever said:


> shes on a daily worming scedual. Its just spots with missing hair and dried skin


i dont know much about horses but i dont think daily worming clears ringworm (that is if your horse has it) as ringworm is a fungal infection and not a parasite.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I had this issue with my horse last year (not year before, not this year). She shed away lots of hair and ended up with bold spots here and there (kinda looking like yours but bigger). It happened after she was with no shelter for month under the rain (the new gelding kicked out all horses from there and that was main reason I moved both my mares away from the place). My guess was rainrots, but I never talked to vet (it didn't look bad - just bold). After I moved her to my place with shelter and all she grow the hair back in 1.5 months. I didn't use anything on skin, just let it go naturally.


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## Sara (Jul 6, 2007)

I dug up some photos for you...hopefully this will help. Your horse's scabs do look like possible rain rot to me...if your horse has an especially fluffy winter coat, sometimes all you see are the bigger scabs, but there will be more on the skin that you don't see under the hair, lots of tiny bumps. Often, the hair might seem clumpy or streaky in the effected areas (because rain rot sores are not dry) with sort of moth-eaten little patches where small clumps of hair have come out. If those scabs are more like flaky dry skin with dry swelling, I wouldn't rule out some sort of fungus.

So here are some rain rot photos:
















Severe case on an animal (cow) with a short hair coat...I've never seen one this bad, since I've only dealt with rain rot during rainy winters when they are hairier. But see, they are smallish, consistent bumps covering a wide area.









Ringworm Photos below:


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

she deff does NOT have ring worms my gosh lol! But um she shed A LOT this yr like omg horrible it took 2 weeks to get most of it out which is when i started seeing this so its just like bald spots. Im thinking about putting some alcohol rub on it to see if it helps i heard it helps rain rot. Chance has been out all winter with shelter but she doesnt go in it much.


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

its definitely not rain rot...horses dont loose hair like that from rain rot. rain rot is basically when the horses fur grows mold. my horse had a little case of it.


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## Abby (Nov 26, 2007)

It COULD be rain rot. I've seen it come off with clumps like that.














> Rain rot can appear as large crust-like scabs, or small 1/4 inch matted tufts of hair. There is usually dozens of tiny scabs that have embedded hair and can be easily scraped off. Underneath the scabs, the skin is usually (but not always) pink with puss when the scabs are first removed, then it becomes gray and dry as it heals. It is usually hard to differentiate rain rot from other similar skin conditions, so if you are unsure, call your veterinarian


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

hmm idk .... its just like tiny bald spots.


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

maybe she got bitten or kicked by another horse?


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

idk .. but we ruled out ring worms lol looks nothing like that. umm maybe scabs or something i tried ordering mtg for her but there not sendin it out and when i call them it bussy argg.


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## im4dressage (Mar 11, 2008)

I say it is Rain Rot, my new mare looked just like yours, she also had tons of tiny bumps under her fur, with 2-3 bald spots, and she shedded lots of dead hair where it was... I used MTG on her like everyone here told me to do, and she looks 150% BETTER :!:  :!: so you might want to try MTG....

Before MTG










After MTG


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## appylover31803 (Sep 18, 2007)

did you get a pre-purchase exam, or did you have the vet out there to tell you what it is?

It looks like she might have gotten kicked on her shoulder, especially if she's living with a bunch of horses


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

the big spot on her sholder is from rubbing its finally starting to grow back. When we did have a vet come up for a all over exam he never said anything about worms of any kind or anything out of the ordinary. im gonna try alcohol rub on the bald spots to see if it helps then maybe if i can order it again MTG.


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## tim (Dec 31, 2007)

Definitely rainrot. My horse had that last autumn. Do the lumpy spots come off easily?


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

yes


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## tim (Dec 31, 2007)

Yea, I think its rainrot. Just wash the lumps off and keep her clean and dry. It will all go away and the hair will grow back.


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## ahearn (Jul 10, 2007)

Nope, I'm thinking Sweet itch. Sweet itch is an allergic reaction caused by Midge fly bites. (Midges are TINY and you don't even know they exist!)About 30 % of horse nowadays have it. Mine does... when it starts to get warmer, he starts to lose chucks of hair like this. He also rubs on EVRYTHING because he itches so bad. Unfortunately there's no cure. AND they can develop the allergy later in life as well as early on. (My horse is 14 and it just started) You can alleviate the symptoms by weekly washings with aloe based shampoo and MTG. That's what I find works best.

Your horse looks just like mine! Have a vet look. I can almost guarantee that's what it is!!


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## tim (Dec 31, 2007)

Well, there is one thing to look for if ahearn is right about the summer itch (sweet itch) : The hair loss is due to your horse actually rubbing it off. Horses with summer itch scratch and rub themselves violently against other things like fences and trees because they itch so much. As a result, they rub off chunks of hair, and sometimes rub enough to make themselves bleed. 

If your horse is like mine was, it has developed bumps under the hair and when you scratch the bumps off the hair goes too. Horses with rainrot don't really itch themselves like horses with summer itch do. The hair loss is due to the lumps falling off leaving little patches of bare skin.


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

My horse never itches against things. and if i scrach her there she doesnt seem to really care lol she has one itchy spot always behind her ear thats her fave.


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## ahearn (Jul 10, 2007)

Not so much, Tim. I disagree, My horse has it in spots where he CAN NOT reach to scratch in any position. ...ie. on the bottom of his chest, a lot on his belly, on his genitalia, etc. By definition, migde flies like to attack certain areas and that is where you see most infestations....around the base of the mane, the chest, the belly, the gentilalia, the buttocks, tail dock,etc. 

It could definitely be rain rot, but don't rule out sweet/summer itch...


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

im leaning more towards rain rot but i deffinatly wont rule out any possiblities I want the best for her so im gonna order some mtg again or for now use some alcohol rub on it and see if that helps at all.


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## amightytarzan5 (Mar 20, 2008)

Gingerrrrr said:


> its definitely not rain rot...horses dont loose hair like that from rain rot. rain rot is basically when the horses fur grows mold. my horse had a little case of it.


I just had to reply to this. Horses can loose their fur when they get rain rot. We've had plenty of cases at my barn. The worse was when we pulled the rain rot off, it bascially pulled his skin off and there was pus and everything underneath. So yeah, horses do loose fur when they get rain rot.


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## jazzyrider (Sep 16, 2007)

http://www.horseforum.com/viewtopic.php?p=27256#27256

heres a link to a thread i did months ago about my tb when i got her. she had a bad case of rain scald/rot. cleared up nicely with a betadine based treatment


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## apachiedragon (Apr 19, 2008)

There are many different types of rain rot, all caused by fungus. Some look like black dust under the fur, some take small chunks and leave little bald spots, some bad cases can lose big patches of hair. Use a Betadine shampoo first, to kill and disinfect the area, and then you can treat it. MAKE SURE that you disinfect your brushes and wash any equipment that gets in the area, or you will give it right back to the horse or give it to others if you use the same brushes on other horses. I mix bleach and water and dunk my brushes in it to sterilize them, but rinse well and let them dry out in the sun so they don't irritate your horses skin later. Good luck!


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## Britt (Apr 15, 2008)

Looks like rain rot to me. A mare that we got for free had a HORRID case of rainrot (pictured below)... but after a few weeks of using an iodine based spray, she got over it. 

Here's the before and after pictures... yes, she was a 'rescue' in a sense. (She's my uncle Mann's horse)

Before, with rainrot:
















She had it all over her bum and back... pretty much just all over her. 

After:








She still had a little bit on her bum, but it went away.


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## Harlee rides horses (Jan 13, 2008)

No, usually they get rain rot somewhere like in their armpits.


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## HorsesAreForever (Nov 9, 2007)

harlee where on earth did you hear that..


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## ilovemyhorsies (Mar 9, 2008)

Harlee rides horses said:


> No, usually they get rain rot somewhere like in their armpits.


do you mean....the back of their legs....near where the girth goes? oh poo! vince might have this!! :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:  

- - - EDIT- - -
i found a hard scab on his hind leg.....  i'm so worried because i don't know what it is!

http://www.horseforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=8722


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## Gingerrrrr (Feb 12, 2008)

Harlee rides horses said:


> No, usually they get rain rot somewhere like in their armpits.



...not really. i mean im sure they can get it there but my old gelding had it on his back from having no shelter in his pasture, so when it rained he'd get rained on and on top of that his old owners didn't brush him. so he had a tad bit of rain rot on his back but it was all gone in no time. i didn't even have to treat it....


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