Editor’s Note: This excerpt is from Chapter 7 of Care & Management of Horses by Heather Smith Thomas.

Some of the skin problems that can plague a horse in winter are ringworm, lice, and mites.

Ringworm

Ringworm is a skin disease caused by a fungus, and many kinds are contagious to other animals and to humans. The fungus sends out spores, which start new infections when rubbed into the skin. Brushes, tack, and other equipment used on more than one animal can spread ringworm.

After spores enter the skin, the fungal infection begins in a growing hair, causing it to break off just above the skin surface or in the outer layer of skin. Lesions appear within a week to a month as circular areas in which the hair falls out or breaks off. Sometimes thick crusts form. One type of ringworm produces small round lesions a quarter inch to an inch in diameter, eventually forming blisters that break and leave scabs. This form of ringworm causes intense itching and can be transmitted to humans

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