Winter Skin Problems

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

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

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

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Heather Smith Thomas ranches with her husband near Salmon, Idaho, raising cattle and a few horses. She has a B.A. in English and history from University of Puget Sound (1966). She has raised and trained horses for 50 years, and has been writing freelance articles and books nearly that long, publishing 20 books and more than 9,000 articles for horse and livestock publications. Some of her books include Understanding Equine Hoof Care, The Horse Conformation Handbook, Care and Management of Horses, Storey’s Guide to Raising Horses and Storey’s Guide to Training Horses. Besides having her own blog, www.heathersmiththomas.blogspot.com, she writes a biweekly blog at https://insidestorey.blogspot.com that comes out on Tuesdays.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
280 votes · 280 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!