# Fur question



## secuono (Jun 3, 2011)

17yr mare seems to have kind of dull fur and it sheds a TON. A lot like my dobies fur, but sheds far more. She does shine up a bit after a good brushing, but her buddy, a 4yr pony shines like chrome all the time! 
I'm hoping it's just because she is older. She likes to run around and be a happy horse like her buddy, though he is far more active. They both eat the same grass. 
Ideas?


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## dianneS (Jun 6, 2011)

When was she last wormed?  She could have parasites.  I would get her on a good de-worming schedule and see how that impacts her "fur".

BTW horses have _hair_, not fur.


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## patandchickens (Jun 7, 2011)

If her coat (as Dianne says, it is *totally* not called fur on horses) is dull and slow to shed, it is probably either that she's slow to shed because of some health challenges such as worms or a bit short on some nutrition or some such thing (and remember it is still only early June, many horses are still finishing shedding), or if there is still a lot of LONG LONG hair on there you should have the vet evaluate her for Cushings syndrome. (The reason to care whether a horse has Cushings is not b/c of the hairiness, it is b/c it is a metabolic syndrome that can dispose the horse to laminitis/founder and you'd want to manage the horse differently if it did have Cushings)

If you could post a pic of her perhaps we could make some intelligent sort of guess as to whether it's within the realm of normal shedding or whether she looks Cushingoid?

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## secuono (Jun 7, 2011)

She has no long hairs at all, other than her mane and tail. The little/short hairs shed a lot, a little less than a week ago, though. 

Pics w/halters are from the first days they got here. Last two are from maybe a week ago.


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## patandchickens (Jun 7, 2011)

They look absolutely 100% normal to me. I think what you're seeing is probably a combination of a) they're still finishing shedding out and b) you may not be used to seeing pastured/backyard type horses (as opposed to show horses, or lesson horses that may get groomed multiple times a day, or photos of horses all shinied up for the camera).

If it bothers you, you might try giving them each a handful of black oil sunflower seeds daily, that tends to improve shininess of coat (any oil does, actually, but for actual OILS you ahve to be feeding them some sort of concentrates to put the oil *over*  -- if you are feeding any sort of ration balancer pellets, you could try that, but some horses are finicky about oily food, so IMO black oil sunflower seeds are often simpler), and just groom them as often as you can get around to it.

Of course in a couple months they'll start shedding their *summer* coat out, and the hair will be flying again LOL

Good luck, have fun,

Pat


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## secuono (Jun 7, 2011)

It's just such a difference between him and her. You can't tell in his pictures just how glossy he is.
Got to get some BOSS for the birds, I'll give some to them and see if they like it any. Is it cooked or just harvested and bagged? Wondering if I will end up with a field of sunflowers. =/


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## patandchickens (Jun 7, 2011)

Bear in mind that greys do not generally get nearly as shiny-looking as darker colors e.g. the sorrel pony. It's not just that it's less-obvious b/c of the color, there's also differences in the hair structure or something like that.

If she were mine I'd just make sure she was up to date on worming (with an appropriate wormer such as ivermectin or moxidectin, unless you don't think she's been wormed for a long while) and groom her frequently and give her some BOSS or oil.

But if you're concerned, of course have the vet out.

Pat


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