Facial scurf

[PaulaO]

Ariel has a few hairless patches on her face. I’m chalking it up to scurf. I don’t wash her face but do use a very soft goat hair face brush. Any suggestions for treating it? I would be reluctant to use any harsh anti fungals for fear of burning.

[blob]

Is she rubbing or does it look like something else?

MM gets all kind of summer skin problems and she rubs her face BADLY. Washing helps a lot. Is there any reason you won't wash her face down with just water? If she won't let you put a hose on her face, even a wet sponge/wash cloth will make a world of difference. Other than that desitin and vaseline can both be very helpful for raw patches on the face.

[heddylamar]

Anzia loses big patches of hair on her face. I wash her with a mix of iodine scrub and Vetericyn fungul shampoo, and follow up with a spritz of vinegar water or Vetericyn wound care (which is mostly alcohol). It keeps her skin healthy v. a giant petrie dish of fungus.

[Tanga]

I have a mare that does that, and her daughters alternately do it. They get random bald spots on their bodies. Sometimes it is associated with rubbing and sometimes not. I just try to keep it clean. My other go to thing is neem oil. It seems great for any irritation, infection, bites, etc. in alleviating and healing it.

[piedmontfields]

Another vote for clean her face! (with a towel, gently, with praise!)

There are various anti-fungal, anti-scurf products out there. Some of my favorites (as someone who battles this on various body parts in the humid south) are:
Biostar's Traumera
Hay, What's that Blue Stuff
Equiderma
Tea Tree ointment (not oil)

Some horses react to Neem, but you'll know that soon enough.

[texsuze]

Use a damp hand towel and a tiny bit of MicroTek shampoo for entire face. Rinse the towel and go back over her face a few times with a few more towel rinses. Follow up with MicroTek anti-skank spray--put this on a small puck sponge and wipe specific scurf areas and leave to dry. Best to do after riding or when she comes in for the evening.

My oldster always enjoys a face wipe with a damp towel even if I'm not using a cleaning product.

[PaulaO]

I wiped her face with a damp towel. She was fine with that so I will add a bit of shampoo. I had a bottle of anti-fungal spray and put a dab on her face. Then looked at the bottle and saw it expired in 2016....

[tlkidding]

Do a diluted white vinegar rinse with a sponge. That's the easiest way to clear up any benign scurf. The vinegar rinse will also strip any sweat/salt from the hair, which can cause the scurf and hair loss.

My horse gets flaky skin above his eyes sometimes, and he will lose hair below his eyes from tearing/allergies and sweat.

I'll encourage you to work with her to let you lightly hose off her head, especially if she gets really sweaty. I start from far away and with the hose on "mist" or "rain." I don't think it's cruel to get a horse's head wet with a hose unless you are shooting it right at their ears or eyes. They regularly get wet heads from rain.

[Borrowed Freedom]

If you can, get hold of zinc and castor oil cream. You should find it at your local pharmacy between the baby products, a gelding at my yard had something similar and she eventually found mixing this cream and an anti-fungal cream together worked like a charm. Add after cleaning her face, the zinc will also have the added bonus of protecting her skin from the sun and castor oil will help the skin grow back quicker.

[PaulaO]

Bumping this a year later. Literally overnight Miss A. developed a small bald patch on her face. The vet was out yesterday for other stuff somImasked him to take a look. He said it is ::scientificjargonIdidn’t understand::basically miscroscopic parasites and not to worry. It’s onchocerciasis. Give her a dose of Ivermectin.