Horse News & Views - October 2005

Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs

Ontario Association of Equine Practitioners

• Occasionally, areas of a horse's coat change colour. The usual change is to white. Alterations can occur to either the hair colour or the skin colour, or to both. Freeze branding, pressure sores from saddles, or bandaging can damage the hair and result in the growth of white hairs. The hair follicles are intact and functional. Coat colour can also change from the loss of skin pigment and can occur with or without the development of white hairs. This is seen in sparsely haired areas, such as around the muzzle, inside the ears, around the vulva and around the eyes. Loss of skin pigment can occur as a result of both inflammatory and non inflammatory processes. Consult your veterinarian to determine the cause. (Ref. Pilsworth RC, Knottenbelt DC. Skin diseases refresher - coat colour changes. Equine Vet Ed 2005;7 (4): 224-226.)
• Draft horse owners who want to estimate the weight of their horse may want to visit the Rural Heritage web site.
• Check out the Foaling Date Estimator on the Gaited Horse web site. In addition to estimating the foaling date for a mare, this calculator also gives suggested dates for other activities, such as pregnancy diagnosis and vaccines. Check with your veterinarian to determine whether these fit with his/her recommendations.
• The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food has regained its Rural Affairs mandate and is again referred to as OMAFRA. Therefore, web site addresses have changed. The new address to access the livestock section of the Ministry's web site is www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock The horse subsection is on the bottom, left-hand corner of the page.

Related Links

• Rural Heritage
• Foaling Date Estimator

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