Tao's Mane..

Has all fallen out - literally.

My Canadian, that, as a breed characteristic, should have long curly flowing locks, looks like I did a butcher job of roaching it.... blah!
My Canadian, that, typically, should have a mane and tail like Cyndi's Canadian Cross Fanny... He showed up with a mane and now it disappeared. Between the bugs, over grooming, and the biggest culprit (I would think) STRESS.

Soo, I ask my friends of this board, what can I use to help it grow back...

This is my plan..what do you all think? Please critique and add thoughts too! All my horses have access to a mineral block and salt already but I was thinking that I may get a pelleted feed for a little while. My idea is to make a beet pulp supper for all the horses for the next couple of weeks. Tao is a strange horse as he will eat beet pulp dry but not wet...so my first challenge is to get him to eat beet pulp. I am going to put him on some pro-biotics too. Plus some oats to make it all go down better.

In review, here is my tentative recipe - yay or nay? Or should it be neigh or nay?

Beet pulp
Oats (to encourage the eating of the beet pulp)
Mineral Supplement (as required)
Probiotics for 7-10 days

Tao was dewormed regularly with chemical dewormer (toxicity maybe a culprit?) so I may do a round of para plus from Omega Alpha into the beet pulp as well...

I was also going to get some of that MTG stuff and spray it into his mane every few days.. good idea or bad?
Thanks everyone!
Ellen

Hi Ellen,
do you know why he gets stressed? Is it just the way he is or are there other factors involved - environmental, emotional etc etc? If he is itching - again is it environmental - does he have sweet itch - or an allergy to oak trees etc etc?
just that - if the reason for the stress isnt removed - your diet might not work. I am no good on suggestions for hard feed as Trelawny doesnt have it - he only gets Alfalfa and a herb mix plus haylage in the winter.
To encourage hair regrowth - aloe vera topically is good - it helps promote good healthy skin/scalp etc - its also good taken internally as it helps to boost the immune system and stops itching....... Echinecea boosts the immune system too.....

Awww, I'm sorry to hear that!!

I can't remember if Riva's Remedies has anything. I think Happy Horse says that it promotes a healthy coat, but I can't remember if it targets mane and tail too. If it does, it'll be a "side" thing, not the main aim of the supplement.

I have a grooming spray called "Premier Rose" and it's supposed to increase tail and mane growth, but it smells quite "rosey", and may attract bugs. I still have some left in a concentrate, but haven't used it this year. No particular reason, but I just haven't. According to their testimonials page, some horses have shown a growth of four inches in the tail. Don't know how long that took though. I can't get it around here. I think when I ordered it I had to get it from Manitoba. My only other option was from someone in Saskatoon, but I have no idea if they still carry it.

Veronica, the owner of Fanny's new barn, was just telling me how she used MTG (at least I think that's what she said - I know it's got three initials in it). She said it stinks awfully, but it really works.

Hope you find a solution, or that the stress from the move has run its course and Tao starts to improve now.

PS - I can certainly understand why you would expect Tao to have a nice full mane and tail. I sure hope it comes back.

If it makes you feel any better, I think that Fanny gets her mane from her daddy, who isn't the Canadian. She has a "cousin" whose sire is different from Fanny's (the dams are sisters, I believe), and he has very little mane.

I think his stress is because of his move - he is only 3, and the 3 day trailer ride to a new environment with new horses, new routine, new/different types of grass, salts, minterals etc., could have been the starting point of all this.

His mane falling out has been a gradual thing since I got him and things have stablized but I just want to make sure the new growth (which has started, slow and steady) is healthy and strong.

I don't think his stress level is as high as it was - if anything, he is gaining weight and growing, so that is why I am thinking it was the lead culprit. The bugs being as bad as they were/still are, and then using any type of tree, fence, etc., to wipe them off, also helped wipe out his mane as well. Plus, I see him and Buster groom each other too, and who knows, maybe Buster ate a bit of it too...

so it might be worth putting him in a fly rug for the rest of this season as well as giving him supplements. Horses can take a long time to adjust - if it were me I would put him in a fly rug - negates the need for chemicals, and stops the bugs landing in the first place - and Buster eating his mane! - and make sure he has ample herbs/minerals to boost his immune system. Trelawny has access to a mineral lick - but he also has a mix in his Alpha A of linseed, garlic, mint, kelp, fenegreek and some other herbs - and he wears a rug because the bugs (all of them!) drive him nuts - his mane fell out, was rubbed out, and chewed out by other horses a couple of years ago - with a fly rug and the herbs he has a beautiful full length mane and stays sane in the summer!

Thanks ladies!

I have been giving beet pulp/with oats and a probitotic mixed in it every night and Tao seems to be eating it. They also get some vitamin/mineral/protein pellets too just to make sure they are getting enough. I should notice a difference in a week or so.

I also bought some MTG and doused Tao's mane with it and mixed it all in. I read the bottle and it said only apply once every 7 days. So, I will see in a month if it makes any difference. If it doesn't, then I am only out about 9 dollars...

Hey Horsehippie, sorry to hear Tao's been struggling. If it were me, I wouldn't feed oats unless I were doing high level competing. If your protein pellets aren't enough to get him to eat, low energy cubes are good, or better yet, apple bits mixed in (unless he just picks the apple out and leaves the rest!). Oats can cause behavioural issues as they generate a lot of immediate energy and not much else.

Thanks Lightertouch - I agree with you about the oats, he is off of them now, I just used them to get him eating beet pulp, which he is now so that is good. The probitotic stint is done and so now everyone is just on beet pulp and about a half a cup of protien pellets (between 2 horses and 2 mini donks, very little per animal).

I have done 2 applications of MTG so it will be a little time before I notice any difference. Hopefully, it helps!

I'm always very sceptical of things that are supposed to make hair grow but I got fed up with Kitty's mane - her problem if different to Tao's, hers just breaks off so badly that on the side of her crest the mane falls to she is bald where the hair falling over has broken off the hair underneath. I have found something that works though - it says in the blurb that it makes hair grow faster by drawing moisture to the follicle but I'm not sure it does, I think it just strengthens the hair as it grows so that it doesn't get damaged. I know it works cos not only does Kitty now have 2 inches of hair growing back underneath her mane but my fingernails are like steel from applying it and have NEVER been so hard! it's called Mega-tek Rebuilder from Eqyss ( I buy from www.tailgator.co.uk here in GB)
It won't help the stress problem but might help it to grow back faster once you get it started!