Hi there

There are two patches on my mare's (9yrold Belgian)face about quarter size that looked to me like ringworm. Have had some hairs in a culture at the vet now about 10 days and no change in the culture. Vet doesn't think it's ringworm. Says horses sometimes get hair loss in winter. ??

She has been a year on EPSM diet. She drinks well. Has salt. A little chubby. Pasture with run-in barn.

Has always had skin issues in the year I've had her. The issues - bumps from bug bites, other hair loss patches. They always clear up fairly quickly. The gelding never has any of these. And she does seem somewhat itchy - scratches but not obsessively.

Do you think there is some kind of nutritional element she may be needing???

Thanks your ideas!
Victoria

Although your veterinarian is right to culture for the fungi that cause ringworm, in my experience bacterial infection or other causes of hair loss are more common than ringworm. And I am really not at all suspicious of anything missing in her diet, as I don't know of any nutritional deficiency in horses that would cause this. If these are itchy areas and don't grow fungus then bacterial or allergic are possible. Sometimes there is a combination of both. If these are not itchy or crusty, just areas of hair loss, there are some interesting conditions that can do this, the most common of which is something called alopecia areata, which just means an area (areata) of hair loss (alopecia). This is due to an unknown condition but in most cases is not a big deal and sometimes hair even eventually grows back. And sometimes hair just sheds oddly - this usually grows back again eventually. When I'm trying to treat a skin condition I don't know the cause of, I often start with once or twice daily scrubbing with betadine scrub. Can't hurt and this will help to treat a variety of infections.