[quietann]

Aside from the tail rubbing has she had any itchy skin type issues?

Sweet itch, hives, poor coat quality, failure to shed/regrow hair...that sort of thing?

Nope. It's just her tail. She looked like this a few days ago. She's not itchy anywhere else, has no sweet itch, shed her summer coat and has a nice healthy winter coat coming in, etc.

ETA: Here is the tail in question....

[JB]

Have you gone over her tailbone with a fine toothed comb? Ticks have been bad in some parts of the country this year.

[quietann]

Have you gone over her tailbone with a fine toothed comb? Ticks have been bad in some parts of the country this year.

Haven't found any so far, but that doesn't mean they aren't there.

And of course ivermectin would kill the little beasties, so if she picked up some more after I dosed her...

Sigh.

[JB]

In the 3 weeks, it's not a matter of "picked up some more" - if anything, it would be a matter of having juveniles mature to egg-laying pinworms.

[quietann]

In the 3 weeks, it's not a matter of "picked up some more" - if anything, it would be a matter of having juveniles mature to egg-laying pinworms.

I was thinking of ticks....

[JB]

Oh, sorry LOL! If ivermectin kills ticks that are there in the day or three after deworming, it would be very, very easy to pick up more right after that

[D Taylor]

Nope. It's just her tail. She looked like this a few days ago. She's not itchy anywhere else, has no sweet itch, shed her summer coat and has a nice healthy winter coat coming in, etc.

ETA: Here is the tail in question....

A very pretty Morgan mare! I like my Morgans too.

And the last question, how about her heat cycles? Is she a butt rubber during her heats? Cuz I know how Morgan mares can be tarts!

[quietann]

A very pretty Morgan mare! I like my Morgans too.

And the last question, how about her heat cycles? Is she a butt rubber during her heats? Cuz I know how Morgan mares can be tarts!

Heh. This one is not a tart at all; in fact she only gets slightly cranky, lifts her tail a little more often, and she "talks" a bit more, especially to her best girlfriend. Occasionally some male horse (stallion or gelding, doesn't matter) will get her attention and we'll get a few more of the usual signs of heat, but it's maybe one or two cycles a year. The only time I've ever seen her in full-blown raging heat was when she shared a trailer ride to a show for an hour and a half with a very studdish gelding, and as soon as we unloaded, there was someone leading a bugle-ing stallion right through the trailer area. Her brains kind of fell out of her head! Once the stallion was gone and she wasn't in close proximity to the gelding, she was back to her normal, cool as a cucumber self. When she was at her breeders, unlike all their other mares and fillies, she would not walk the fenceline closest to their stallion paddocks when she was in heat. Definitely not a tart.

[Top Turnout]

Braiding 12,000+ horses professionally, tail rubbing was a serious issue. So, I spent those long hours twisting hair, alone in dim light, to figure out a solution. Since then, I have been able to stop every horse from tail rubbing. Not a one still rubs.

First, take into account the elements detailed in this article. It outlines contributing factors that have not been addressed: http://www.luckybraids.com/edu/tail-rubbing.pdf.

Once you have covered those basics, I guarantee Lucky Braids' Handy Salve will break the cycle, and All-In-One Shampoo will keep you out of the loop. Or, I will refund your money.

These dealers have both in stock: http://www.shop.equinetan.com/search...=lucky+braidss and http://shop.farmvet.com/Search?x=0&y...h=lucky+braids.

Please call me with any questions or concerns.
Thanks,
Ruthann
781/665-5988

[ToTheNines]

Agree with the article linked above. When I have a tail rubber, I focus on cleaning under the tail, and vigorous grooming of the tail bone with a hair brush. Brush right down to the roots, and get rid of flaky skin and distribute natural oils. Only brush a clean tail that is not too dry and not too wet. I do use conditioners. Actually, I will put Mega Tec on my hands, rub it onto tail. I will usually follow that with Vetrolin Shine and then brush.

[Discobold]

There seems to be a tail rubbing thread here every few months with the same all-over-the-place suggestions. Since there are many causes for tail rubbing, it might help to talk to people in your geographical area. After trying other suggestions - including a FEC (negative) and tape test (negative) - I talked to someone at my barn. What worked for her mare, and turned out to work for mine, was cleaning and treating the area under the tail about 6-8 inches down. I had been putting stuff on the tail but missing the area that was itchy

[Watermark Farm]

I have a mare who will start rubbing her tail if she is dirty between her teats, so make sure you check and clean between them as well.

[Meadow36]

On the same mare note, have a vet check her vaginal area. Any abnormality/poor perineal conformation leading to fecal contamination/infection/urine pooling/air sucking or whatever could potentially cause rubbing.

[Derby Lyn Farms]

Ivermectin, about 3 weeks ago now. But she started rubbing her tail again 10 days after she had it.

Same thing happened with most of my herd. Dewormed with ivermectin, now about 10 days later they are itching their tails and coats are looking dull.

[MyssMyst]

What fixed my gelding? Hawaiian Tropic Dark Tanning Oil (no joke). He'd rub due to dry skin issues, so this moisturizes everything nicely. Also strengthens the hair.

[quietann]

Update: The vet says yes, mare may have pinworms, but her tail doesn't look *that* bad. The entire barn is getting wormed with Quest sometime in the next week or two, so I'm waiting it out. I told the vet that if she starts rubbing again in the spring I would go ahead and give her an extra dose of wormer. Vet is fine with that (and took a fecal and will let me know the results.) The mare may get shifted to a 4 times per year worming schedule rather than 2 times per year, depending on the fecal results. For a couple of horses in the barn, they just seem more susceptible to worms and twice a year isn't enough.

We know the mare has mild allergies to *something* that just started this year. So she may be itchy from that. And the vet commented that her mane and tail did seem a bit dry... She recommended flax seed or omega-3s but flax isn't an option as for some reason the mare stocks up if she eats the tiniest bit of flax seed. So how to get omega-3s WITHOUT flax seed?

Is there anything a horse can use to scratch that is less likely to break hairs? The paddock fence is sadly festooned with my mare's tail hairs...

[Meadow36]

This is certainly not a suggestion but just a funny antidote about this topic ... I was at a top Paso Fino show barn recently and all of the stall walls were lined with hotwire .... when I asked why, they said it is to prevent the horses from rubbing their tails and manes on the walls (hair is a very important feature of a Paso). I guess you can't rub if you're entire environment is covered in hotwire!

[quietann]

This is certainly not a suggestion but just a funny antidote about this topic ... I was at a top Paso Fino show barn recently and all of the stall walls were lined with hotwire .... when I asked why, they said it is to prevent the horses from rubbing their tails and manes on the walls (hair is a very important feature of a Paso). I guess you can't rub if you're entire environment is covered in hotwire!

That's funny... the vet suggested installing some sort of horse scratcher in the mare's stall so she'd be able to scratch when she feels like it, without rubbing. I'm considering it...

[roswell]

The problem with fecal testing it that you can still get a faults neg. It all depends on where at in the worms life cycle they are at he time. I agree with the testing but just be if you get a neg results I would do one 10 days later.

Thanks everyone. The vet is coming next week for a routine visit (including a fecal sample) so I will ask her then.

I know around here everyone is going to fecals and twice-per-year worming based on fecal results, but perhaps some horses just need more intense management.

Isn't it odd how some horses just seem to be more prone to worms? When the spring fecals were done, my nice healthy-looking mare had a low count of small strongoyles, which was one of two positive results out of about 20 horses, a couple of whom were not looking that great at the time.

[Bank of Dad]

My guy turned into a rubber also this summer. After trying different things, we rubbed the ivermectin into the tail and around the top. It seems to have stopped the rubbing. Strange.....