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[RC] OT: Sunburn/Hair loss on horse's face? - Jennifer Thompson

Hi all,

I purchased a new Arab gelding in
November.  He's a great guy and I'm really enjoying him.
We are planning our debut this spring and summer, doing both
CTR and some 25 mile endurance rides.

The only "flaw" he had was that on the day I first looked at

him, about half of his narrow white blaze was very
sunburned.  The burnt portion was about 4" long by 1" wide -

starting half way down his face and ending just above his
left nostril.  The skin was very flakey and cracked and
there was no hair left on the burned area.  The seller told
me that he was very prone to sunburn on that area, and
because he was kept out on 80 acres, it was hard for them to

keep sunscreen on him.  She said that if I was able to keep
the area protected, it would heal, so I didn't worry too
much about it, and bought him.

WELL.  I've had him for three months, have been keeping
sunscreen on the area religiously (along with a tea tree oil

ointment), and while the skin itself has improved in texture

- it is very smooth and soft (almost shiney-like) -
absolutely no hair has grown there.  That section of his
strip is completely slick and bald, with no signs of hair
growth at all.  The skin color there varies from whitish
(normal) to very pink or red if he's exerting himself.  The
surrounding skin is black, on either side of the blaze.

Has anybody had experience with this kind of thing?  Is it
possible that several seasons of bad sunburns on his white
blaze could have permanently damaged the skin, causing
permenent hair loss there?  Is there any hope for regrowth?

I'm really upset about this.  Not only does it take away
from an otherwise beautiful face on this boy, I'm worried
that the area could be cancer-prone since it has no hair for

protection.

Any help or shared experiences with this would be
appreciated.

Thanks,
Jennifer and Shahtahr a.k.a. "Baldy"


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