Help Your Horse with Skin Reactions After Clipping

Some horses with more delicate skin may have a irritation or allergic response after clipping. You may find hidden skin infections suddenly revealed after clipping. Or, part of your prep for body clipping involves a product that creates itching, redness, inflammation, or hives. Here’s what you should know about skin reactions after clipping.

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These hives were due to insect bites, not clipping, and show massive swelling and drainage.

Types of skin reactions – allergies, dermatitis, and hives after clipping

After clipping, you may find a few issues which may be directly related to body clipping. Or these problems hide under a thicker coat, and clipping brings them to light and doesn’t relate to clipping at all. You can find the following:

Uneven hair

Uneven hair is likely due to a dirty horse, dull blades, insufficient clipper oil, or uneven pressure. This situation is likely not an actual problem and will smooth out over time. Much of horse grooming and using clippers is an art that takes practice. As long as your horse starts clean and you use sharp tools, uneven patches are cosmetic and will smooth out in a few days.

Lesions or what looks like razor burn

Even after clipping, it’s hard to see the skin, but you may notice scrapes or red skin if your horse has white hair with pink skin. This general irritation could be similar to a rash or burn from hot clippers, the skin irritated from tugging, or an underlying skin issue like rain rot or fungal infection brewing and clipping made it obvious.

This horse has EPD – commonly called mud fever. This condition is exacerbated and hidden by thick feathers.

Flaky skin

Dandruff and oil patches often accompany mite infections. But sometimes dandruff is simply dry, flaky skin. These patches are frequently hidden with longer winter coats, especially if currying is low on your priority list. Long winter coats love to cover up these great surprises.

Bald patches

Bald patches might be fungal infections, like ringworm, or a rub from tack or blankets. For some horses, the combination of tack and long hair is protective, but for others, the hair acts like an abrasive, making tack rubs and girth sores more prevalent. Girth galls start as hairless patches but end up as blisters that slough off.

Mystery funk – mud fever on the legs?

You may also uncover some mystery funk that perhaps creates a red rash (if you can see the skin) or irritation. In severe cases, there may be scabs or sticky patches of skin and hair. If you find a crusty or sticky patch on the lower legs, this could be mud fever. Also known as scratches or under the umbrella term of equine pastern dermatitis (EPD), mud fever is a challenge to remedy.

Oily Skin

Mites are microscopic insects that eat your horse’s skin and hair, creating mange and similar-looking skin problems. They are also hard to see under a winter coat and can look oily when uncovered.

Using too much clipper oil can also create oily patches on the coat. A spray of no-rinse shampoo can remove any excess oil.

Classic hives!

What about weird bumps? Are they a hive? What’s the allergen?

Hives, those sometimes itchy lumps and bumps, are an allergic reaction to something. Your horse’s immune system is sending help to the area of irritation, creating a hive. The localized swelling is your horse’s body creating a histamine reaction to fight the intruding allergen, which might never be known.

Hives can be alarming, bothersome, and itchy for some horses. If your horse has hives, your vet should be your first call.

Why a rash or skin reactions after clipping might happen

There are reasons your horse’s skin reacts directly to clipping: a product is irritating, or the process is annoying. This excludes any existing, hidden skin problems that your horse.

Products that could create a reaction are:

- - Pre-clipping shampoo, grooming oil, or conditioner
  - Clipper oil
  - Coolant spray
  - Clipper sanitizing spray
  - Any detergents or cleaning agents you use on cloths or rags, or perhaps a new detergent used to clean your horse’s grooming supplies. This is a prime example of contact dermatitis – skin inflammation from touching something.

A product doesn’t need to be new or novel for a skin reaction. As with humans, horses can develop allergies over time, and perhaps their trusty shampoo isn’t so trusty anymore.

More hives

Clipping can irritate sensitive skin.

Body or trace clipping can cause the blades to tug on the skin, irritating it. Hot blades can also annoy the skin, and burns from hot blades can cause permanent skin damage.

Some sensitive horses become uncomfortable and irritated from the tiny hair bits left. It’s always a good idea to brush your horse as you go. We all know the feeling of clipped hair getting under our clothes.

For more info on hot clipper blades, read this.

How to help your horse

Your mission is to do the fancy leg work before you even start body clipping to avoid skin reactions after clipping.

Prevent a horse allergic reaction before you clip

Before prepping for a body clip, do a patch test on your horse. It’s easy: Place a few drops of any product on your horse’s upper forearm. Wait 24 hours and see if there is a reaction.

Use soothing shampoos and conditioners. Mild horse shampoos with soothing ingredients like oatmeal, tea tree, or lemongrass can help the skin stay calm.

Please don’t share your horse’s grooming tools, girths, bridles, saddle pads, or anything touching their skin. Like clippers! Brushes and tack can transmit contagious fungal and bacterial problems.

Use fresh, sharp, and sanitized blades. Blades with sharp teeth don’t tug and pull, especially when brushed and oiled every five minutes.

Here’s how to do a patch test.

Sharp, clean blades prevent pulling while clipping, but that’s only good if your horse isn’t allergic to the spray. Luckily, there are many brands to choose from.

Prevent future skin trouble after clipping

Brush your horse frequently after clipping. Brushing also prevents those itchy clipped hairs from gunking up your clipper blades as you make passes.

After you finish clipping, curry and groom again. The curry comb will also help relieve any itching and alert you to sensitive patches and new, itchy areas that you should mind.

If the weather is nice, rinse your horse to remove every last speck of dust. A horse vacuum is also excellent for removing all remnants of dirt and loose hair if it’s too cold to rinse.

Treat your horse’s body with some apple cider vinegar. ACV for horses is soothing, and the smell may detract some bugs and flies. You can rinse or spot-treat as needed.

Talk to your equine vet

Talk to your vet about medications and topical treatments for hives, bacterial, fungal, or parasite problems you uncover while clipping. Your vet will also be able to discern between dermatitis issues and skin reactions after clipping that look alike. For example, photosensitivity and mud fever are twins.

Each cause will have a specific treatment, so involving your vet is vital. Also, some conditions like ringworm and rain rot are contagious among horses. And ringworm, not a worm, can find itself at home on your skin. Oh, joy.

Allergic reactions may need steroids and antihistamines, topically or orally. Bacterial infections need antibiotics, although complex cases of mud fever may also involve fungus that needs anti-fungal meds.

How long does it typically take for skin reactions to subside after clipping?

Dermatitis and other skin reactions after clipping can take days or weeks to subside, depending on the cause. The primary treatment is keeping the area clean and dry. Then, avoid tack, irritants, dirty grooming brushes, and sprays until the area heals. Consult your vet for the best plan.

The most sensitive horses can be clipped comfortably with a little planning and care. Make course corrections as you clip, and watch your horse’s body language. They can tell you what’s sore and itchy!

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