This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Lois Berenyi <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > In one of the latest horse magazines, Equus I think, there was a hint > about hastening the shedding out process.
It was EQUUS, March 2005, p.28 > The hint was to slather the horse with baby oil the day > before and then the next day give a bath and all the old hair would just "slip > off" leaving a slick-coated horse. > > I have visions of doing this to a Fjord. At what stage of shedding does one > attempt this? Note that the article also says that horses do not shed all over, all at once. And, that if one applies the oil before the summer coat has fully emerged from the skin, one will have a naked horse! The summer coat starts growing in mid-January, but "takes two to three months for the new hairs to reach the ends of the follicles and push the old hairs out." I take that to mean that, if the old hair hasn't fallen out on its own yet, the new hair isn't long enough to provide the horse with any protection. Every spring on various donkey lists, newbies "panic" because their recently-acquired donkeys suddenly have developed large bald patches. We've taken to calling it the Donkey Depilatory Disorder---it seems that stress, or maybe excess rolling (which donkeys do to "claim" new territory) will remove the old hair before the new has fully come in. It usually takes 2 or 3 weeks for the condition to resolve itself, as the summer hair finally emerges from the skin. > How do I hide her for the 24 hours she is so slathered? It's probably more relevant to think about how you "hide" her for the 2 or 3 weeks until she stops looking naked! Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 15 mi SW of Roseburg, Oregon
