Sun Protection for Horses

A veterinarian offers tips on sun protection for horses with pink skin from sunburn and photosensitivity during the summer months.
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Sun Protection for Horses
Protecting your horse's skin is highly recommended, starting with a fly mask that has a dropped nose piece and UV protection. | Photo: iStock

Q.In the summer, my Paint mare with pink skin gets sunburn to the point of having wrinkled elephantlike skin on her neck and shoulder. Even when kept in during the day, she turns red and hot and sensitive. Is this sunburn and photosensitivity (a sunburnlike condition usually caused by a reaction to something the horse ate) together? What plants would trigger this?—Barbara, Gainesville, Florida

A.Sunburn can occur on any pink (nonpigmented) skin region of the horse. The hair coat will usually protect the skin, but at the end of the nose and around the eyes there is very little hair. My other concern would be a potential for the skin cancer squamous cell carcinoma because it can be very aggressive and difficult to successfully remove.

Employing sun protection for horses with pink skin is highly recommended in Florida. Start with a fly mask that has a dropped nose piece. Some fly masks have a UV protection statement on them. I recommend you purchase the one with the highest UV protection claim and place it on the horse during the day, whether it is cloudy or sunny. You can also apply zinc oxide sunscreen lotion from a local drug store, but make sure it is waterproof. You might have to reapply it daily or more often

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Written by:

Erin Denney-Jones, DVM, is an FEI veterinarian and owner of Florida Equine Veterinary Services, in Clermont, Florida. Her interests and practice areas include chiropractic care, sport horse medicine, reproduction, general medicine and surgery, and preventive care including wellness programs, vaccinations, parasite control, and dentistry.

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