Equipoise Performance

17 hours ago

🤓🤓 Fun Fact Friday 🤓🤓

Did you know the skin is the largest organ in the body?

The skin is not only responsible for control of body temperature and production of Vitamin D from sunlight but it must also protect the horse from environmental factors. These include sunlight, insects, bacteria, moulds, fungi and atmospheric pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen and sulphur dioxides. Frequent washing also increases the risk of flaking and skin infections. It is therefore no surprise that poor skin condition can make horses lose condition and fail to thrive.

Given the potential irritants it is also no surprise that common skin conditions are associated with seasonality, in particular, Sweet Itch. This is an inflammatory condition triggered by fly/midge/insect bites, but most commonly associated with Culicoides midges which cause the horse to become hypersensitive, initiating the inflammation cascade and resulting in extreme itching and irritation.

Interrupting this inflammation cascade and preventing escalation of the process are key in managing Sweet Itch cases and for most effective results this needs to be done early in the year, before exposure to flies/midges/insects occurs in order to reduce sensitivity. From a nutritional point of view, adding a high quality source of omega 3’s to the diet has been shown to be beneficial due to their powerful anti-inflammatory effect, as found in quality, undiluted linseed oils. Or, using a comprehensive skin supplement specifically designed to reduce inflammation, encourage skin and hair growth as well as reducing sensitivity can be very useful alongside general management practises such as rugging, stabling and turning out at appropriate times.

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