Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Our Little Diego, now owned by Colton Medeiros, started getting the white spots when he was three years old, he is now 19, I believe that was long before Quest Gel was on the market.  Up until that time I had not used any wormer with the ingredients that Quest Gel had in it.   The odder thing about this situation is that it is ONLY the chestnut horses that it affected on our ranch.  We also had a mare, Valaba, Little Diego's damn, that developed them.  At first we thought it was hereditary and never looked into the problem. A few years after Little Diego started getting his white spots we acquired Samburu KA aka Sammy and moved him to the same ranch in Atwater, CA that Little Diego grew up on. 

 

Sammy started getting the white spots about a year after we acquired him.  After contacting several vets in the area no one had any answers. A research scientist from the University of Kentucky was scheduled to visit the ranch to go over a feed program and I asked him what he thought.  He said they see it alot in areas that have Cherry trees and Walnut trees.  We had one of each that happened to be over 40 years old.  The tree limps were up high and hung over the pasture and paddock areas of the barn. 

 

According to this guy there is a mite/worm that bores down into the skin.  You can not see it unless you are looking and feeling for it.  The only way to get rid of it is to give a 10 to 1 bleach bath.   However, if you have the trees on your land it's a never ending problem.  The progress of the spots had subsided for a number of years until we moved to Placerville, CA.  

 

I have recently noticed Valaba has started to get more spots.  Sammy has not.  However, Sammy is not housed nor does he graze where there is a lot of tree cover only shelter covers and his stall.  Valaba is under the tree canopy of Oaks, Redwoods, Cedar, and Manzanita most of the time.  Her stall is under Oaks.  

 

Therefore, I think I am back to square one in determining the actual cause.  If in fact it is an external cause and not a hereditary or internal cause factor.
 

D'Arcy Lynne

 

"A friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.  One that holds your heart in their hands as if it were glass!"