Discolored hair?

[alittleoffkey]

Dixie has a spot on her wither, where it honestly looks like someone spilled bleach on her. It's about 4" long, and a couple of inches wide at its widest point (I could be wrong, I'm horrible at estimating). It's not where she's been bleached by the sun, she turns brownish in the summer (she's black, for those who don't know Miss Priss)... this is something else entirely.

Does anyone know anything that would cause something like that... other than someone actually spilling bleach on her? Last week we moved them back to the pasture that's bordered on one part by a trailer park, and she has lovely </sarcasm> designs scratched into her hair... generally they just tie knots into the horses manes, which irritates me, but I can deal with... but if they're going to bleach my sweet girl, they've got another thing coming. :mad: Our fence is two feet inside our property lines... and Georgia does have a make my day law.

Picture:
http://inlinethumb12.webshots.com/44683/2987894330033485505S500x500Q85.jpg

It was a little damp, but they'd been hanging around the house for over an hour. :huh:

[WashingtonBay]

What? Designs?

I don't think laundry bleach would do a thing to her hair... hair bleach would.

[Vegashorselady]

That's very odd. Has she been wearing a sheet or blanket that would have rubbed the skin raw...kind of like a saddle sore? Of course, those don't appear overnight and I'm sure you would have noticed that.

[alittleoffkey]

No, she's never had a blanket on her.

The designs won't show up on camera. It just looks like someone took drew little lines in her hair. Not on her skin (she doesn't have any cuts or anything), but... like you took your fingernail and drew lines on your arm. If you do it hard enough it'll raise up and make angry little lines... it's like that with her hair.

She was unenthused about being exceedingly messed with today, but she got over it. I'm going to go have a chat with the trailer park residents (again)... and remind them all that there's a make my day law in place that we're not afraid to use, if necessary. They usually pick on Legacy... who will make anyone (other than me) leave him alone if he's irritated. This is the first time anything's been done to Dix.

Is it illegal to hook a car battery up to open wire and just leave it there? I don't think they deserve the warning of tape or new wire.

Edit: I hate "reasoning" with the people who live in that trailer park. Last time they were told to stay out of our pasture, we wound up with two dead dogs... which is why I was kinda hoping there was something else that might do it.

[alittleoffkey]

The "design" on her shoulder kind of looks like this... traced into her black hair. Like I said, they usually pick on Leggy... but I guess he put a stop to it. They're hanging out by the house right now, the opposite corner from the trailer park.

http://inlinethumb46.webshots.com/20461/2355764160033485505S425x425Q85.jpg

[FatSpottedAppy]

That would make me so mad if I found out ANYONE was doing that to my horses..

I say skip the warning, skip the talk, and go straight to the "make my day law." I have no idea what it is but if it will put them back in their place then that is what I would do..

[alittleoffkey]

The "Make my day law" is the law that says you can shoot anyone who is on your property, that you feel may be threatening you or your property. A few states have them ... Georgia and Texas for example. Ours was just passed a couple of years ago.

[alittleoffkey]

Picture up! Here's another:

http://inlinethumb39.webshots.com/43302/2454327560033485505S500x500Q85.jpg

[PatriotsDreamer]

certain shampoos ( if not dilluted properly) will bleach dark horses.

[alittleoffkey]

She hasn't been washed either. I haven't put a thing on her, we haven't even needed fly spray yet because of blackberry winter. Could a plant's sap do something like that? Pinto (whose spots are very dark brown) doesn't have anything like that, and all four of them are together 24/7. :(

[JackieB]

Peroxide would do just about exactly that. I found out because I accidentally scraped up Buster's pastern with the hoof rasp. I doused it with peroxide and the hair permanently changed to the color of Dixie's spot. Normally, the hair there is black.

I would be furious if a person did something like that to my horse.

[JackieB]

Could a plant's sap do something like that?

Hmmm. I didn't think of that.

[Horseaholic]

hrm..this would REALLY bug me. I'd like to strap a camera on her if possible. lol not very easy but I'd like to see whats going on. I'd prob electrify the fence and put a warning sign as far away as possible. ;) maybe you could put a camera up on a tree or something that shows the fence line???

[outriding01]

I'd sit out there with a BB gun..... If not a .22.....
One of the horses I'm riding right now has a big spot on his butt that's darker than the rest, like it's wet, but it's not. He was born that way though.

Any chance of putting up a privacy fence, or an electric fence in front of the regular fence?

[alittleoffkey]

Right now I'm thinking electric fence. These are the lovely people that took down a wood fence and cut a wire fence so they could ride their dirt bikes in our pasture (they ignored my warnings, so Leggy put a stop to that... he doesn't like dirt bikes or 4-wheelers). They essentially put a gate up so they can enter our property whenever they feel like it. They're sneaky buggers, we've only caught them on the property a couple of times (years ago), but they sure do have a nice clean trail from their house to our woods. :doh:

I have to look at what we can afford, and I'm considering putting them in an electric fence on an acre or two of our property, right next to the house, until I can electrify at least the two sides those people can easily get to. I know absolutely nothing about electric fencing though... so I suppose I'll post another thread about that. :rolleyes: I hate spending money on stuff if they're just going to tear it down. Maybe I just need to borrow a relative's volitile mare who hates people. :innocent:

So no one knows of any plants that could do that?

[miatapony]

well stay on the right side of the law and hit them with paintballs. and they will mark what ever they hit that way when you call the cops for truspassing they are easy to spot. or you can even go one further freeze the paintballs that will hurt......alot.

[Me'N'Chic]

Hey ALOK--what a coinicidence--Sony is black and she has a place on here like that too!!! I'll try to get pics today!! After she shed out I noticed the place--it does look like it was bleached by peroxide or something.....Hmmm wonder what does that? I'll get pics!

[carla]

Okay well, I was going to say- how weird- and that I assumed it was a person because of the strange "design" to the spot. However, reading Mary's post above makes me wonder.. so I'll wait to see her pic. ;) Good luck, ALOK!

OH- And if I need to come up there and bring the gun show, all ya gotta do is ask..

[alittleoffkey]

miata - In Georgia you can shoot trespassers - it's legal. ;)

Haha Carla, we have our own. And if we were desperate... my uncle has 4 standing safes of an arsenal. :D

That's interesting Mary, I'd love to see a picture. Dix's wasn't from when she shed out though, it happened sometime in the past week.

Dandy21 took pictures of the weird designs today, and I tried. I'll upload my camera and see if they showed up. :)

[miatapony]

sweet that is cool .. but make sure you know your in the right is all i think shooting them would be to good i think you should dye them with paintballs and they hurt also...

[Equine_Woman]

An electric fence will really really help. Post signs saying your property is being monitored as well. . . might stop kids. . . not sure the spot is human caused but I wouldn't like anyone messing with my horses over my fence. . . EVER. Be sure to get the strongest charge you can!! You can actually set the electric fence in from your fence a few feet to keep the horses from getting close to the fence. . . and you can use multiple strands to really deter anyone from cutting them. . .

[cheval]

And make sure you have a sign that says, "Warning Electrical Fence" because if someone gets shocked and hurt and you don't have it they'll go after you.