Anhidrosis in Horses: A Brief Guide on Symptoms, Causes and Treatments

That strenuous exercise always ends you up into heavy sweating and tired muscles. And, if you are a godfather of a horse, then definitely you can find that he is also drenched in that sour water completely after a heavy work out.

But Alas! WAIT! Aren’t you able to find that sweat on your horse?

Many horse owners don’t want their horse to sweat a lot due to the tedious task of cleaning. However, sweating plays a pivotal part in your horse’s lives and no sweating in your horse may pin you to a potentially dangerous disease known as anhidrosis.

Wondering what is Anhidrosis! A condition of the complete absence of sweating in horses is known as anhidrosis. Anomalous at times, but this scenario can be quite harmful when not addressed in a timely manner. Moreover, it becomes extremely dangerous especially during hot weather, which can even lead to fatal heat strokes.

It may be little tricky to find the symptoms, therefore horse owners need to be proactive in identifying this condition in their horses, which means they should have enough knowledge about what is normal for their horses. Mostly, the signs can be figured out easily when your horse is exercising or undergoing training.

Some Of The Symptoms That Can Be Seen Are:

• Panting
• Rapid breathing
• Excessive drinking or eating
• Sweating in a large amount for a few days and then ceasing completely to sweat at all
• Splashing themselves in water
• High body temperature
• Rough hair coat and dry skin
• Thinning of hair around
• Flared nose
• Lying down in a cool area

In spite of providing the best care, horse owners may be wondering what may be the possible breakthrough reason to put their horse in such a dire condition.

Well, some of the common causes of anhidrosis are:

• Hypothyroidism
• Atrophied sweat glands
• Organic iodine deficiency
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Electrolyte deficiencies

These are the major reasons that usually cause anhidrosis in horses. However, proper treatment and care help in dealing with this issue and keeps your horse in good condition.

Treatment of Anhidrosis in Horses

Normally, it takes time for treating this condition in the horses. However, no single treatment is 100% successful if the condition slips away, and goes beyond limits. Only timely diagnosis and treatment may work wonders. Your vet provides treatment according to the stage and severity of the condition. Proper medication and treatment would slowly set back your horse to the normal condition.

Prevention Program

Some of the things that you can also do are: Providing electrolytes on a regular basis during hot weather, moving your horse in a shade, or wading through a pool help your horse to combat this condition. Moreover, ceasing grueling activities can definitely keep this condition under check.

During the hot weather ensure that you keep your horse in cooler area. Place pails of fresh and cool water at around the yard, and provide fans in the barn for air circulation during hot weather. These are some of the ways that can specifically prevent Anhidrosis in your horse. Moreover, during hotter months and strenuous exercise periods, keep your horse on electrolyte supplements to replenish the lost nutrients due to punishing schedules under the sun.