STACEY OKE, DVM, MSC
W
hen your gray comes in from the pasture as a bay or your
gelding is crusty with sweat and dust after a summer ride,
you reach for the hose and bucket. But is your bathing ritual
giving him a top-to-bottom gleam … or is it stripping the skin
of natural oils and decimating the populations of healthy microorgan-
isms that help fight infection?
Vets examine whether we help or harm horses with frequent lathering and rinsing
"It is amazing how often certain horses
get bathed—up to three times a day in some
cases, and then they are simply put back
in their stalls damp," says Lori Bidwell,
DVM, Dipl. ACVAA, co-owner and founder
of Kentucky-based East West Equine Sports
Medicine. Bidwell has worked with thou-
sands of performance horses and has pretty
much seen it all when it comes to skin
issues.
In this article, we'll learn about the horse's
largest organ system—the skin: what it looks
like, what functions it serves, and how daily
primping and preening can wreak havoc on
this vital structure.
Skin Deep
You're likely familiar with the different
degrees of burns fire victims sustain. What
you might not realize is that these degrees
refer to the layer of skin the burn reaches.
LAYER 1: The Epidermis This outermost
layer produces and contains specialized
skin cells called keratinocytes. They migrate
upward from the base of the epidermis,
continually replacing sloughed skin cells—
much like our fingernails continually grow
from near the cuticle and the horse's hoof
grows from the coronary band. Other cells
in the epidermis include pigment- producing
melanocytes that give skin and hair their
color and Langerhans cells that help fight
infection, playing an important role in the
skin's immune system.
Although hairs do indeed pass through
the epidermis, the follicles are actually in
the layer just beneath, called the dermis.
Nonetheless, hairs help protect the skin
from ultraviolet light and physical damage
(slight abrasions, insects, mild chemicals)
and facilitate thermoregulation—cooling
and warming by changing their position
relative to the skin.
LAYER 2: The Dermis This layer, which
makes up the bulk of the organ, contains a
variety of structures, including blood vessels,
14
TheHorse.com THE HORSE June 2017
To Bathe or
Not to Bathe ?