# Spot on flank always wet



## happycat (Dec 22, 2003)

My mare has an odd spot on her right flank that appears and feels wet. Noticed it a week ago Thursday after she was trailered to farrier, thought nothing of it because I thought the trailer leaked or dripped on her. Noticed it again two days later, but again she was trailered out to ride, so wasn't overly concerned. 

My dh went out again today (she is boarded; son was in accident earlier this week so we have not seen her since), and she has the wet spot in the same area, but has not been in the trailer. 

It is wet to the touch, but we feel no wound, and she does not flinch. No smell, and nothing crusty at all. It's approx 1/2" wide, 2-3 inches long. She is in otherwise fine health. Any idea what this could be, maybe a fungal infection or what?

She is in a paddock by herself, and it's highly unlikely the adjacent horse could have kicked her (he's our gelding, very gentle and submissive to her).


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## malinda (May 12, 2002)

I used to have a horse here who would sweat at the drop of a hat, but only on the brand on his hip. The rest of his body would sweat normally.

Just last weekend I met a horse who also would sweat on a spot of his skin where he had to have a blocked follicle surgically removed. The rest of his body also would sweat normally, but that one spot would just sweat without any strenuous exercise at all.

Maybe she has something like an old injury or scar that causes her to sweat in that one spot?


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## jill.costello (Aug 18, 2004)

Are you sure she's not swinging her head around to bite at her own flank? it is fly season...


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## happycat (Dec 22, 2003)

It seems odd that it would be in the same spot to get a fly or bug, and nowhere else. But it's possible I suppose, that she has one area that is particularly sensitive. We've had a very late summer so the bugs are just starting to come out the last two weeks. 

She is a sweaty horse, but at each of these three times we noticed the spot she was not doing anything strenuous, nor was she sweating anywhere else. 

I've had her for quite a while and never noticed anything like it before. I'll check on her again in a day or two and observe more carefully.


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

malinda said:


> I used to have a horse here who would sweat at the drop of a hat, but only on the brand on his hip. The rest of his body would sweat normally.
> 
> Just last weekend I met a horse who also would sweat on a spot of his skin where he had to have a blocked follicle surgically removed. The rest of his body also would sweat normally, but that one spot would just sweat without any strenuous exercise at all.
> 
> Maybe she has something like an old injury or scar that causes her to sweat in that one spot?


My boarder's rescue TB has a spot like this - fairly large (about 2" x 3" in size). It sweats all the time and as a result it is lighter in color from bleaching, and often you will see a white ring at the edge where the salt has dried.

The vet said that this is typically the result of a serious injury to the skin that has damaged the nerves and/or sweat glands - he thinks based on the size & shape of this one might have been a bite.

There are things that can be done if necessary -- he said botox injections are actually a pretty simple cure. But only necessary if you find problem relating to it -- since the skin is obviously compromised, it can be more likely to get rain rot, etc.


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## Sededl (Jan 14, 2011)

Maybe a compulsive behavior? maybe she licking or chewing the area continuly? Sounds more like a sweat gland issue though


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## happycat (Dec 22, 2003)

Checked on her again yesterday, and the spot was not wet, but it did have a bit of a white dried appearance and texture to it. It just seems so strange that all these years we have noticed nothing, and it just started. 

Thanks for the input, I appreciate it.


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## happycat (Dec 22, 2003)

We went riding today, first time in two weeks. It was about 68 degrees, only rode about 1/2 hour and it was a very easy trail ride. She sweat, but only on this spot. so it certainly sounds like a sweat gland problem. 

But, she's not bothered by it in the least. Doesn't flinch when I touch it, or brush it; can't feel anything different on or beneath the skin. Just seems so odd that it would just start like this, with no injury (that we are aware of). 

I think we are just going to keep watching it to be sure she is not adversely affected in any way.


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## offthegrid (Aug 11, 2009)

It does sound like a sweat gland issue. I guess it's not all that uncommon; I wonder if maybe she had a bug bite or something that actually did some minor damage to a sweat gland?

As I said, my boarder's horse has a large spot and we just ignore it. Keep it in the back of your mind when grooming, etc. just to make sure it isn't doing anything different -- getting scabby/crusty, for example -- which might suggest rain rot or other skin condition that is occurring. 

My boarder's horse came to us from a rescue with this spot - the rescue said she had a horrible case of rainrot when they pulled her from the kill pen at Camelot. But whether the "sweaty" spot is a result of the rainrot, or the rainrot was bad because of the sweaty spot....we'll never know. But it's been over a year and it looks perfectly normal/healthy, other than the fact that it's sometimes wet and a bit lighter in appearance. We've had no reoccurance of rain rot or anything else.


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## cnvh (Jun 11, 2008)

My TB has a wonky sweat spot like this that periodically appears on his RF shoulder blade, maybe 1"x3", a few inches in front of where the saddle pad sits. It was unnoticeable until he did ANY sort of exertion, but once he was asked to do anything more than walk in from the pasture (even just ground work in the dead of winter), it would reappear. He had it when I first got him and it hung around for a couple of months before eventually disappearing, and it's reappeared twice since, both times hanging around for a month or so before disappearing.

Coincidentally, when The Sweat Mark appears, Horse starts exhibiting very slight lameness on his LH, namely occasionally swapping leads behind at the canter. He ONLY does this during periods when The Sweat Mark is making its appearance, so I'm sure it's related somehow.

I've read/been told that these sweat marks are indicative of nerve damage at the site. Since my horse raced, I'm guessing maybe he had a gate accident or something, but that's pure speculation on my part.


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## Lisa in WA (Oct 11, 2004)

cnvh said:


> My TB has a wonky sweat spot like this that periodically appears on his RF shoulder blade, maybe 1"x3", a few inches in front of where the saddle pad sits. It was unnoticeable until he did ANY sort of exertion, but once he was asked to do anything more than walk in from the pasture (even just ground work in the dead of winter), it would reappear. He had it when I first got him and it hung around for a couple of months before eventually disappearing, and it's reappeared twice since, both times hanging around for a month or so before disappearing.
> 
> Coincidentally, when The Sweat Mark appears, Horse starts exhibiting very slight lameness on his LH, namely occasionally swapping leads behind at the canter. He ONLY does this during periods when The Sweat Mark is making its appearance, so I'm sure it's related somehow.
> 
> I've read/been told that these sweat marks are indicative of nerve damage at the site. Since my horse raced, I'm guessing maybe he had a gate accident or something, but that's pure speculation on my part.


You might want to look into tying up. There are different degrees of it and this sounds kind of like that. If it is and it goes untreated, it can take out the horse's kidneys.


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