Does the mane and tail get thinner with age?

[BuckSkinBabe]

I have a 24 year old arab and I have noticed that this winter her mane and tail are starting to look really thin. Is this something that naturally happens as horses age or is just a winter thing? As her coat got longer her mane and tail got sparse so I am kind of confused.

[anon]

no
are you overgrooming it?

could be a thyroid issue

[BuckSkinBabe]

Nope she barely gets groomed this time of year for she barely gets ridden during the winter.

If this is a sign of something serious then I am just going to let her go. She is old and I am not going to make her go through treatments at this age to keep her alive. It is unfair to her.

Other than her mane though, she is in good health. She eats well and still has a lot of vigor.

[specialsparkle3]

I do think that finer breeds ie TBs Arabs TBx do get thinner manes as they get older. Mine certainly have and they are very healthy (touch wood). After all human hair often gets thinner, in men and women. I really would'nt worry. Happy New Year ;D

[Val (Toons&co)]

Jaz gets this in winter (seems all her energy goes into growing that extra fluffy coat) then it grows stronger again in spring. Altho Jaz does have metabolic problems I think it is something kind of natural (bit like us getting finer thinner hair with age). The other thing is vit/min balance. Older horses need extra supplements and even younger ones as since they've been on a balancer Toons' (7 yo) relatively thin mane has grown back to something more reasonable.

[nimrod]

my old boy never did......

are you using a rug with a neck cover? that could do it. also, my friend has 2 arabs and one of theirs tail is looking pretty thin

[JW]

It's hard to say why she's getting a bit thin in the mane & tail department. I don't necessarily think it's age. We had a very old Peruvian Paso, that had to put down at 26, his mane and tail was just as long and thick as it was when he was a youngster. Could be her breed....as long as she's in good health, I wouldn't worry...though!

[BuckSkinBabe]

nimrod said:

are you using a rug with a neck cover? that could do it. also, my friend has 2 arabs and one of theirs tail is looking pretty thin

Nope I am not using any rugging method at all. Both my horses come and go inside and outside whenever they please and they both have thick winter coats. It could be just the breed. Although now that I think about it, we did have a feed bucket for a couple weeks that both of them kept getting their manes and tails caught in. Perhaps she got her mane caught more than the other horse. I have since got a different bucket, so it may be in the process of growing back.

[jen1]

you dont have any youngsters about do you,my foals eaten her way through 4 tails and 2 manes,dread to think what her intestines are like

[BuckSkinBabe]

jen1 said:

you dont have any youngsters about do you,my foals eaten her way through 4 tails and 2 manes,dread to think what her intestines are like

Nope, I just have her and Buddy, my gelding. He likes to nip at her once in a while, but I have never seen him go for her mane or tail.

[mandy]

My old new forest pony had thickest tail ever in his younger days and now it is a little wisp in comparison. His mane is still very unruly byt the tail - just doesn;t want to grow!

[sugar]

Maybe her metabolism is not as good as it was and she's not absorbing enough vitamins and minerals? I would increase the amount of vit/min supplement she gets and maybe get her teeth checked, too.

[Roz]

BSB I would think it's age, our 30 year old Arab mare has never had the thickest of manes and tails but it has got a bit thinner over the years and whiter too. She's a chestnut (see photo of her below (beneath my lad)) and she's always had a bit of white running through, but now it 's predominately white. However seeing as she's the equivalent of 90 in human years we're not surprised!

[lucy2]

We have just lost our 30 year old TB. He used to have a wonderful tail, which in his later years was definately thining as was his mane.
Our 25 year old TB x still has a wonder mane but his tail has become more and more sparce over the last few years. At the end of the day horses are a bit like people - some retain a full head of hair, some go grey (and I've seen horses go very grey) but hopefullly they don't go bald!