Crushed Velvet

The exact cause of crushed velvet is unknown.

That may be because there seem to be so many different causes.

Crushed velvet is also called puzzle coat, as well as many other names. It is when the hair across the body grows in different directions. It can cover the whole body or different pieces of the body, it can be present from birth or show up seasonally.

All of these different traits need to be taken into account when judging the cause of the crushed velvet.

Some foals are born with crushed velvet. There are different breeds the trait seems to run in, Friesian and Welsh are a couple. There are also theories that older mares will throw crushed velvet in their foals. When present from birth there doesn’t seem to be any connection to health issues.

Many foals will develop crushed velvet as they go through large growth spurts. Usually from yearling to three years old. Scientists say that growing pains don’t actually exist, but children will still let you know that these stages of life can be painful as your body stretches and rearranges. The velvet at this stage seems to go along with the theory that it is caused by fascial tension and soreness in the body.

In humans growing pains are more likely to occur in children who are hypermobile. It would be interesting to find enough young horses with baby crushed velvet to see if there was any connection there.

If crushed velvet shows up in the summer along with bugs and pollen, watery eyes and welts from bites, then it is probably related to allergies.

Sometimes the crushed velvet shows soreness. We will see it along with lameness, stiffness, or injury. There are times we don’t know there is anything wrong with the horse until long after the fact. Then we can look back and realize that we were seeing a symptom all along.

It is important to look at the circumstances around the appearance of crushed velvet before jumping to conclusions about what could be causing it.

Want to know more? horsewhorls.com

Or find your copy of Understanding Horse Whorls by Noche Miller on Amazon