Questions about cremellos

I think your Mum may be thinking back to the comments you used to get about so called Albinos which we now know as double dilutes. I do not own one but I think they may be more sensitive to sunburn but I have not heard that they get skin cancers like greys do. I have also not heard that they suffer with sun sensitivety with thier eyes either but I would asume that even if they did yes a flymask would be fine......we want to see pictures if she likes it !!!

[quote="lipigirl"]I think your Mum may be thinking back to the comments you used to get about so called Albinos which we now know as double dilutes. I do not own one but I think they may be more sensitive to sunburn but I have not heard that they get skin cancers like greys do. I have also not heard that they suffer with sun sensitivety with thier eyes either but I would asume that even if they did yes a flymask would be fine......we want to see pictures if she likes it !!![/quote]

I do know of a cremello that has problems with the sunlight, but that might not be because she's a cremello, it could be something else.

Lol, I think you're right. It took me a while to convince Mom that he was "white" he was [i]cremello[/i]. :lol:

Oh yes, I'll be sure to post pictures if we end up buying him!

IMO, I do not believe it is the color of the eyes that causes any sunlight problems, but is more one of reflected light from the pale coloring of their faces. Bald and Apron-faces can have similar sensitivities. I remember with cattle, Hereford breeders in the sunny Western/dry/desert areas wanted a fairly large-ish red spot around the eyes to prevent sun-squinting from light reflecting off white faces.

They supposedly don't sunburn, but I've been told some actually do... but not as bad as whites. I've never heard of one having trouble with their eyes except for light sunburning around the lid. A fly mask would definitely stop any of those issues (I know that from personal experience with a baldy face). Especially the UV blocking fly masks. The muzzle and flank will be most susceptible to sunburn, but if they have any type of shade during they day I seriously doubt you'd have a problem. I've known cremellos on full time turnout with no issues.

I have never had a problem with CrCrs and sunburn.
I tended not to fuss with them, and was willing to allow a certain level of "burn" on their noses (which was where they were affected, never heard of nor had body burn, but then neither did I ever clip one...) and did not pile on the sunscreen.
People tend to think that no degree of sunburn is acceptable, whereas, as with most things, if you are sensible about it (and do not have a bloody great hole in the ozone layer directly over you heads :o ) it is OK to "weather" a bit.
I was constantly exposed to (far safer levels of ) sun in my youth (admittedly fifty years ago and more) and I can remember one summer only when my mother put a t shirt on me on the beach, and that only lasted five minutes as I shed it as soon as I went in the water, and would not put it back on again (I have NO idea how I got away with this sort of behaviour, my mother did not tolerate it and I know I would have been smacked, but I think I was just SO bloody minded I used to wear her down... :shock: )
I burned not at all, and to this day I do not burn, I can go out into a really hot sun (yeah, stop sniggering you lot, it does actually stop raining here) and put on no sun cream at all (never remember it) and never burn.
The last time I burned was when I was sixteen and went to Italy for the first time. The sun was really much hotter and dryer than I was used to and I burned, but that was it, it was over and gone in a couple of days and I never burned again.

OK, there was a point to this ramble.

Let the animal burn a little and it will build up a resistance and actually won't get skin cancer by doing so!!!

Yup, you're right. That happened with Lace. I sunblocked her religiously the first year as she burned pretty badly. The second year she didn't seem to burn as bad so I only did it occasionally. This year she didn't burn even once and I did nothing.

:? er can I just interject here that my Gran never sunbathed a day in her life but gardened without a hat all her life so she should have been resistant to it - she got skin cancer on her face very badly at 70....so not too sure that will always work for everyone !

ACC I agree there, the cremellos & DD here in Oz that I have seen with eye or sunburn issues are the ones that have been locked up away from sun, had creams and masks on, etc. the ones left in the paddock never had problems :)

My tobi mare got sun burnt this year on her white spot on her shoulder, I put sun block on it after that, thick zinc... I think depending on the grazing is why some get burnt some years and not others, if grass is thick they get full and nap more with faces off the ground and more tward the sun, when its slim pickens I noticed my white faces got burnt less as they grazed for longer rather then naping in the sun.

Thanks for the all the replies! The horse turned out to not be the right one for my mom, but now I'll have "all" the answers if we ever look at another cremello. :lol:

Shoot got here too late... Luna does have a slight "bright light" issue, but as stated it is due to his coat reflecting the light. He is on 24/7 turn out, but doesn't burn much now, however, when I first got him, he was horrible around his muzzle, ear tips and eyelids to the point I had to keep him swaddled in 50 spf sun screen :oops: . Not so much the second year and now 2 yrs later he is fine with very little sunscreen (unless we are going to be out in the sun all day without little shade).

Unfortunately for him :sad - he is going to be looking for a new home soon :cry: . I never could get his papers and hubby insist that I pick up a young reg. colt next spring (and don't have room for 2 studs - done that, been there and it wasn't pretty). :hammer

That's too bad you have to sell him, critterkeeper. :(

About the whole building up a resistance thing, I have no doubt it works for some horses, but unfortunately it doesn't work for my mare. Who, by the way, is a dark bay, no white markings. (She also has never read "The Equine Rulebook") Every spring/summer she ends up getting sunburned on her nose, and I almost never put sunscreen on her. It's not a bad sunburn, but it's enough to make her peel.

That almost sounds more like fungus.

[quote="accphotography"]That almost sounds more like fungus.[/quote]

Really? That's funny that she would only get it in the spring. But then again, the grass is wet, making her nose wet. I'll have to take a picture next spring.

Yup, that's exactly it. I've known several dark horses here to get the fungus there from the wet mornings. Those that go out once the sun has dried the grass don't seem to have a problem, but the ones that stay out overnight get it. I've gotten where I can tell the difference between Lace having sunburn and having this fungus, but it's easy because I have so much pink skin to look at.