Can you tell us a little about Harry-- his breed, age, height, , if he's registered, how long you've owned him, etc.?

Percheron, 15 years old, approx 16.2H and approx. 1900lbs last time I weighed him, gelding, not registered..I bought him when he was 5 months old.

How did you find Harry?

I went to see a Belgian stallion to breed a mare to, the guy also had a perfectly matched pair of Percherons that he bought at auction and bred together.gee, ya suppose they may have been brother and sister...same height, color and one year apart in age. They had just had Harry, and he was a cute little guy with only patches of hair missing, and a septic knee. I told him if he didn't sell the baby with the team, to call me. He called 5 months later and said the team sold, and they didn't want the foal..so we made a deal (before I saw him again) he was in such poor shape, that I didn't want to leave him..so I paid the man and left. I have now heard, that this man is so upset about our story..that he has been heard to say that he should have killed the son of a @#$%& when he had the chance. Nice guy huh?!



Was he born hairless, or did this develop later?

He was born mostly with hair..patches missing, the the loose hair was in the sack with him when he was born.

Does he have any hair on his body, mane, or tail?

The larger follicles do get the occasional hair, like some mane, some tail, few whiskers and some longer hairs on his chin, neck, some on his legs..just here and there, every 5 or 6 inches...and it is long, stringy, wirey hair..like pig hair almost



Do any of his ancestors or siblings, as far as you know, have hair loss? Is this believed to be genetic?

I have heard that they had at least one other foal and it was normal. The mare did have a uterine infection several weeks before she foaled, that could have caused it, or the vet that treated Harry for his septic knee when he was born said that she thought, maybe the antibiotics that she used may have caused it...the university said that would not be possible.

Can he be ridden at all, for example, bareback or with a pad?

I used to ride him, with a saddle..but now he is to sore because of arthritis in his legs etc. He has never been able to go far..maybe 20 minutes and he would get very tired and would stumble..he also has EPSM that is pretty severe and without being on the high fat/low carb diet..he would not be able to move..much less survive.

Because of his condition, does he need special care, or is he prone to any skin problems?
Tons of special care. He gets fungal infections, he is prone to respiratory problems, muscle problems...can't be out in the sun to much, he will burn his white spots, and also can have heat stroke (he was really bad at falling asleep in the sun when he was younger and getting much to hot, so I called him the bat boy and put him in during the day, and out at night) He gets dry skin if it's windy, and we use different ointments on him. Also, he gets a lot of greasy spots on his blankets from his skin oils and tends to go through blankets alot..I used to call him shredder. He requires lots of blankets of different weights that we layer on him etc.

Do you think Harry knows he's different? Does he act any differently because of his condition?
He is low man on the totem pole..even babies will chase him. He has kicked at another horse maybe three times in his life. HE is super mellow and sweet and wouldn't hurt anything. He lets a cat ride on his back...and will follow anyone anywhere. He is really an amazing animal and will do anything for me..even if it causes him pain. He suffered from laminitis last year and was down approx 23 hours a day..and would lay there while I bandaged his feet. He would hold them up for me as long as he could..then almost collapse. I actually ruptured a disc in my neck..working on him...requiring my neck to be fused. He would do anything for me, and I would do anything for him. I would sit there crying working on him..finish then go to the chiropracter and get worked on so I could make it another day.

Have any studies been done on him to try to determine the cause of his condition? If so, what did they find?

He has skin biopsies all over the country and has had several papers written about him in veterinary text books (mainly in the dermatology texts). Basically, they found that he most closely resembles a "baldy" calf. The follicles are in tact, but are arranged in an odd manner. They really do not know why...and said that it is a worst case scenario..it won't happen again....so why study it further is what I was told.



I know in the past hairless horses were exhibited at circuses or viewed publicly. Do you do that, or have any such plans?

I have taken him to the "Ag Fest" in Salem Oregon, it is a local festival to celebrate oregon agriculture...he was in the petting zoo, for kids to pet etc. I left crying both years that I took him..from rude comments made by people. I have taken him to my childrens schools several times and talked about a commitment to caring for you animals..and he went to the NW Horse Expo in March of 2002 ..Dr. Beth Valentine gave a talk about him and he was present for people to see. She talked a lot about the EPSM and control of it with diet. This was three months after my husband died and was a very difficult time when I was actually trying to find a home for Harry...I cried a lot of the time there..but was glad that I went. Harry is a super show off. I had him in a round pen getting a little exercise since the expo was 4 days long...people would line up on the rail..he would walk to a person, spend a couple minutes, then move on to the next person on the rail...and repeat, he got to the end...and started over...cracked me up...me with tears in my eyes the whole time. Friends of mine helped me make it through some rough times, helping pay for his feed, blankets etc. until I got back on my feet.

Do you take him to any shows or horse events? I can imagine the look on a judge's face if he was entered in a halter class!

I did take him to one show when he was a baby...I wanted him to get out and get used to going places..so we went in and schooled at a schooling show (I turned my number over so I wouldn't upset anyone) and they had to announce that he was not contagious.



Does Harry live with other horses?

Yes, and he has been my "weaning buddy" for years as he is great with the babies. We have quarter horses.


I've been wondering. Did you name him Harry, or did he have that name already?

He came that way...I call him Harrison a lot so that it is a little classier as he is very regal looking.