The Fire Horse – Health Challenges
When under stress or out of balance, the Fire horse may exhibit the following:
- Stress-related behaviors such as weaving, lip-flapping or tongue-lolling
- Gastric ulcers
- Hyper-sensitivity to fly bites due to thin skin
- Dry skin, sensitive skin
- Anhydrosis
- Burn out
- Anxiety
- Pawing or kicking at feeding time
- Difficulty in rating speed
- High head carriage
- Emotional outbursts
- Sensitivity at poll, difficulty flexing at poll
- Sensitive to pain
- Finicky appetite
- Slow to build muscle
- Resistance to girth tightening
- Tying up
The Fire horse tends to have more trouble in hot, dry weather and if overworked and overheated, can burnout. The excess build-up of Heat symptoms may show up as dry skin and anhydrosis (the inability to sweat). Because Fire can overact (exert excessive control) on Metal, symptoms such as pharyngitis and sinusitis may occur. As Water attempts to control Fire, kidney symptoms like lower back soreness, ovary dysfunction and scanty urine production can appear.
Inflammation can arise quickly in the Fire horse, so pain, heat, and swelling tend to occur with even minor injuries. Ice, cold-water hosing, and liniment braces can help take the heat out of the injured area. Fire horse issues may may be worse during the Summer.
A healthy Fire horse tends to sweat more than the other types, and this constant dampness of the skin can cause hair loss, especially on the face and chest. Frequent bathing to remove sweat, followed by a liniment brace to put oils back in the coat, will help keep hair loss to a minimum.