Mud Rash Aaaaaaargh

[ExitPursuedByaBear]

So, we have been clear for two years now, after a particularly bad episode three years ago which cost nearly £900 in vets fees (don't ask). I have been managing the situation by brushing my mare's legs every morning and all has been ok, but this hideously wet winter has finally got the better of us and she now has a couple of patchs on her pasterns. The trouble is, she is such a sensitive cow little love that she will NOT LET ME NEAR ANYTHING PAINFUL. I have been using H-10 but it was getting claggy so this moring I have washed her lower legs with warm water and hibiscrub and left her in. There are some small scabs still there.

I always believe that the scabs have to come off, but my yard owner berates me frequently for picking! So, do you pick or leave to dry up?

Also, what are you best recommendations for treating mud rash?
(Please don't mention pig oil and sulphur - I have a 5 litre container purchased a couple of years ago in great excitement and it somehow managed to spread her mud rash everywhere).

Anyone else tried H-10? Is it just sudacrem repackaged for the horsey market (and price inflated)

My way of dealing with mud fever: clip legs, wash thoroughly with hibiscrub getting what scabs I can off, towel dry, slather with udder cream, keep in and do road work.

I know lots of people disagree about clipping legs, but it is the only way to actually get to the mud fever if you have a hairy legged horse, and clipped legs are easier to keep clean.

Good luck, mud fever is a nightmare.

Udder cream - thanks, will look into that.

Trouble is, my mare is no longer ridden so arsing about in the field all day with her admirers is the only fun she gets. Any creams I apply then get all clogged up with mud.

Onward and upward.

Unfortunately keeping them out of the mud is the only way to manage it successfully. Can you keep her in for a few days?

She is in today since I washed her legs.

Udder cream now ordered from Amazon.

I have some mud boots which I will use at the weekend and see how she gets on. My main concern is not being able to pick off the scabs. Maybe the udder cream will help them to come off without causing her too much discomfort.

Don't wash with warm water, it opens the pores and lets the bacteria in.

Probably not a popular opinion, but I'd leave well alone until it dries up. IME 'fiddling' with it exacerbates the problem and stresses the owner.

The udder cream acts as a barrier and a moisturiser - the scabs tend to come off really easily but it does need to be done daily and the legs kept as clean as possible.

Alpine - under normal circumstances I would agree, but ime mud fever never just dries up and goes away when it is this muddy.

How maddening. It is the soil itself that is to blame. My horse suffered dreadfully from mud fever at our old yard. Since I moved him 10 years ago to land closer to home he had never ever suffered from it.

Its a microbe. Id be washing with Hibiscrub (antimicrobial) and then slathering with barrier cream. I use sudocreme personally. If your pony is hairy, id definitely clip. You can also get equichaps. Neoprene boots worn for turnout.

The microbes attack the skin so just as in humans, the best thing to do is heal the body from the inside. You may want to feed your horse a supplement which is specially designed to provide essential minerals and vitamins which will then "strengthen" the skin against attack. My 4 ponies and 4 horses live out 24/7 on the farm, and when we have occasionally had mud fever attacks, I have fed them global herbs mudex. I know there are other preparations on the market that are just as successful. There was no need to wash or put vreams on the legs, and within 1-2 weeks they were fine, even my cross thoroughbred mare who has white socks. I have available at all times salt licks which are high in magnesium, copper and zinc and I think this provides a good source of minerals which help the skin. Sometimes if the horse's diet is rich in processed foods it can cause an imbalance in the body which affects the skin, so maybe you could look at this. I had a friend who could not shift the mud fever and had extremely high vets bills, I recommended this to her and she has never looked back. She uses it now as a preventative which I suppose can do no harm, I hope this helps.

OOH, I too reccommend Global Herbs. They are an excellent company, and we have tried many of their products, and they always give results.

Thanks all.

I was once advised by a vet to leave the scabs to dry up themselves. She stood in for 3 weeks and it made not a jot of difference and in the end she had to be sedated and the scabs picked. (She is very, very sensitive/hysterical).

When she had the really bad episode a couple of years ago a vet told me that maybe she had developed some sort of condition that made her more susceptible (she is 20 now) and I spent many sleepless nights worrying that I would have to have pts.

Will definitely try the Global Herbs. She used to have licks but wasn't really interested in them, maybe I will revisit.

I have two pairs of equichaps which are great, but they do tend to turn up at the bottom and her current mud rash is right above the coronet band and would probably be exposed.

Agree it could be something in the soil - she lives at 1000ft above sea level on the Pennines, but I think it is mainly down to the all the fecking rain we have had.

Off to google Global Herbs.

She is a full Irish TB wiht white socks. Never gets it on her black bits.

I hate her standing in all the time.

Exit, just a thought. Could your mare be eating something that doesnt agree with her?
We had a ?TB pony with suicidal tendencies. He once ate an entire oak sapling, and all his white bits went crusty and mud feverish. My friend googled a bit, and apparently racks brain to remember, the damage to the liver by the oak, caused his white bits to become photosensitive. He was kept in, but the problem persisted for some time, until his liver recovered. And oddly enough, it was only his legs, not his white face!

Photosensitive - yes - that it was the vet said a couple of years ago. But she has been fine for the last two winters when we have had masses and masses of snow and very cold temperatures. Also, there isn't much to eat other than grass and sheep droppings.

Would you bloody believe it though - picked up my mobile when I went to take the dog out at lunchtime to find a text from a woman at the stables telling me she had turned my horse out for me. Aaaaaaargh. Will have to start all over again with the hibiscrub. I wouldn't mind but the udder cream had just arrived and I was getting all excited about getting the scabs off.

It's also best not to put boots on once they have it as this can encourage the bacteria to multiply too. Boots are best used to prevent mud fever.

I use sudacreme as a barrier right at the start of the year. It keeps her heels and lower legs protected and waterproof.

Abbicob - but once you have applied sudacreme - how do you brush the mud off? Does it not go all claggy?

You do not interfere and leave it on. Once a week I cold hose and reapply.

Had to call the Vet on Saturday. She stopped eating, was very lame, and was pawing the ground. Vet thought it might be colic - I cried. She clipped her legs and she had a few nasty outbreaks which I am washing every two days with some special stuff and applying betnovate. The vet examined her and could find no evidence of colic and after a few injections she seemed much brighter and ate her feed and haynet. However today her whole leg is filled and she has a funny fluidy pouch over her hock. Have bandaged lower leg and the vet is coming out again on Wednesday.

Bloody horses!

Nightmare - hope all goes better today x

NAF MudGard is an effective barrier cream. Believe they also do a feed supplement.

Exit, I read this in Horse and Hound today. I thought of you.

How awful for you and your poor horse. Let us know what the vet says today.

F* hell Saggy - Not MRSA. Noooooo.

Well - I have cancelled the third vet appt today as she seems to be better, but having said that I am not sure if I have found another small scab higher up her fetlock, or if it is just a bang.

Have been applying stable bandages, washing every two days with some special stuff and applying antibiotic cream twice a day. Antibiotic powders twice a day and 4 bute. But of course she doesn't like her feed with all that in. The vet also sent by registerd post a jar of potassium iodine which cost £60 and is meant to help stop scarring of her lymphatic tissues.

As the swelling has gone down I have stopped the antibitic powders and the bute and she is now having just sugar beet with the potassium iodine - which makes her farts stink . I went to the feed merchants to buy molasses but it was too cold to pour out of the tank.

As the ground is frozen solid at least I can turn her out with no danger of muddly legs. I was feeling more positive until I found the lumpy bit this morning, and now of course the prospect of MRSA!!!

I have purchased some Global Herbs mud x feed supplement but I am resisting feeding it until she has finished on all the veterinary lotions and potions as apparently it has a strong taste. The vet has said she is overweight .

Exit, sorry to upset you. I was trying to help!
I passed on the article, because I'd assume that is is a fairly simple test, that would rule out that option. Or, you would know once and for all and be able to sort the problem.
Don't hate me!

Also, did you stop the antibioticson veterinary advice? Unfinished courses of medication are one of the reasons that infections/viruses become medicine resistant, like MRSA.