‘Nappy rash’ on horse’s bum?? 😳

[Pleasedontdothat]

DHorse’s herd moved onto their summer field at the weekend and they’ve been eating themselves stupid since then. The yard owner is very (too?) relaxed about it as she says they always gorge themselves in the first week, get bloated tummies and squitty poo and then settle down. They’ve never had a case of colic in the summer or laminitis so I can maybe see her point…

DHorse had poo all over his bum so I washed it off this morning and was horrified to find that in places the hair had come off under the poo and the skin was broken in a couple of small patches. He was absolutely fine two days ago. I’ve put flammazine on it and he’s now in a grazing muzzle (and hates me). But I was wondering if anyone had seen something similar? He’s just turned 13 and has never had this happen before.

I can’t go up every day as it’s too far and he gets checked several times a day. I also can’t get him off the grass which would be the obvious solution 😕

Sounds like a poo scald. The poo sticks the to hair and burns the skin.

Grazing muzzle is a good call - I'd be terrified of lami in that set up!

I didn’t know poo scald was a thing .. I’m horrified at how quickly it’s happened. Any ideas on how best to stop the skin from getting any worse? I’ve been washing his bum but that’s a bit of a never-ending task .. what do people think about Vaseline or sudocrem?

I've only seen it happen when they have diarrhoea because the poo seems more acidic.

I'd normally go with Vaseline but not if they're out in the sun as it can burn. Zinc oxide cream is worth a shot.

Sudocrem 😉

I’d be looking to move him , it’s a very irresponsible approach to say they’ve never had a colic or lami , it will happen eventually . I’d also be wary of relying on a grazing muzzle , our pony gets hers off with the assistance of her friend - it’s a bit like the scene from Lady and the Tramp !

I have Sudocrem 👍🏻

We are moving later in the summer to our own place so I’ll be able to manage the grazing according to his needs. We’re a bit stuck as he needs to be out 24/7 for his asthma - and to be fair, he was fine with this routine last summer so I’m not sure what’s changed this year to make him not cope with it.

I am fully aware the chances of him keeping the muzzle on are low - he’s herd boss and the other geldings are very good at helping him dispose of fly masks etc 😬. But it’s better than doing nothing … I’ve been told I can electric fence a bit of the winter field off if I really need him off the lush grass but I’d have to supply the fencing and he’d be on his own so that’s not ideal either

I'd be a bit careful with the sudocream to start - some horses can be sensitive to the lavender in it! (found that out the hard way! 🙄)

The skin around his bum is now fine as the diarrhoea appears to have stopped - unfortunately the grazing muzzle is rubbing and he now has raw patches under his skin 😢

Check out flexible filly muzzles, they’re expensive and a bit of a faff to fit, but they are so much better than traditional muzzles (my mare used to get rubbed horribly by hers)