Anyone experienced this- possible mud allergy?

[TheGreyOne]

Would like to say horse is now 100% fine else I wouldn’t be on here, I’d be with the vet, but this has never happened to us before so intrigued as to what peoples thoughts were and if you’ve had similar experiences.

So went for a hack tonight, obviously had some awful weather so it was very wet. Had a lovely time, horse felt completely normal, then finished with a gallop which resulted in very muddy horses.
When I untacked I noticed my horse incessantly pawing and kicking which is unlike him especially after hard work. I took him into the arena to see if he just wanted a roll before being hosed off. He proceeded to show what I can only describe as aggressive colic symptoms- kicking stomach, rolling, heavy breathing etc.

I immediately went into colic mode trying to get him to walk which he did fine aside from stamping his hind legs. He was also pooing, eating etc no issues. After watching him for a bit I noticed he was trying to cross his back legs to rub them together, and after scratching his legs I found out he was just insanely itchy.

I immediately hosed him off, noticed every area that was muddy was burning hot. Once it was hosed and allowed to cool down he seemed completely fine apart from a bit of leftover sensitivity.

Luckily I have a vet tech friend on site who gave us allergy meds however she was also quite confused. He’s never had any reaction to the ground near us, nor has he ever been a sensitive horse so it must have been incredibly uncomfortable for him to react so violently. Maybe it sounds silly but I believe it could be the mud itself thats caused a reaction but I can’t think why.

 

[ChipsChaps]

I'd be wondering where you galloped - was it recently treated with fertilizer, weedkiller, anything weird? Is the soil a different type to at home? Mud can create a "heating", insulating layer, and I could see an argument that if it got deep to the skin, it could cause irritation - it certainly dries out my hands! Very unusual, and probably very scary for you. Glad he's ok!

 

[Carrottom]

A couple of horses at the yard where i livery my horse have shown irritation after standing in the mud, stamping and scratching around their patterns.

 

[visa_bot]

When I ran a livery yard we got a vet out for a horse showing colic symptoms and it turned out he had bugs of some kind in his sheath. A good clean out and he was back to normal with great relief of his owner. i know the meds wouldn’t impact that, but it‘s possible.

 

[TheGreyOne]

I'd be wondering where you galloped - was it recently treated with fertilizer, weedkiller, anything weird? Is the soil a different type to at home? Mud can create a "heating", insulating layer, and I could see an argument that if it got deep to the skin, it could cause irritation - it certainly dries out my hands! Very unusual, and probably very scary for you. Glad he's ok!

This was my first thought however the other horses present had no issues, although maybe he was extra sensitive to it so still a possibility. Thank you x

 

[GreyDot]

When I ran a livery yard we got a vet out for a horse showing colic symptoms and it turned out he had bugs of some kind in his sheath. A good clean out and he was back to normal with great relief of his owner. i know the meds wouldn’t impact that, but it‘s possible.

Almost the same happened to me - got emergency vet out as I thought he was colicking but he was pooing. Turned out to be the sheath, no bugs but was astonishingly dirty.

 

[Goldenstar]

I have seen this and it was caused by the horse going through some very green nettles .
I think it is likely your horse came into contact with an irritant .