Are mallenders/mud fever linked to coat changes?

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Surbie

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The big cob I look after has just started developing what I am told is mallenders & mud fever. I was also told he had them when he arrived at the yard.

He has dry scabby lesions on the sides of his front legs, below the knee and a tiny bit behind one knee. He has big scabby bits behind his fetlocks, around the ergot and on the pastern, worse on the near fore. Both hinds are clear currently. It's not like the grease on the heels of the little cobblet I've also been looking after recently.

He had them in April while shedding. They then disappeared totally for summer and are reappearing with his new winter coat & thicker feathers. Are both conditions linked with the additional keratin he'll be producing to grow the coat?

Is there anything else I should/could be doing? I previously used salt water & sudocreme on it after combing out/picking off the scabs that weren't on tight (into a paper towel, not on the floor, just in case it was mite-related though he doesn't stamp or bite like others I have seen with feather mites). I've patch tested pig oil & sulphur and that seemed to be ok - tried it on one hind leg tonight to see how that goes.

If I don't pick off the scabs he chews his pasterns every now and then, which does more damage than my fingers could.

He's out in a field for 18 hours/day and barefoot.

(I'm sorry I don't have pictures - I tried but he's black and the photos just didn't come out well enough to see anything)

Thanks very much for reading and in advance for advice! :) I hope it isn't too noddy a question.
 
Thats an interesting take FF. Sadly I don't feed extra magnesium to my cob who has it. Wish there was such an easy response!

Neither condition is directly linked to coat changes OP - but the longer coat holds both bacteria and sebaceous secretions closer to the skin, makes grooming less efficient and masks the early signs - all making it easier to miss. The two conditions are not linked either - Mallenders is just something the horse has or hasn't got. Its an overproduction by their own body. Mud fever is caused by bacteria in the soil. I find pig oil and sulphur the most effective way to manage both - but you have to be super vigilant and get on top of it every time. If you are feeding additional magnesium - certainly worth stopping that to see what happens though!
 
No but it made me wonder if sensitivity to high mag content in the soil could be one reason why they get it. Not sure that helps much, but mag definitely makes her skin dry everywhere and appears to cause the mallanders too. New one has it as well so will be interesting to see if it bogs off with change of home!
 
My friend's horse suffers a lot from this and she found the best treatment for clearing scabs on her horse was Gold Label Wondergel.
 
Interesting point by FW. My draft suffered badly at my old yard but is loads better 3 months after moving. I wondered whether it was the change in grass - but no idea if old yard was high Mg. Even tho it's not mud fever the NAF stuff designed for it helped with his scabby bits.
 
I do wonder why he has mallenders but not (so far) sallenders. He came to the yard covered in gubbins, but this was before my time & this is the first winter I will see him through.

I hope pig oil works on him. I know it doesn't do it for every horse.

He has no extra magnesium, but that's a good tip to try and remember! I don't know if there's been an analysis of the grass - we're on London clay.
 
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