Best way to prevent mud fever before it starts

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MrsMurs

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As the title really - although I've just realised how badly worded it is! :o
I've been reading up about Lincoln Muddy Buddy cream and powder, Avon Skin so Soft and Sudacrem treatments, but they seem to be for managing existing mud fever.
If you have a horse prone to this condition- clipped white legs, rugged and turned out 24/7/365, and a field likely to get muddy etc., what's the best, cost effective way to be ahead of situation before it even begins?
Many thanks in advance
 
I can't advise so hoping someone comes along who can but my big horse suffers on one hind white leg. I havery had him for 13 years and each year he gets a few scabs. I leave them well alone and this has worked in the past. Turned him out yesterday with a few scabs as usual, came home last night to find a huge sore crusty patch where scabs had been?? NEVER in all the years I have owned him has he had this. Can only assume warm weather to blame??
 
Depending on what you do with him/her is it possible to leave the legs unclipped? Something like a hunter clip? That is going to be the cheapest natural protection available.

I'm afraid I've only seen it on horses stabled for part of the time so can't really comment on what is best for those out 24/7 (although lucky horse to have that available!).
 
Pig oil. With sulphur if the horse can tolerate it. I have a fully clipped coloured very prone to mud fever. Leaving his legs unclipped is not an option; partly as it hides early signs and would make teatement harder. But mainly because he is hunted frequently and heavy feathers would be uncomfortable for him in our muddy country.

Pig oil shields the skin both from the bacteria which cause mud fever and from the wet which weakens the skin. Sulphur will kill the bacteria which is why it works better in combination but some horses find the sulphur too harsh. Don't wash the lower legs at all. Simply brush off dried mud in the morning. With a sufficient oil coat most will fall off overnight anyway. Don't necessarily re-oil every day - especially if you are using sulphur. Every 2 - 3 days is fine. Less if the weather is dry.
 
Shay said:
Pig oil. With sulphur if the horse can tolerate it. I have a fully clipped coloured very prone to mud fever. Leaving his legs unclipped is not an option; partly as it hides early signs and would make teatement harder. But mainly because he is hunted frequently and heavy feathers would be uncomfortable for him in our muddy country.

Pig oil shields the skin both from the bacteria which cause mud fever and from the wet which weakens the skin. Sulphur will kill the bacteria which is why it works better in combination but some horses find the sulphur too harsh. Don't wash the lower legs at all. Simply brush off dried mud in the morning. With a sufficient oil coat most will fall off overnight anyway. Don't necessarily re-oil every day - especially if you are using sulphur. Every 2 - 3 days is fine. Less if the weather is dry.
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Great practical advice, thank you. Couple of questions, if horse is out 24/7 over a prolonged wet period (stables are still at planning stages at the mo!), and so the legs never dry, is it still best to leave the legs well alone until the conditions become such that you can brush the mud off and re-apply the pig oil and sulphur?

Any options to using the sulphur if the horse has a reaction to it?

Thanks once again, much appreciated.
 
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Shay said:
Pig oil. With sulphur if the horse can tolerate it. I have a fully clipped coloured very prone to mud fever. Leaving his legs unclipped is not an option; partly as it hides early signs and would make teatement harder. But mainly because he is hunted frequently and heavy feathers would be uncomfortable for him in our muddy country.

Pig oil shields the skin both from the bacteria which cause mud fever and from the wet which weakens the skin. Sulphur will kill the bacteria which is why it works better in combination but some horses find the sulphur too harsh. Don't wash the lower legs at all. Simply brush off dried mud in the morning. With a sufficient oil coat most will fall off overnight anyway. Don't necessarily re-oil every day - especially if you are using sulphur. Every 2 - 3 days is fine. Less if the weather is dry.
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Definitely this :) you can buy gold LAbel spray but I find this a bit thin, I get Lincoln, nice and thick, I put it in a tupperware soup bowl, use latex gloves and smother :)
 
Bit confused as to why the mud is going to be dry in the morning when horse is out 24/7 with stables not built yet?

ETA: just seen OP has asked more or less same question so ignore this!
 
I use pig oil too - on a horse who is out 24/7 with clipped legs. I spray it onto muddy legs - and all the mud slides off. Been doing it this way for two years (multiple horses) and it works a treat.
They occasionally get their legs washed (Equimins winter wash) before they work, or they stand in a for a few hours. Either way, their legs are dry before they go back out in the mud!
 
Yep, another vote for pig oil and sulphur. It's working really well (so far!) for my white-legged-mud-monster. All previous heat in the heels has gone, and no scabs at all at the moment. Great stuff!
 
Road work with cotton wool under bandages and getting the horse working enough to be warm will dry the legs off, if you've gone a few days without them drying at all. Then brush mud off after the ride and treat.
 
I'm a firm believer that diet plays a massive part. No science to prove it, only anecdotal evidence but 3 horses where the diet has been changed to a barefoot friendly diet (as well as my Nugz) have either seen the mud fever disappear completely or reduced to the point its only a couple of minor scabs that don't need attention. Same horses have also had relief from sweet itch since changing diet and they haven't moved fields so still in same conditions.
 
Lots of people with barefoot horses, including me, report a compete absence of mud fever once they supplement copper and zinc. I have eleven white legs in four horses and zero mud fever since balancing minerals.


Cross posted NlP :) I've also seen one sweet itch cure.
 
My grey Arab lives out 24/7 and I use pig oil and sulphur. Have started putting it on now and will continue doing it sporadically - basically when I can brush all the mud off her legs. It works well for her - from reading others posts I should probably reapply more often that I do. Added bonus is that the mud seems to come off more easily! I also avoid washing off her legs - as that seems to make her worse.
 
Glad someone else has mentioned diet. I have posted before about this - I had a TB x Hannovarian mare that was very, very susceptible to mud fever. She was kept in overnight, so legs dried off, and I used to put Vaseline on her legs every morning before she went out, mostly in the heels, but she was still get it a couple of times during the winter, when I found the Equine America Fungatrol very effective as a cure.

However, I decided to change her diet to a balancer, the original one which was ................... can't remember, but it was before Blue Chip and all the others. I could also see her generally improving before my eyes on the balancer. I guess the reason was that although I was giving her hard feed it probably wasn't the full quantity, yet on the balancer a mug full was giving her all the vits and mins she needed.

I realised after a bit that she hadn't had an episode of mud fever and she never had another one all the time that I owned her. Also my present horse came to me with white hairs from mud fever and it was mentioned on his vetting sheet that he was suffering from it. I have fed him the same, either a balancer or a barefoot hoof supplement, currently Pro Balance, and he has never had mud fever since he came here.
 
Ycbm and Orangehorse... Could you recommend a suitable barefoot supplement that may help please? Are they like a traditional pony cubes feed or a powdered supplement?

Sorry MrsMurs for hijacking the post!
 
HeyMich said:
Ycbm and Orangehorse... Could you recommend a suitable barefoot supplement that may help please? Are they like a traditional pony cubes feed or a powdered supplement?

Sorry MrsMurs for hijacking the post!
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It must have no iron and no manganese and no sugar filler. The two I personally know are forageplus.co.UK and progressiveearth.co.uk, but I think there is one more. They are powders.
 
Yes I feed the Progressive Earth with linseed. He was barefoot, hence the change in diet from a balancer (Top Spec) to Progressive Earth supplements on the advice of my trimmer. He has shoes now, but I have continued to feed him the same.

On the "barefoot" diet if he needed a bit more energy if he was working hard I just used to add some oats but not all horses need that. I know endurance horses that are only fed forage feeds.
 
im currently using Hoof to Heel on my mares white foot twice daily.
At the age of 24 she got severe mud fever in August and has taken nearly 3 months to heal with steroids antibiotics and flamazine.
This is working so far and every couple of days i clean all off towel dry and plaster again but bring in when its very wet.
 
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