AussieClumper
Member
I have a 1yo heavy breed gelding who is living in wet conditions for the first time. We're in Australia and it has literally not been really wet in the whole 12 months of his life! 
We recently had several days of rain which has resulted in a couple of boggy places in his paddock - near the water trough and gates.
He has four heavily feathered white legs which are often clogged with mud. I brush them out when they're dry, but he does have a small wound on one of his legs that makes me worried about mud fever, although the wound does not look like a mud fever lesion.
He's also a sensitive little petal and suffered from allergies relating to photo-sensitivity in summer which had him head-shaking and rubbing his face. It was treated mostly with a fly mask that acted like sunglasses for him.
I have heard that mud fever can be related to photosensitivity...
He lives out 24/7 and despite the boggy spots there is still plenty of dry standing in his paddock, but I do have the option of bringing him in for all or part of the day.
My question is, how do you manage fluffy legs in wet weather? Are there boots or a barrier cream I should be using? Or will they just take care of themselves?
I have friends who clip off feathers in winter. But my only experience with mud fever has been with a newly clipped horse where it appeared on his clipped white socks suddenly, so I don't know...
Any suggestions from northern hemisphere wet weather connoisseurs?
We recently had several days of rain which has resulted in a couple of boggy places in his paddock - near the water trough and gates.
He has four heavily feathered white legs which are often clogged with mud. I brush them out when they're dry, but he does have a small wound on one of his legs that makes me worried about mud fever, although the wound does not look like a mud fever lesion.
He's also a sensitive little petal and suffered from allergies relating to photo-sensitivity in summer which had him head-shaking and rubbing his face. It was treated mostly with a fly mask that acted like sunglasses for him.
I have heard that mud fever can be related to photosensitivity...
He lives out 24/7 and despite the boggy spots there is still plenty of dry standing in his paddock, but I do have the option of bringing him in for all or part of the day.
My question is, how do you manage fluffy legs in wet weather? Are there boots or a barrier cream I should be using? Or will they just take care of themselves?
I have friends who clip off feathers in winter. But my only experience with mud fever has been with a newly clipped horse where it appeared on his clipped white socks suddenly, so I don't know...
Any suggestions from northern hemisphere wet weather connoisseurs?
