cob knee- HELP!

[g&tanyone?]

You name it we have done it with my boy! he has regular detromax injections, frontline, pig oil, vaseline... the list goes on! i have also left it alone for a few months but it just wont budge!!!! he is idxcob with not really too much feather, the cob knee doesnt bother him i just think it looks awful!! any tips???

Thanking you kindly

 

[Yertis]

I use neem and vaseline. Until it was under control I clipped/trimmed the hair really short, washed with human anti dandruff shampoo, rubbed in Muddy Marvel Descab, washed that off, thickly applied vaseline with, to start 20% neem oil (now 5%) cling film several layers over this in figure of eight so front of knee can bend, then stable bandage same over the top. Leave overnight and unwrap in the morning and re apply the neem & vaseline for the day. Repeat once a week until cleared, I now wash her legs about once a month & put some n&v on each week, haven't had to cling film for the last 2 years, feathers grown back but I keep them well thinned & failrly short around affected bits but longer over her hooves.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

I massage in either liquid paraffin/pig or baby oil, leave to warm into the skin for a few minutes then comb scabs out with a comb. if I just comb the backs of his knees with a plastic curry comb every few days, it keeps on top of it and prevents recurrence.
If the skin is broken and sore, I use good old sudocrem or flamazine (if I have some handy.)

If washing, T gel shampoo or Neem oil shampoo is good for treating scurfy skin.

 

[Cinnamontoast]

Try Clear Round shampoo. Manufacturers reckon it kills mud fever.

 

[Shay]

Cob Knee isn't mud fever. I have a cob with both! Cob knee is a build up of a scurfy wax akin to really bad adolescent acne. For some reason known only to God this waxy stuff builds up behind the knee where it hardens and eventually tears at the skin. The horse gets sore and won't let you pick it off.

As long as you are sure it is not Mud fever or mites (detromax is a treatement for leg mites) then the trick is to stop the gunk building up. (Althouh obviously you also have to get what you've got now off too!)

We use menthol udder cream. But probably sudocreme or anything like that would do as well. You just need something greasy to get between the muck and the skin. Rub it in really well - ned will probably hold his leg up to get away from you so grab the proffered foot and rub a handfull in firmly with the other. Don't pick or scrub - just rub firmly. You'll make the hair look horrible -but stick with it. If you do this at least twice a day - if he's in you can do more - then in about 2 days the gunk will have seperated from the skin and as you rub it will start to come off in globs.

We've found if you wash or try to use something astringent on it then the gunk comes back 10 times worse. But if you use something greasy it gets between the gunk and the skin and stops it sticking. For some bizarre reason pig oil - which is brilliant for mud fever - has little or no effect on cob knee. It might be that it simply isn't emmollient enough.

 

[bubbilygum]

My horse has had this for years. Generally it doesn't bother him so I leave it alone, but now he is on box rest I'm trying to get rid of it once and for all! I am currently using baby oil and a comb. I've used e45 with success before now, and also in summer I washed him with head and shoulders shampoo then greased him up with baby oil/e45/sudocrem which seemed to work well but it always comes back. It bothers me more than it bothers him! He really doesn't like me fussing over it!

 

[Coop]

Cob Knee isn't mud fever. I have a cob with both! Cob knee is a build up of a scurfy wax akin to really bad adolescent acne. For some reason known only to God this waxy stuff builds up behind the knee where it hardens and eventually tears at the skin. The horse gets sore and won't let you pick it off.

As long as you are sure it is not Mud fever or mites (detromax is a treatement for leg mites) then the trick is to stop the gunk building up. (Althouh obviously you also have to get what you've got now off too!)

We use menthol udder cream. But probably sudocreme or anything like that would do as well. You just need something greasy to get between the muck and the skin. Rub it in really well - ned will probably hold his leg up to get away from you so grab the proffered foot and rub a handfull in firmly with the other. Don't pick or scrub - just rub firmly. You'll make the hair look horrible -but stick with it. If you do this at least twice a day - if he's in you can do more - then in about 2 days the gunk will have seperated from the skin and as you rub it will start to come off in globs.

We've found if you wash or try to use something astringent on it then the gunk comes back 10 times worse. But if you use something greasy it gets between the gunk and the skin and stops it sticking. For some bizarre reason pig oil - which is brilliant for mud fever - has little or no effect on cob knee. It might be that it simply isn't emmollient enough.

I agree totally, mine has a small patch behind each knee, I personally use sudocrem literally smeared over the top as described, and it does bring the scabs off without making sore, its the only technique that has worked for me. I never use a wash ie hibiscrub as it seems to make it sore, just wash the legs off when they need it with mild shampoo every so often, really only when the show requires!. He has mites in the summer too, joy, and this is treated with detromax, I know when he gets it as he starts chewing at his bloomin ankles!! More sudocreme for that too! xx