dealing with rain rot

[throwawayaccount]

my mare came in 3 weeks ago from living out 24/7, despite regular checks and wearing a rug she ended up with mud fever and rain rot. i got the vet out for both as i've never dealt with these issues before. she was prescribed bute 2x daily for the pain and a special shampoo to use 2x a week. she was on boxrest for 3 weeks just to heal up and rest

her legs are clearing up, but her skin is absolutely awful. after her latest bath yesterday, the scabs started washing off but the more we washed, the more it exposed sore, raw skin and total fur loss !! i'm mortified

i rang the vets for further advice/follow up treatment as i don't know what to do with it. i haven't received a call back yet

i think the air needs to get to it so was thinking keep her naked at night (shes very fluffy, in a warm inclosed barn) and then out in an antibacterial rug during the day.

i've read online she may require an injection (antibiotics) but i don't know what else to do. there isn't much information on what to do when the skin is awful

any help is appreciated x

 

[Barton Bounty]

Its quite normal for a lot of horses to lose the hair round the infected area. It should grow back once the infection has gone. Some people clip to get rid of the rain rot quicker but depends where it is on the body. Id continue to keep the area clean and dry to avoid further infection

 

[sportsmansB]

I took one on loan who arrived with lots of his hair falling out from rain scald. In 12 weeks he was back to perfect but he did look awful in between. I just kept him warm and dry and removed the scabs as they loosened and the hair grew back quickly underneath

 

[throwawayaccount]

thanks both, its on her withers, back, hind quarters, on both sides

on one side, the scabs haven't fully lifted on her bum and i'm dreading when they do in a way, as its going to be awful

 

[Barton Bounty]

thanks both, its on her withers, back, hind quarters, on both sides

on one side, the scabs haven't fully lifted on her bum and i'm dreading when they do in a way, as its going to be awful

Poor thing that sounds awful for her, they will lift on their own and then she can start getting back to herself.
Was she ever rugged up after being wet? Or left sweating in her rug?

 

[Esmae]

If she's undercover I wouldn't rug her. Let the air to it. Carry on vets advice re washing etc. Once the scabs have fallen off and the infection has gone the fur will grow back again.

 

[suestowford]

My old pony once had a virus, and it sent the bacteria on his skin crazy. He had the worst rain scald I'd ever seen and he looked dreadful once the scabs lifted off. Huge bald patches all over his back. This was during some very wet weather and although he'd never needed a rug before that I got him two l/w turnouts and changed those about on him until he'd grown back all his hair. I also used to put Teisen cream on the bald spots, once he'd dried off after the medicated shampoo, as that's very soothing (I use it on myself too).
It did grow back and he was lovely & woolly again.

 

[throwawayaccount]

Poor thing that sounds awful for her, they will lift on their own and then she can start getting back to herself.
Was she ever rugged up after being wet? Or left sweating in her rug?

i really hope so , its a battle as she hates getting baths even with an extra pair of hands and nice warm water/a solarium after, the bute is meant to take the edge off but don't think it is tbh..

the only thing i can think of is, the rug she was out in was one she was wearing when there was a lot of downpour, but it was meant to be durable, but seems not as as i've been told its lost proofing etc.. so ive chucked it to one side and invested in some better ones. i've had to switch vet practices as my mare now lives near my mums, and they're just condescending and generally poor so i will be looking for another practice

Sue- aw bless him, that sounds like my mare

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Years ago Arabi got it and the vet told me to wash it once then spray it with Daktarin athletes foot spray everyday and leave rugs off as much as possible, it cleared up really quickly looked better within days.

Feed some linseed it's good for the skin and hair.

 

[Carrottom]

I've found the gold label wonder gel helps to soothe and assist hair regrowth. Patch test first.

 

[FestiveG]

What is she fed? Some horses can have dreadful skin reactions to some feeds. I would ensure that she has literally only forage and see if, over time, that helps to resolve the issue.

 

[JBM]

Hair loss unfortunately is normal with rain scald
I found mtg amazing for getting the hair to grow back fast

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I've found the gold label wonder gel helps to soothe and assist hair regrowth. Patch test first.

I use this all the time for loads of things been using it for years now.

 

[PurBee]

Years ago mine returned from a botched loan, turns out they had been out all seasons, grazing poor land with no supplementary food at all - so i fed them well, and gave them a mixed mineral supplement with beet pulp - forage plus or equimins advance is good enough, and added micronised linseed for anti-inflammatory omega 3 oils. The mineral mixes contain minerals lacking in soils/grass/hay– minerals which help all health systems including the immune system to deal with infections from bacteria and viruses: copper, zinc, selenium, vit E, etc. Theyre good to feed a skin-compromised horse on the inside.

I didnt fuss with the scabs much, just ensured their coat was kept dry and gently brushed. Scabs ready to fall off would do so on their own with gentle brushing. They dried-off on their own, healed, hair re-growth was quick. When scabs fell off, the bare skin didnt last long before new hair was re-growing. It looks patchy but once you get fresh good healthy skin appear when scabbing falls off, the hair will soon start regrowing in days.
They had a large bedded sawdust walk-in/out barn to use. They didnt have it horrendously - many small patches over the length of their back - it was really quite quick for the regrowth and them looking good again, this was even over wet winter months their healing happened, so dont despair.

I have them at home so was easier to keep an eye on them, and them to go in themselves in their barn when the weather was wet, and out when it stopped raining - to keep them naked with dry coat. If youre on a yard, it’ll be trickier to keep her dry when turned out so a rug would help, but then id stable naked, personally. Naked only if she isnt clipped, with plenty of hay.
If you have good weather forecast, she can be turned-out naked - if she isnt a roller in mud puddles! - if she rolls when out i’d rug to keep coat clean and dry.

Mine weren’t clipped, have a fairly good winter coat, i didnt want to cover their backs with rugs so the air could get at the scabs. In your situation it sounds like youd likely have to use a turn-out when she’s out, to ensure her back /scabs/coat doesnt get rained-on, while she’s healing from this. Having a day turn-out, stable naked at night routine, will help ensure her hair stays dry and airing-out for many of the 24hrs.

If youre using topical treatments, id allow time for them to dry-off and not always be 24/7 wet/sticky with creams. Oxygen getting at the skin helps. Obviously if theyre deeper affected apply an antibac.
I use aloe vera gel for good skin healing sore shallow wounds, as its waterbased and soaks into the skin layers, drying quite quickly.

Since they healed from it - and are fed with good quality forage and minerals, they go through winters naked unclipped, with various shelter choices, and rain scald/mud fever has never been an issue since, despite constant exposure to rain and mud, and still getting wet from rain.
Having opportunity for their coat to dry-off and air seems key to preventing these types of conditions - if they have a sweating/stifled unclipped coat under constant rugging or no shelters getting drenched 24/7 is likely to compromise the healthiest horse.

 

[Arzada]

I wouldn't wash. Hilton Herbs Phytobalm worked wonders for us. It is soothing and healing. I used it once daily. It softens the scabs and they come away painlessly of their own accord. It soothes any bald sore areas https://www.hiltonherbs.com/en/phytobalm

 

[CanteringCarrot]

A lot of times rainrot isn't just from actual rain or other topical issues, it has other systemic causes, so it's important to look at the other aspects of the horses management. Mainly, what their diet and immune health is like.

My 2 year old had a wee bit of rainrot on his bum this year, but it came after his jabs (there are a lot more in this country), getting his teeth done, and worming, so there was no doubt that his system was compromised.

I did treat the scabs, but there are internal factors too.

 

[AdorableAlice]

thanks both, its on her withers, back, hind quarters, on both sides

on one side, the scabs haven't fully lifted on her bum and i'm dreading when they do in a way, as its going to be awful

I've an older horse who gets this if his rain sheet leaks or is grubby. A few washes with Malaseb sorts him out quickly, along with keeping his back and quarters clipped and a clean rug.

 

[AdorableAlice]

A lot of times rainrot isn't just from actual rain or other topical issues, it has other systemic causes, so it's important to look at the other aspects of the horses management. Mainly, what their diet and immune health is like.

My 2 year old had a wee bit of rainrot on his bum this year, but it came after his jabs (there are a lot more in this country), getting his teeth done, and worming, so there was no doubt that his system was compromised.

I did treat the cabs, but there are internal factors too.

Cushing's in my old lads case.

 

[Nasicus]

Assuming the vet has given you malaseb shampoo? It's good stuff!
One tip he also gave me is that if I needed to rug, so use thin cotton sheet rugs under the turnout, and swap them and wash them every day. Kept the inside of the waterproof turnout squeaky clean and less chance of reinfection as the cotton sheets were the only bit touching the horse and they were washed daily.

 

[throwawayaccount]

thank you everyone for the super helpful advice and recommendations, will do some reading now

i've been trying to work out the changes, the only thing i can think of is they switched fields to a nicer one and then we had all that rain :/ shes on molasses free chaff, a few pony nuts and seaweed/aloe vera but i'm going to look into whats been suggested,

she has been prescribed the Malaseb shampoo which i've been using

interestingly-- it was my thought process when I called the vet that they may want to take bloods, test for anything etc, give her a shot of medicine. nope, just checked vitals and gave me shampoo/bute.

she was also coughing up gunk, which i was worried about even though i assumed it was because shes a bit rundown, and took photos of for the vet/ left it in spare stable for him to see(where I popped her when sorting her own stable), he wasn't interested in looking at all and was just dismissive as her vitals were fine..and admittedly it does seem to have cleared up, but i've never met a vet so uninterested before

 

[Gloi]

Cushing's in my old lads case.

Same here.

 

[Polos Mum]

My older horse had rain rot on his back from sweating under a rug - not sure where you are OP but it is unseasonably warm here in Yorkshire - 10+ degrees, with lots of rain and v hairy ponies is a recipe for rot.
I think as they get older their immune system copes less well with stuff generally.

I had to leave him unrugged completely - he was actually much better for it. I just bought him into the stable when it was raining more than I used to.

If you want to rug then when it's all cleared up, think about clipping a lot to avoid any sweat. For me it seemed mad to clip a retired 25 y/o just to rug him - so I chucked all the rugs.

A thin sheet under any rug that you can change regularly is well worth it.

Air is your friend so if there is anything you can do to get rid of the rugs for as long as possible - that should help.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Same here.

I find keeping him clipped out helps him in many ways apart from his skin. A 50g silky liner under his rain sheet works really well and it fits in my washing machine and dries quickly.

 

[Gloi]

I find keeping him clipped out helps him in many ways apart from his skin. A 50g silky liner under his rain sheet works really well and it fits in my washing machine and dries quickly.

Mine didn't get it any more once the Cushing's was under control with Prascend

 

[Annagain]

My old Sec D couldn't wear any rugs in winter even if clipped as he'd sweat underneath them (this was in the days before lightweight rugs were a thing) and get rain scald. Once it cleared up, he was fine out naked in all weathers.