Do feathers REALLY protect against mud fever?

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Olderrider

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I've not had a gypsy type cob before and at present she is living out 24/7, apart from a few hours in the day to give her legs a chance to dry off. Never in 50 years have I been in the habit of washing legs, alway let mud dry and then brush. And no mud fever.
However, her dense feathers don't dry for me to be able to do that. Tips from hairy cob owners please.
 
Some would argue that they help cause it rather than protect. I've never had to deal with it before in all my horses so I can't really say what I think causes it. I'm same as you and don't wash legs at all.
 
Never had mud fever with my hairies. They never get wet down to the skin, but they have very thick feather and I find standing them in on deep wood pellets dries them off quite a lot.
I can see it could be a problem on lightly feathered animals.
Lots of pig oil helps the water to run off but needs to be applied to dry legs. Baby oil works too.
 
Look at the hair near the skin, not just at the surface. Mine never gets wet to the skin unless there is deep snow but I guess it depends how thick & dense the feather is.
 
Plenty of feather there, but more silky than coarse. I think I might have to give her a night in and then have a good clean up and pig oil the next morning. She's fine atm but obviously don't want her having a problem. And I am just about to give her a wood pellet bed like my others have.
 
Yes If horse gets wet down to the skin whether it's becUse of not enough feather or field too wet, or hair just not waterproof enough

Feathers can be wet but skin should at least be dry for several hours out of 24

Horses that have a lot of feather I would be using pig oil to keep the water off the skin.
Even so some still have to have feathers blipped off

My welsh cob only has a smallish amount and she get malanders the only way I can control it is to wash once a week and cpletely dry. Then put sudocrem on any dry/sore bits. Then use turnout boots
 
I'm leaving Alf to grow his feathers this winter, to see if it helps prevent mud fever. He is usually clipped, pulled and trimmed to within an inch of his life - so it's painful to see him getting all carthorsey - but if it keeps him warm and mudfever free, I'll just have to suck it up! I'm also using pig oil

He isn't massively feathery (Shire/tb), but he's having a good old go at turning into a fuzzy feral!
 
I don't know as my mare has feathers but can get mudfever so I started coating her legs in pig oil and sulphur as soon as the autumn rains and muddy fields started...about four weeks ago. I don't rinse or wash legs when I bring ponies in - I prefer to dry overnight and brush dry mud off in morning...if wet mud still there in the thick of the feather I leave it alone.
 
H is a feathery beast. I've never had any mud fever problems at all with him. But that may be due to the fact that like others on this thread, I don't wash his legs, at all, in winter no matter how muddy the feathers get. His natural grease keeps the water running off his heels and so no problems. If the mud covering gets too much then I wait for it to dry thoroughly before brushing.

The only person I know of that had mud fever problems was someone who was completely OCD about leg washing her feathery cob before and after rides.
 
I've just found some old Thermatex leg wraps I bought years ago, so thought I'd see if they'd help dry her legs when I bring her in. Result: very pleased. Only thing that does give me cause for concern is that her legs are then, obviously, warmer. Anyone else use them?
 
I think so - that's what they are there for, evolved like that for a reason. Certainly I've never had a problem with mud fever and I never remove feather before winter.
 
I think it very much depends on the amount and quality of hair. My old girl was fine with no pig oil, I did hose her legs off but very lightly just to wash mud off the surface, and water running in the direction of the hair so it didn't break into the underlayer. She stayed in during the day with this regime, dry by the time she went out again. My two fell youngsters are pig oiled and out 24/7 - I try to bring them in one night a week/fortnight so I can dry them to reapply oil if it hasn't been frosty enough to do it in the field. I hose them when they come in, leave overnight, next morning they are all clean and dry and ready for fresh oil to top up. The oil just helps keep the feathers in good condition and strengthens the waterproofing. My gelding has to have udder salve instead of oil when it gets later into the winter as his hair is coarser and more prone to bog burn, the oil just doesn't stick well enough in really wet and muddy conditions. The salve lasts a good week or so. My little mare has silkier hair and does very well with just oil.
None of them are ever washed with more than just water, and I don't scrub or break the hair apart, the most I do is wipe down the direction of the hair to aid the water.
 
My cob has a lot of feather andhas never had mud fever in 16 yrs. I never touch his feather with anything and he walks through a very muddy area everyday to get to his field shelter and yard and lives out 24/7/365 .
 
I think it all depends on the horse, a friend of mine has a heavy weight irish cob who has to have feathers removed as when they are left long the mud feather is far worse.
 
My cob has lived out with no mud fever in fairly muddy conditions. I never wash her feathers, at the moment she comes in at night. When I check her legs the hair close to the skin is always dry. The only problem I have found is that she occasionally gets feather mites.
 
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