Do mud fever boots work? What about zinc?

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Xanthoria

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My warmblood is sensitive to everything, and last winter I really struggled with mud fever on one or the other hind heel all winter. I was clipping, washing with Hibiclens, drying with a hair dryer, then wrapping with various antibiotic/antifungals and lots of elastikon. It works, but it's time consuming and expensive, and if I missed a day the stuff would come back with a vengeance!

He has PSSM and shivers, so he needs to be on 24/7 turnout with no grass. That's VERY difficult to find here, and the field he lives in gets very muddy in winter - barn manager won't do anything about it. His diet has been carefully calibrated for PSSM so he eats grass hay, alfalfa pellets, canola oil and a custom supplement with loads of vit E etc.

So, question 1 is: do mud fever chaps work?

Then zinc: below is his custom supplement.

Based on this link https://www.balancedequine.com.au/nutrition-articles/1-mineral-interactions.html

"The recommendation is to feed copper to zinc at the ratio of 1:3. So if your horse is getting 600 mg of zinc per day in his diet then the copper amount has to be boosted to 200 mg.

Too much zinc can interfere with copper, causing copper deficiency symptoms and too much copper can cause zinc deficiency."

Question 2: Should I increase the zinc?

Biotin 30mg
Copper 230mg
Zinc 360mg
Iodine 6mg
Lysine 5000mg
Magnesium 20g elemental
Methionine 5000mg
Selenium 5mg
Threonine 2000mg
Vitamin B1 40mg
Vitamin E (natural) 10,000IU
Sodium 4g
MSM 20,000mg
 
I've used the Equilibrium close contact chaps for my boy who has leukcocytoclastic vasculitis. He wore them for several years before deciding he was sensitive to neoprene so now can't wear them at all*. The chaps are great - they don't rub and stay in place really well. If the mud is wet you will still get a bit seeping up from the bottom but most of the leg will be protected. He did only wear them during the day - it was to keep light off mainly although I was trying to keep the legs clean too.
For minerals, I tend to use the NRC calculation site but ideally you need to know what's in your forage too.

*this means I have several pairs ready to be sold on - large size
 
I wouldnt increase the zinc, but I would swap to something like Progressive Earth or Forage Plus that has high levels of copper and zinc at the right ratios. Then add the vitamin E on top.
 
I would seriously question all the clipping and washing as well as re look at the diet. One of the worst things you can do for mud fever is continually wash and dry the legs!
 
My experience with the types of close contact boots intended to reduce mud fever is that they don't work. But I do have a heavier boned cob and is might be possible to get a better fit for a lighter boned TB. If they don't fit perfectly mud will work its way up and rub. But you do also have to bear in mind that mud fever is not in fact caused by mud - although muddy conditions make it worse by weakening the skin. It is caused by a bacteria and boots won't keep bacteria out. If the bacteria are present on the skin all the boots will do is hold them close in perfect warm moist conditions to flourish. Not exactly the intended consequence!

Repeated washing often makes mud fever significantly worse as you continue to weaken the skin's natural protection. Every tiny scrape is a point for the bacteria to catch and keep hold. One of the best ways to deal with mud fever is to protect the skin whilst simultaneously destroying the bacteria. Pig oil is neutral and will be well tolerated by anything. A good slathering of that allows the skin to breathe but mud doesn't stick to it. The legs might look muddy - but the mud brushes away easily when dry. If you can, adding sulfur kills the bacteria too - but you will want to patch test that first in case the horse is sensitive to it.
 
Antw23uk said:
I would seriously question all the clipping and washing as well as re look at the diet. One of the worst things you can do for mud fever is continually wash and dry the legs!
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This - they have come out with research lately saying washing is the worst thing to do. It weakens the skin, removes the natural oils that provide a barrier and lets the bacteria in and take hold. Theres thoughts that the boot will also damage the skin and allow the bacteria in

https://www.severnedgevets.co.uk/equine/advice/under-skin-truth-about-mud-fever
 
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Regarding the washing, it was the only thing that helped in the end: cured it in a week after 2 months of other remedies!

I tried just applying various ointments and it got worse very quickly almost to the point of lameness.

When I washed, I would apply Hibiclens for 5 mins (not scrubbing or picking at scabs) then rinse off, dry the leg totally with either a hairdryer or a clean wrap, apply Nitrofurazone ointment and wrap in cotton and elastikon to keep it dry.

Things that did not work:

- Pig oil / MTG applied with no washing/wrapping
- Corona ointment
- A special mud fever spray containing copper sulphate
- A week of SMZ antibiotics twice a day
- No Thrush Dry Formula powder - says on the bottle it cures mud fever. It doesn't.
- Athlete's foot spray
- Silver sulfadine ointment
- Biozide iodine gel
- neosporin and clotrimazole ointments mixed together
- Soaking boot with copper sulphate crystals dissolved in water once a day
 
I can fully sympathise, my old TB suffered mud fever regularly, it was a battle to keep him free of it in Winter. I tried everything from pig oil, to chaps , to leaving the mud on etc but the thing that worked best for him was washing most nights and wrapping in thermatex wraps BUT some years that wouldn't work either! I always say what works for one horse won't work for the next where mud fever is concerned so if washing is working I would stick to it...... and get a kneeling pad, it was a life saver for my poor knees!
 
Woof wear have a new interesting boot coming out in November that I'm considering.

My mare flaired up with her first ever bounts of pastern dermatitis and ulcerative lymphagitis (on different legs at the same time ��). I've been using human tubbie grip on the legs in the mud atm which seems to do a good job of keeping the worst off. I like the look often new wood wear boot for winter, but she only goes out for a few hours so wouldn't wear it for more than 4 hours a day.
 
soloequestrian said:
I've used the Equilibrium close contact chaps for my boy who has leukcocytoclastic vasculitis. He wore them for several years before deciding he was sensitive to neoprene so now can't wear them at all*. The chaps are great - they don't rub and stay in place really well. If the mud is wet you will still get a bit seeping up from the bottom but most of the leg will be protected.
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I have had good results with the equilibrium close contact chaps too. My older mare had a very stubborn bout of mud fever several years ago and they helped to keep the leg clean and dry during turnout. I have 2 sets and wash daily when they are in use so I always have a clean dry set to put on. I haven't needed them for mud fever since then but I do still use them now and then to keep white socks clean!

Fit is critical, they need to be snug around the hoof to seal the wet out.
 
The problem with the turn out boots is it does depend how much mud you have. I tried using them in extremely muddy, deep clay fields and I couldn't stop mud seeping in at the bottom. Most of the leg would be dry and mud free, apart from the heel, which is obviously not what you want OP.

I find that different things tend to work for different horses - there doesn't seem to be a cure all unfortunately. For my mare, the fail safe is sudocreme, but it needs to be rubbed in properly. Just slapping it on the surface doesn't work.

Out of interest, I don't know a huge amount about PSSM, but can he not cope with slightly more grass in winter? I'm just thinking about laminitis, as my mare can be on grass covered fields no problem in winter because the sugar content of the grass is so different. Don't know if something similar might apply with PSSM. Because the best way of combating muddy fields in my experience is to have a decent amount of grass coverage.
 
Xanthoria said:
He's on the alfalfa for his PSSM unfortunately - gets about 4-5# alfalfa pellets a day.
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You don't need to feed alfalfa for PSSM. Grass hay is sufficient. If you need an extra protein boost, you can supplement with Tri Aminos.

I'd never feed my horses alfalfa as they don't have shoes, and alfalfa can make them a little sensitive. They are both n/P1.
 
HashRouge said:
Out of interest, I don't know a huge amount about PSSM, but can he not cope with slightly more grass in winter? I'm just thinking about laminitis, as my mare can be on grass covered fields no problem in winter because the sugar content of the grass is so different. Don't know if something similar might apply with PSSM. Because the best way of combating muddy fields in my experience is to have a decent amount of grass coverage.
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Grass = sugar and that's a no-no for PSSM horses sadly. It's really tough to balance all the space needed for movement, the need for no grass, and the mud! He does stand in dry areas - it's the trip in and out of the gate that going to be deep mud, and it's so frustrating to go fetch him each day only to have to wade thru the muck. Management won't add gravel sadly (very unapproachable and weird)
 
Casey76 said:
You don't need to feed alfalfa for PSSM. Grass hay is sufficient. If you need an extra protein boost, you can supplement with Tri Aminos.

I'd never feed my horses alfalfa as they don't have shoes, and alfalfa can make them a little sensitive. They are both n/P1.
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His current supplement has:
Lysine 5000mg
Methionine 5000mg
Threonine 2000mg

I can see that some commercially available supps have more lysine (twice as much) - wonder if it's worth upping that one? Do they have to be at a certain ratio?

And what about adding more zinc?

Also he's 1500# / 680 kg so maybe he needs more of everything in general? But the alfalfa is a small part of his diet overall I think.

My horse is n/P4 and quite lethargic, though not otherwise showing symptoms. He's a 5 yr old WB at 17.1 and growing so that could account for the lethargy...
 
Some members on the PSSM forum on FB have found that alfalfa makes their horses symptomatic.

It can certainly lead to foot and possibly skin sensitivity, especially on horses with white legs.

I would definitely up the lysine, especially for your big lad, I was feeding 20:20:5 (L-lysine, DL-Methionine, Threonine) for my 13.3/420kg (900lb) pony.

Zinc is a funny one. You may need a blood panel to see what levels he has especially in conjunction with iron. I remember my gelding needing an injection of zinc when he was younger, but I've never had to supplement specifically since I started on a general forage balancer.
 
Have you tried him on winter grazing? I micromanaged my PSSM horse for years and discovered chucking her out on grass with no supplements was the best she ever was (!). Also, magnesium I was supplementing with for the PSSM, caused mallanders and other scabby bits on her legs.

If you try something different and it doesn’t work, you can always go back to what you were doing before.

I never wash legs (except for a clinic or show!) and never have mud fever either including in one horse that came to me with excruciating mud fever.

However I also feed alfalfa and don’t have a problem with footiness or skin. However linseed has made horses footy. Trial and error therefore, is the way ahead I would say!
 
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