Help?! Stuck in the mud!

Natashajade

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Hi guys just wondering I've brought a pony about 3 weeks ago and he's living out until a stable comes up! He's legs are very muddy all the time! I curry comb them to get as much mud of as I can but his hoof and just to the top of the long pastern is covered in wet mud tht I can't get off! Any idea of anything I could use? Don't want him getting mud fever! :( thanks in advance
 
Really thankyou! Do you know how I can get his legs clean so? Because I can't do it just by brushing and I don't want to get his legs wet and then leave him in a field with wet cold legs! X
 
Go and buy a couple of large fleece towels. You can get them from Halfords, ebay or B&Q etc. They are designed for drying and polishing cars, but are the best sort of towel for drying horses and dogs! Then wash his legs and work on them with the towels until they are dry.
 
mud fever is a bacterial infection caused by bacteria in the ground - nothing really to do with mud (which is why you read about horses getting it in dry ground in the summer - although wet helps the bacteria get into the skin)
Horses natural feathers are pretty good at keeping wet off the legs - it's only when we brush/wash/ apply lotions and potions etc. that we stop the feathers doing their job.
I should start a campain to rename it "washing off fever" as that is the biggest cause.

That said if the ground is heavily infected with bacteria than nothing will stop mud fever and equally they can stand knee deep in bacteria free mud for days with no mud fever in sight.

Unless you have it starting the best thing you can do is leave well alone, they are fine to ride with muddy legs if you don't need to put boots on.
 
With horses there is no black or white right or wrong answer. If it is was me I would leave them alone, he will have hair on his legs and this hair is designed to keep water off the skin.

If you do wash you'll have to spend a long time drying and risk that you miss a bit - not for any real benefit.

Other people will say to wash and dry and apply potions daily - but unless he is ill I'm not sure why you'd be treating an infection that isn't there?
 
When it gets muddy I make sure my horses legs are clean, and I apply shed loads of pig oil.
You will find the mud doesn't really stick.
Worst thing you can do is to constantly be scraping, brushing and washing the legs...you may damage the integrity of the skin and allow bacteria in...that's when you get mud fever, not just by simply being muddy.
Less is more in winter:)
 
I'm definately going to use pig oil but I'm going to wait till I can remove the mud and get him dry better like when I get a stable and it's easier to make sure there dry! X
 
Is there any way you can get him off the mud or persuade him away from it by feeding elsewhere?

I put my ponies on long grass a few days back, its not as nice grass as their paddock but their legs are so much cleaner now they are brushing through the overgrown area!
 
I'm on a yard and he's in a field with 6/7 other horses now he's moved so its hard to move him somewhere else and he just grazes where he is at the moment!
 
Simple, you leave the mud on. Washing it off and brushing it in if wet is the last thing you should do. The main thing is to check for injuries and thorns and leave it to dry. The pony probably spends 22hours a day with mud on its legs why on earth would it be harmed by having mud on them for the other two. Just don't put boots over the top.
 
Seven Day mud away spray - doesn't clart up the hair or leave it greasy but the mud and water just runs off. Doesn't need applied every day and is nice and cheap.
 
Ours live out 24/7 and however wet the field gets (as in a lake in one part at the moment) the only time in thirty years they got mud fever was when we were washing legs! Ours only get the mud brushed off if its dry, any other time they stay muddy.
 
If his skin is ok I probably wouldn't worry.

If you do use pig oil please make sure you patch test first and some do react to it.
 
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