Hosing legs off - again!

S

Seahorse

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How strange that the people at my yard who hose their horses legs obsessively all their horses have mud fever/cracked heels.
I don't hose my horses legs off and he's fine, even though he has really white legs.
 
Hs legs where filthy after a hack today and I did nothing with them, just flicked off his armpits with a brush and turned him out.

to cold and wet for hosing

he lisves out anyway !!!

madness
 
Last winter I got 'sucked into'; hosing as kept my horse at a hunt yard and everyone did = Mud fever for the first time. This year neds out 24/7 and not a hint of it.
 
Poor old Ralph gets it no matter what I doo.......
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I have never been on a yard that uses so much water hosing legs off.

Everyone seems to be obsessed with it. They even did it when it was freezing leaving the yard like an ice rink, because they couldn't even leave them with a bit of mud on them for 1 night
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Poor old Ralph gets it no matter what I doo.......
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Possibly because it is bacterial and therefore if it is in your soil, then if your horse is susceptible you are likely to get it, no matter what you do...
 
When will people realise! Have they never had chapped lips from licking their lips when out in the cold , or sore hands when working out in the cold and getting them wet!
 
Seems to be a 'yard thing'. I never hosed before going there and NEVER had horses with mud fever regardless of how much mud they stood in. In fact, when one of mine went to my trainer for a few weeks (who didn't hose) she had mud fever when she went and it just disappeared within days practically.

Don't hose I say.
 
MIne all live with muddy wet filthy legs at this time of year..never had any mud fever in 9 yrs....One cob has white legs/pink skin, one had white socks, one is a grey...
 
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Umm, if you hose legs you should towell dry them - otherwise you get above.

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Try telling that to my horse.
 
I hose my mare's off every night when she comes in, and towell dry them, the mud is literally above her knees the fields are so bad near the gate.
 
Towelling dry is even worse as you are aggravating already soft skin. If you MUST hose, leave to dry naturally.(or use a hairdryer!!)
 
You will only get mudfever if the relevant bacteria is in your soil.

If you must hose (and I will admit to doing it on occasions including the tummy) use a cold hose and play the water from the TOP of the leg allowing it to run downwards over the hair taking the lower mud off the surface. Do NOT scrub and dont use shampoo or any other product. Allow the horse to drip dry and resist at all costs the urge to trim up the fetlocks through the winter months.

You are washing the HAIR on the legs NOT the skin.

In an ideal world allow the mud to dry and knock off with a brush the following morning.
 
Can't resist sticking my oar in!! I do hose off because our field is a marsh but I do towel dry and then use Thermatex wraps. I like to be able to put boots on clean legs in the morning and I've got this theory ( based on nothing ) that brushing off mud will cause tiny abrasions. Any views??PS never had mud fever.
 
have to say that from the horses I've had they're all different! My dads old shire x cob needed to be washed everyday with carbolic soap to prevent MF. Ty needed to be washed down or his heels cracked....I've had ponies were you leave the mud on or they get really bad MF....think they're all different...
 
Probably the only one to disagree,lol!!If his legs have sticky mud on i leave it,however if he comes in from the field as they are now(Minging),as in his legs are wet threw covered in runny mud i hose them!!His legs are cold and wet anyway,had to do this all winter previously(yes he suffers with mud fever)and never saw a speck of mud fever etc!!However he is in overnight and has a straw bed to die for,lol!!!
 
This is down to personal choice, no right or wrong. I need my horse to have clean legs so I can put his boots on to ride.

Anyway I disagree, I think its to do with luck, soil and the horse as we had no hose at the last yard, Megan and Bailey both had nasty mudfever. Bailey has had his legs hosed off every night since being at the new yard and is fine.
 
Again I think its down to the individual horse, not every horse that is hosed off at my yard has mud fever, just a few of them. Just like if you leave them with mud on they would get it then anyway.

I do hose Axey's legs off sometimes probably about 2 or 3 times a week, but I'm not fanatical about doing it. Sometimes I put his magnet boots on overnight so I hose him then. Most of the time I leave them, especially if he's going straight out in the field the next day.
 
Hiya Seahorse
I am one of the lucky ones and mine do not really get muddy as just the two of them
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..... however if they do get really muddy, out on a hack, I find that in the morning the Straw or Shavings have somehow 'cleaned them off' .... basically it looks worse at night and better in the morning.

My logic is that if you touch the outside of a tent, when it is soaked, then it leaks but if you leave it alone then the moisture does not get through
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Towelling dry is even worse as you are aggravating already soft skin. If you MUST hose, leave to dry naturally.(or use a hairdryer!!)

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My god if my yard owner heard this quote she would go mental (more
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than she is
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)

She wants us to use the water we soak our hay in for 3 days
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So hosing legs off is frowned upon, using a hairdryer........
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I hose off before riding so i can put boots on. If bringing in from field I tend to brush off dried mud next day. It depends on what state they are in and what I intend to do with him!
 
Ok, Feel free to shoot me! I hosed my old arabs legs once a day (she lived out) and if I didn't do it she got mud fever (theory tasted when I was ill once and didnt do her for 4/5 days, she got it bad, but soon went away). Indie has her legs hosed and towelled every night before she comes in and she is fine! (when I bought her last year she had raging mud-fever and rain scald). I don't use any products on her, just sudo cream if neccessary. Our fields are pretty muddy aswell! I think different things work for different horses.
 
I have 15 horses on my yard, all are out during the day and in at night, i hose there legs off thoroughly when they come in and leave to dry naturally, i have not had a spot of mud fever on any of them. Have no doubt tempted fate now by saying that! In the past if i've ever had one with mud fever i have used sublime sulphur and veg oil, worked a treat.
 
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