Hosing legs - yay or nay.. please dont post if you have nothing nice to say!!

[Jesstickle]

No I don't - but then we are lucky to have very well draining fields so never really come in with muddy legs.

Yours in smugness.......!

Ditto. The walkway is a bit muddy and they'll get splashed a bit but certainly not caked. Plus neither is the hairy type so their legs dry off very quickly from the little bit of mud that is there.

Plus I am lazy and have never had a horse with mud fever, or any mud related issues so I haven't ever seen any need to start with hosing. I don't pick out feet either! Shoot me now!

 

[Ibblebibble]

i voted nay would be pointless really to hose as they live out 24/7 But i am a firm believer that hosing too often does more harm then good. i have checked all their legs when they are caked in mud and the skin is actually clean and dry, if i started hosing and rubbing i would be soaking dry skin and pushing the mud into it!! best way to start mud fever rather than control it IMHO

 

[Pocket_Rocket]

I hose my horses legs off every night and a lot of the other liveries do the same on my yard. Out of the 20 horses on the yard only 1 suffers with mud fever in the winter. I know people say hosing weakens the skin but our winter field is like a swamp so their legs are soaking wet anyway so I can't see how it hurts to hose them. All of ours are stabled at night so their legs dry out thoroughly before being turned out in the mornings.

The only time my boy has suffered from mud fever is in the summer which is rather bizarre! But then I guess some fields have the bacteria that causes mud fever (our summer field) where as other fields like our winter field may not have it or at least have a smaller amount of bacteria?

 

[PolarSkye]

I hose Kal's legs occasionally - certainly not every night and, no, I don't dry them. He has never had mud fever.

P

 

[shadowboy]

Nope in my opinion it makes the issue worse. I brush off in morning before turnout.

 

[Laafet]

Hosing legs is a personal bug bear of mine. IMO it makes mud fever worse, especially when the owners don't dry the legs afterwards. At work we never wash off legs and we rarely have a problem, at the livery where my horse lives, they all do it like crazy and always seem to have problems with mud fever.
ETA - our farriers all recommend not washing legs to as it weakens the hoof capsule, so they say. My farrier is the remedial farrier for NEH so I trust his judgement.

 

[whizzer]

Nope, used to & horse had mud fever for several winters. On advise of a friend I started doing a baby oil rinse once a month. Never hose now, mostly come in with clean legs or if riding next morning just give them a quick brush. Saves tons of time especially as I have 3 to do 3 or 4 nights a week! Never had mud fever since I started this regime, used to use thermatex wraps for a while overnight but don't even bother with these now.

 

[smellsofhorse]

I hose but let the legs drip dry, by rubbing dry you could be rubbing dirt into the skin and irritate it.

But that's my opinion, each to their own!

 

[Bikerchickone]

I've tried both, but my two are both better without hosing, one hairy cob and one posh horse lol. Incidentally I was once told by my vet that when towel drying you shouldn't use the same towel again until it had been washed. She said it was a good way to keep any possible problems going as you never know what might live on your towel!! (bacteria, mites etc!) Not a pleasant thought!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

No, I certainly wouldn't want some fool drenching my legs with freezing water on a cold winter evening and can't see why any horse should be expected to be co-operative under those circumstances. IMO hosing exacerbates the problem of mud fever anyway. I also wonder what happens to all the cold water that has washed across the yard - does it freeze and become dangerous?
When I bring my horses in, I want to get them into the stable as quickly as possible, so that I can get on with everything else that has to be done and go in for my tea.

 

[acw295]

I voted no - use pig oil & sulphur applied every 4-6 weeks depending on conditions. Mud just falls off overnight I only wash feet, taking care not to get legs wet at all.

Never had any mudfever, I've got a Native but she doesn't have any feather to speak of so not really hairy. Found pig oil works on all types, not just the hairy variety

 

[Enfys]

No.

I don't have mud either, but even if I did hosing legs in -10C would be stupid, that's if the water didn't freeze in the hose first of course!

Each to their own.

When I lived in the land of bogs and had a horse that was stabled I coated legs in baby oil and just left the mud on, it was all off, clean and dry by the morning.

 

[loisb501]

Not often, very lucky with having a good field that's not too muddy at the moment