Hunting & mud fever?

[Girlracer]

Who has horses that suffer from mud fever but also hunt?

I've had people telling me i shouldn't hunt my boy because he has a small patch of mud fever on the back of his foot, it's not that bad atm.

I've been out a few times with him and never had a problem!

Just wondering other peoples experience?

 

[molehill]

my old hunting mare suffered terribly,so i used to cover the mud fever in udder cream every time i hunted her,and it stopped it from getting any worse.

 

[Darkly_Dreaming_Dex]

Same as you and i also used to wash off his legs with warm water and hibiscrub at the meet, bandage and then he had warm dry legs when we got back to the yard.

 

[kick_On]

My horses ALWAYS catches mud fever from hunting, it's in the ground we go over. Well managed, i've never had a problem in 11 seasons hunting!!!
Key to mud fever is to have it well managed - load of advise on here.
I personnel think it's a case of 'a little bit of knowledge very dangerous' with some folk. If you losing battle, get drugs from vets sooner rather than later, but as i say just keep on of it.

 

[jane1234]

Just cover your horse's legs in a barrier cream, wash with warm water when you have finished hunting and then treat as normal - with whatever you normally use.

I find Aromesse Aromaheel excellent for prevention and treatment - it gets rid of the scabs without you having to scrub.

 

[Vicki1986]

my mare had it bad one year - just randomly she's never had it before or touch wood since, i didnt take her hunting when she had it as it was very bad, came on quick and very open and sore, but yep since then never been a prob.

i just wash her down when get home, cant wash her down back at the boxes as she is a total pleb and needs about an hour to calm down otherwise i'd get a hoof in the face

 

[RachelFerd]

if you are talking about me... which you may well be... I stand by what I previously said - IF the mud fever is bad enough to cause lameness, then I wouldn't hunt in muddy conditions. If it really is just a tiny patch, then no it's not really a problem - and there are plenty of barrier creams on the market.

my concern is that the lameness isn't caused by the mud fever... what is it caused by? but then perhaps there was no lameness in the first place... who knows!

 

[Girlracer]

Hey yeah if your who i think you are yes, however i don't mean because of the lameness etc i mean mud fever in general. Not specific to that one day.

When you said about not hunting cus of the mud it did make me think well yeah i guess so. So wanted to see if other people have the same thing. Nothing to do with that particular thread or day.

Btw i do believe he was never actually lame as he wasn't when i got there and hasn't been since so that would make it he was so lame he might have needed a vet according to one person to nothing wrong with him within a few hours!

So yeah thankyou for all your advice, i have got a good barrier cream that seems to work pretty well and i always hibi scrub etc when we get back and thus far haven't had a problem!

 

[JenHunt]

my horse ocassionally gets a small patch of mud fever on the back of one his heels (hind, white sock) and a all i do is make sure that it is washed off with hibi scrub after each day, and it gets treated with sudocream when it starts.
soon clears up.

we have some horrible going, and i don't think it's that that starts it off.. it tends to be if he's been stood on by someone and then the mud gets in.

i'd carry on, have some fun, and so long as you keep his legs well cleaned and treat it as soon as it starts you'll be fine!

p.s. IMO wearing boots is more likely to trigger it, as gritty muddy water gets inside them and rubs the skin enough to allow the bacteria in!