MUD everywhere...what to do...

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Marilyn

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I hoep someone has a gem of knowledge to help! I have two fields at home and about 1/3 of the one the horses spend the night in has become a mud bath. My mare's feathers have now become saturated and, of course, I am very concerned about mud fever, etc. Both horses live out 24/7 and go into another drier field during the day...this does give their legs a chance to dry out, but they do both prefer the field in front of the house. I have put 5 bales of straw into the mud this weekend and I am having 2 tonnes of wood chip delivered on wednesday to make it nicer for them...does anyone else have any ideas?
 
What i do is if i dont have time to let Beau's legs dry off when i bring him in (which s what I prefer to do), I hose them off then put his thermatex leg warmers on to dry his legs off, then put a waterproof barier on when they are dry.

Mine live out too by the way so i know what a struggle it is, but these leg wraps totally dry Beau's legs in just over 2 hours, so i just put them on when he comes in for his tea/groom/hay etc:

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you can normally pick them up on ebay quite cheaply.

Im putting aromaheal on his heels once they are dry.
 
Keep them in the dryer field until the other one has recovered. Or bring them in either night to allow both fields some respite.
 
maybe think about getting some gravel delivered in the spring and put it down in the gateways once the ground is more solid, less liquid, to stop them getting in a mess next year.
re the mud fever possibility. i buy a 5l carton of hibiscrub from a tack shop, hose off legs, scrub with hibiscrub, leave for 5 mins, hose off then towel dry and cover in barrier cream. (naf mud guard is good)
 
If i wash the legs will that not weaken the skin further?
Re: bringing them in or keeping them out of the muddy field, I have big issues about security so I would be very unhappy if they were in the other filed overnight as it runs next to the road and the fencing is not 100% (they are current kept away from it with electric tape in the day).

Gravel is a good idea...we have a hardcore car park area...perhaps a could fence them in on that for a bit with some hay and feed?
 
hibiscrub is the same stuff that surgeons use - but by getting it trhu a tackshop its a higher concentration suitable for use in horses (which are obviously dirtier than people!). by washing in cold (hose) water you do not open up the pores of the skin to let in the bacteria that cause mud fever.

putting them on the gravel with hay would prob be a very good idea, and would stop your fields getting chewed up more!
 
OK, I will look into that and get them some leg wraps. I don't mind the fields being muddy, I just feel terrible for the horses, it was the snow that did it...as it melted it was just terrible.
 
I would be cautious about washing their legs too often if they are out all the time. Repeated washing with antibacterial / antiviral solutions could weaken the skin and remove some of the natural oils that horses produce.

I would wash their legs clean once or twice a week and then dry thoroughly. I would apply a barrier cream to prevent the mud getting close to their skin. Zinc and castor oil (sold in Boots for babies bottoms to prevent nappy rash) is excellent and much cheaper than the NAF one.

If you have a hard core car park area that can be made adequately secure, could you put the wood chip down in this area so that you have an area that will remain without mud. It would be similar to turning them out in a manege then. They could stay in this area for a long as you like, providing they have hay / haylage, providing that you collect the droppings to keep it 'clean'.
 
Is your mare a proper hairy - ie like a heavy horse or gypsy cob?

If she is, cover her legs in pig oil and sulphur. This will prevent the mudfever as well as mites.

Do not wash out the legs - washing causes more problems than it solves in hairies. If she is heavily feathered, leg wraps are worse than anything - I find they keep feathered legs damp for far longer than if they are towelled and left to dry out naturally.

If you wish, PM me and I will send you a very long PM about hairies and keeping their legs healthy.

Our two chaps' legs are covered in mud in winter but underneath the hair is white and dry. They do come in at night but the winter paddock by January is a mud pit of thick clay.
 
I would forget the straw and buy some heavy stable rubber mats, they will go on top of whatever bog!!

The straw will only make the mud harder to dry out when it gets a chance and it will be a nightmare!! I used to do this until I saw that other mud was drying out and straw mixed mud wasnt and remained soaking wet.
 
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