Mud fever and turnout socks/boots - anyone used them?

Jinete12

Jinete12

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As title really. My TB is developing mud fever, but not at all keen on having heels cleaned or scabs removed (imagine lots of kicking! :() Someone mentioned getting some turnout socks and I was wondering what people's experiences of these are? Do they really work and can you recommend a particular make?
 
Ive found that turnout soaks make mud fever worse, as they either trap mud in or moisture from sweat, so give the mud fever bugs the perfect environment to breed in (a lovely damp, warm home)
 
I didn't find turnout boots good - mud just seemed to get trapped inside and warm up! Vegetable oil rubbed on to scabs is brilliant for lifting them off, just rub in and leave - they will then easily lift off. Poor you having to deal with mud fever already!
 
Hi, as said above ive found theyve made mud fever worse, but as a prevention they can work well. But you need to put them on tight so they dont slip and make sure they fit correctly too. If they slip or move the mud will get and they wont work. Im sorry cant remeber the make i ised but they were quite expensive the cheap ones dont work.
 
Thanks for your responses so far. It's a pain having to think about mud fever so early, but he's such a sensitive, thin skinned creature! I'll definitely give the vegetable oil a try to get rid of the current scabs as there's no way I can pick them off without risking broken limbs!
 
kirstyl said:
I didn't find turnout boots good - mud just seemed to get trapped inside and warm up! Vegetable oil rubbed on to scabs is brilliant for lifting them off, just rub in and leave - they will then easily lift off. Poor you having to deal with mud fever already!
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ooh good tip going to give this a try as mine is suffering from mud fever despite his field not being muddy yet! I've tried the Equilibrium Equi-Chaps which are good for keeping legs clean and dry but in the middle of winter its hard to get them clean and dry for the next day.

Derby House also do them but they don't fit as well as the Equilibrium ones.
 
My last horse suffered from mud fever and I used to have two sets of the Sportabrac turnout socks (I think they give the closest fit) and used to rotate them ie use one set shilst the other is washed and drying as they have to be clean, used to then put thermatex leg wraps on at night to dry out any moisture (used to find the wet caused it as much as the mud). This was the only way i found to truly prevent mud fever as legs kept clean at all times and dried out over night. As mentioned above this only works when mud fever is not present, you have to get rid of it completely before you go putting turnout socks on else can make matters worse. I managed my horse like this every winter and whilst it was expensive to buy all the boots etc initially, they lasted forever. Hope this helps.
 
We had problems last year with our gelding and mud fever, never tried boots
but washed his legs in T Tree oil, when he was brought in, then before turnout smothered his legs in sudacrem, it worked a treat, scabs dropped off
in no time and we have had no further problems(figers crossed)
 
We used the derby house ones at the end of last winter. We struggle with mud rash a lot, and have very boggy clay fields. The horses end up going in a small turnout field (about 15x25) that has hardcore which has grassed over. If you can turn them out somewhere dry like this,especially on sunny days, it helps it dry out. One day a week I put them in the big, wetter fields for a charge round, and the DH turnout boots were great - stayed on in serious mud (my mare is part hippo, and trudges about in the wettest parts of the field). They actually took scabs off too! We found baby oil works like the veg/olive oil too, waterproofing as it removes scabs..
 
I realise this is about 3 years old, but I to suffer the same problem, the thing I've found work for me is pig oil and sulphur that you can buy from your tack shops, it helps bring scraps up and then keep the leg waterproof, my mare just gets in a bit of pain and really freaks out if I go to touch her back legs when she has mud fever, but after using that they're fine but then it creeps back again so I was wondering about the boots to, doesn't sound like a good idea though :(
 
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