"Mud fever" in summer?

[cathyskinner]

Both of my horses' hind legs seem to have cracked heels/mud fever. His hind leags are white so that makes me look at these 2 possibilities, however, we have not had a lot of rain and in fact the fields are bone dry and cracking up! He is occasionally bathed, but at most once every 2 weeks so I don't think that could be the cause. I'm putting hoof to heel cream on the lesions but I would be interested to hear if anyone else has seen this & would gratefully receive advice as to how to get rid of it!

 

[Noodlejaffa]

Mud fever possible all year round, I'm afraid. I've a very grey gelding with pink skin and I have to watch his legs like a hawk. I tend to whack Sudocream on them (but watch if you're eventing as banned substance!).

 

[Cahill]

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I tend to whack Sudocream on them (but watch if you're eventing as banned substance!).

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learn something new everyday!!!

morning dew can cause mud fever.

 

[Squeak]

A vet mentioned something to me about sunburn or some sort of reaction to the sun or something like that creating symptoms similar to mudfever. Sorry to be so unspecific.

 

[air78]

It is 'mud fever' at this time of year; perfect conditions for the bacteria lots of heavy dews on a morning and it's really warm weather. We've got two horses with little patches of it atm.

On vets advice, we hibi scrub it, then let it dry off before putting on some fuciderm cream.

 

[Magicmadge]

My girl hsd terrible MF last summer. It started with harvest mites in the heels and up her legs. The mf took hold and it was really bad. Flamazine from the vets is brilliant and cleared it up quickly. Before this i had tried allsorts and spent a fortune.

 

[Rockchick_uk]

Its funny i just saw this, my gelding has it quite bad on one of his front lets (which is black LOL) and all i do is clean it with hibiscrub then cover it in MABS Mud Fever Spray (which i swear by)

http://www.mudfever.net/

Hope this helps

 

[purplekt1972]

more likely to be harvest mite IMO try sudocream first if it doesn't clear up ask your vet about harvest mite

 

[claire1976]

Have you considered trying pig oil and sulpher? It's an old remedy used on shire horses. My sisters horse gets mud fever throughout the year and cracked heels. This stuff is pretty clever. She got it of Ebay I think but you only need to apply it once or twice a week and it stays put. I also used it on my TB mare last winter, put it on with rubber gloves and instead of hosing her legs off I just put her in the stable and the next morning her legs were completely clean, the mud just slides off.
It's a great barrier and much more cost effective than anything else we've tried.

 

[kellyeaton]

are you sure it is mud fever and not photosensitivity?x

 

[TallyHo123]

Yeah you can get mud fever from very dusty ground conditions also, my mare gets it, it's a pain in the bum! i use turnout boots in the winter through the summer shes better so just whack on a bit of sudocreme

 

[chestnut cob]

Mine has a couple of MF scabs, appeared last weekend

Bl00dy rubbish British summer!

I tend to leave it alone TBH as I think fiddling with it often makes it worse. His scabs usually just drop off on their own given time, whereas if I keep scrubbing and picking, they get worse.

 

[TarrSteps]

Another thread to have a look at:

http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/4647805/an/0/page/3#4647805

In the case of the horse I mentioned on the other thread the hibiscrub and sudocreme regime made him noticeably worse but when we switched protocol he improved relatively steadily.

 

[Dizzykizzy]

Had to get the vet to my arab mare as her's got infected and swelled up. He said it is massively common at the moment almost always on white feet. I asked him about photosensitivity but he said more likely just common or garden mud fever!
Anyway, we had 5 days of antibiotics and bute with a dollop of sudocrem when I could get near. Now I am bandaging it over with a bit of folded up clingfilm and once scabs are off we can treat with fuciderm. I think we are slowly getting there but be careful as it can turn nasty if you leave it.
I am having a fight with thrush in her feet this year too.

 

[Janetterose]

I use Aroma Heel which cleared up Kissis leg beautifully in a matter of a ew days. Trouble with hibiscrub is youre just wetting the leg again whereas you need to keep it as dry as poss