Mud fever rant..

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HarlequinSeren

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Bit of a rant I'm afraid..
My horse gets mud fever pretty badly, he's very susceptible to it and I have to be really careful with cleaning his legs every night when he comes in. The ground where I am is really boggy lately so I've been trying to be careful about how long I leave him out for, but it seems whatever I'm doing is the wrong option >.< I currently use the creams that supposedly act as a barrier, and clean off his legs every night and dry them thoroughly, yet when I went to bring him in tonight his leg has started swelling yet again! Just a bit frustrated as I have tried soo much to stop it, and now I'll be having to keep him in for a bit til it clears up again. I feel so sorry for him because he loves being out in the field but it's just too muddy for him right now. Moving fields is not an option because he is on my own land so pretty limited as to where he can go, and I'm not in a position to be able to afford to put him on livery while the ground is so wet. Sorry if it all sounds a bit melodramatic but I'm just feeling so sorry for him right now :(
 
When u say clean his legs every night, your not washing them are you? If so stop that stright away. Pig oil I find is great to spray on their legs if they haven't got mud fever to provent it and iv never had mud fever ever on a horse so must work :) I also believe a balanced diet to provide a healthy skin goes a long way to help as well so maybe look into the diet side off things as well
 
thatsmygirl, no I don't wash them, just clean all the mud off as soon as its dry. He has sensitive skin to shampoos etc so I have never used anything like that on him, plus I know it's bad to wet the skin for mud fever. I've never heard of using pig oil before, I'll look into that :) Thanks!

TakeAChance, do they work really well? I've tried something similar before and it was useless - as soon as they got wet that was it, they soaked right through and ended up just keeping the damp next to his skin. But if you recommend them so much I'll give them a go, anything to help my boy :)
 
I go along with the pig oil.
Paint his legs with the stuff and the mud doesn't stick.

I have mainly TBs and do their legs with pig oil and when they come in just hose the legs off. Don't dry them and have remained mud fever free,

You can also feed NAF Mud Guard. That is very good in building up the immune system
 
Oh that's good then. Pig oil is a clear mineral oil and is multi use. I spray all 4 legs and heels etc and the mud just glides off as it can't stick. Works well I think. Never have muddy horses legs me
 
Foxhunter49, mine is a TB too and has been very susceptible to mud fever for years, the pig oil sounds like a great idea as the field is so muddy but there's no-where else I can put him!

Thatsmygirl thanks, I'll definitely be giving it a go! Is it easy to get hold of? Would it be in the farmers supermarket?

Thanks :)
 
I'm not a big fan of the boots! I have clay soil which gets really wet and boggy, resulting in the mud squelching under the boot, causing mud fever and chafing! I hose legs off, get them dry with thermatex leg wraps and leave them! Rubbing them and over washing makes the skin more sensitive causing it to be more susceptible. If I do get a break out, aromaheel is amazing stuff!
 
Do a patch test before using pig oil - a lot of horses have reactions to it...

ps. I'd never had mud rash on a horse until I got one that is simply ridiculously prone to it - coat and skin are gleaming with health too... Vet says he is just a ginger wuss!

Sadly the only way to fully prevent him getting mud rash is to keep him out of mud and wet full stop..:( Chaps work for a few hours, but I don't like to leave them on for a whole day..not only as I wouldn't want elastic boots on their legs all day, but also because they do saturate after a while.. We end up putting him in a hardcore paddock that has grassed over for the worst months of winter. I also have to pull him out of the field before it gets wet and muddy - catch it before it starts..
 
Not a fan of the equilibrium boots either, expensive and get wet and mucky very quickly meaning you have to wash and dry them pretty much everyday.

I'm trying pig oil this winter, so far we're lasting better then last winter! Only a little bit of scabbing on one heel so fingers crossed pig oil is all I'll need this winter as I spent so much on trying other things last year!

I also used a mud fever supplement which I started before the rain to build their immune up :)
 
I look after an Arab Mare, she is now 34 and as old as I have been riding. She suffers with MF and I have cured and fought it over the years. She lives out.
1. I have found that applying a mud fever barrier cream before the damp weather sets in and applying it all winter to the white leg. (She only has one thankfully) stops it appearing

The benefit of this over pig oil is that it is very thick and I can apply it once or twice a week.

2. To fight it, catch it early, if it looks like a scratch or cut then apply sulphur mixed with a cream eg sudocream or e45 cream. Keep it dry. very dry. Bandage it and keep the sulphur mix on the area.

Check it daily

If it spreads or does not look to clear up in a day or two check with the vet.

Best wishes Ian
 
I use liquid parafine on my horses legs, I believe pig oil works just as well, but this is just what I have always used. At the start of the Muddy season, I wash the legs thoroughly in a mild solution of hibiscrub to ensure they are really clean, towel dry them and then leave to totally air dry, I paint the liquid parafine on with a paint brush and then rub it in abit so that it is not just sat on the top of the hair. You would be best to do a patch test as with any new product you use, but I have never had a horse that has any trouble with it.

It tops the mud from clinging to the hair and sticking to the skin, if you do need to wash the legs off for any reason the mud tends to just slide off the top of the parafine.

I repeat this process about every 10 days through the wet muddy months, I have done this for years with my horses, and have never had one suffer with mud fever.

Hope that helps
 
Thank you all for your replies, it's good to hear what you have all been doing to treat it!

Honey08, sounds like your horse that is prone is like mine. It really is a nightmare. I like your idea of a hardcore grassed paddock, may have to see if I can persuade my OH to do something like that in an area of our place. I'm currently just allowing him out for short periods of time, enough for exercise (he throws himself around the field as soon as hes in there, without fail every time he treats it like he hasnt been out for months!) but not long enough for the mud to get much chance to soak in. It doesn't help though that the gateway is saturated right now though. My OH is going to rab it but he hasn't got much time lately because of work.

I have also heard somewhere that putting a mud fever prone horse out on an outdoor (so wet) sandschool can be just as bad as putting out in a field, does anyone know how true this is? I've only heard it from one person so not sure?

Thanks :)
 
Wash his legs with Nizoral shampoo - should generally need only one wash. Dilute with hand hot water and lather up well, leave in for at least 10 mins and either towel dry or leave to dry. No need to rinse off.

Sometimes its best not to clean off the legs but to wait for the weekend and clean up and get the pig oil into the hair. During the week loosly bandage with straw/hay between bandage and legs to allow the legs to dry. Make sure the horse has plenty of bedding as it does help to dry the legs off.
 
I have battled mud fever for 7 winters with my warmblood. This winter I have for the first time clipped his white socks back and have applied Keratex Antifungal spray then when dry apply Keratex powder and rub it well in. I now do not wash his legs but brush off the mud when dry and apply more powder. Touchwood he is at the moment completely clear. I have always left his little hairy feathers on as I was always led to believe that this hold the mud away from the skin...but he has always still had it. So now this is all clipped off and working so far :0)
 
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