Mud Fever

[JosieSmith]

My horse has really horrendous mud fever that has been going on for months. Late last year the vet came out, sedated her and clipped it all off, after which we cleaned it everyday which hibiscrub and put antibacterial cream on it on the vet's advice, she was also on antibiotics for a week.

My problem is, as soon as she goes out in the field it flares up again really badly within a day or so! I have kept her in for weeks but she is miserable and I had to put her out again. I am keeping her in again this week as she has some really bad scabs, which are too big and sore to pick off. Should I leave them dry while she's in (will they drop off on their own?) or should I wet them and try to pick them off? I'm reluctant to wet them incase it makes them worse. She also has some open wounds where scabs have come off, which is red, should I clean these or just leave them?

 

[collina]

One of my mares has bad mud fever, I decieded to clean the legs and let them dry in the stable overnight, then covered the sore bits in sudacream and they gamgee and vetwrap and then turned her out with these on. I then changed bandage at night and reapplied sudacream if she needed it and then stable bandaged her. I did this for a few days and the scabs came off on their own. i now apply sudacream everyday and them put boots on her during the day and leave them off at night. She is now alot better. I know that it is quite time consuming and expensive but it had worked for me. Good luck.

 

[StinkiPinki]

Be really carefull with hibi scrub as it can really strip the skin of any protective oils, leaving the skin more exposed than ever after washing. A better alternative could be a teatree oil shampoo which is still antibactericidal but wont strip the skin.
Personally i would leave her scabs , concentrate on keeping her legs dry, make sure she is as healthy and fit a possible(often mud fever is an imune system problem)
Again with the wounds, less is more, my new horse had mud fever with open sores just after he was imported in sept last year, i resisted temptation and didnt pick, gave him the best diet, and mud fever supplement and the mud fever had gone completely by dec. (and i can still get near his legs now!)
Good luck!

 

[HorseandGroom]

I had a mare that had mud fever (MF) before I knew what it was, she was lame and the vet gave me for her a course or anti bio's by injection. This cleared the infection but not the MF. We tried the usual potions and lotions and keeping her in (She normally lives out) We found in the end (To cut a very long story short) that Sulphur from the Chemist mixed with a normal dry skin cream mix 1 to 1 applied and bandaged (To keep dry only) cured it in no time (days not weeks).
It rarely re occurs unless the leg gets broken skin.
Hope this helps
H&G

 

[hairymolly]

My mare really suffered with mud rash at the start of the winter and I tried all the usual things to get rid of it with no success. What I eventually found worked was medicated talc powder, the stufff that you use to treat human feet. I went through loads of it and went home covered in it but it did work.

 

[Whatamill]

my mare used to get it really badly each year, a friend of mine who is truely old school suggested liquid parafin and it works she hasn't had mud fever for years. i just use a hoof oil brush and brush it on her legs twice a week .

 

[hairymolly]

My friends also uses liquid parafin and she swears by it. She mixes a capful of hibiscrub through it.

 

[kellyeaton]

wash in tea tree shampoo dry well apply flamazine and loads of barrier cream then urn out see if that helps!

 

[sammy07780]

Hibiscrub will dry the skin out, this happened to one of my mares so I switched to an anti-bacterial wash with the correct pH balance. Once the mud fever clears up make sure you turn out in some protective leg wear to keep the legs clean and dry.

 

[Cyberchick]

Everyone has different ways but what worked for me when one of mine suffered badly with mud fever was to wash very well with Hibiscrub and make sure all the area was clipped off and all scabs removed as you dont want anything harbouring underneath the scabs. Then they will need to be kept clean and dry. Unfortunately this will mean not going in wet muddy conditions until it has cleared up. When cleared up and they can go back out, make sure there is a protective barrier on there. Sudacreme seems to be popular but I didnt like it as it gets everywhere and I could never get it off properly again. I found some white mud barrier (from goldlabel but I cant remember what it is called) worked a treat as the mud just rinses off. I would recommend not washing the legs off every day but brushing the mud off when it is dry as keeping the legs wet tends to agrivate it all.