Mud Fever

[Daisieella]

My horse has mud fever in his back hooves! But he won’t let me go near his back legs without kicking me, but it needs treating- I don’t wash them but I don’t want it to get worse in this bad weather!
Anyone know what to do?

 

[be positive]

You need to find a way to treat it without him kicking you, you have several options depending on your situation and how he responds, if you have someone to help you can try a twitch, holding up a front leg, sedalin or the vet coming out to sedate so it can be done, I would try the first ones and if they fail then you need to get the vet and you may require several visits until he is no longer in pain and allows you to deal with it, he may well require pain killers and antibiotics to get to the bottom of it if it is bad.
I can usually find a way to deal with most but mud fever can be extremely painful and getting it treated properly is the only way to prevent it becoming even more serious so there is no point in delaying hoping for better weather as the infection can take hold even in mud free fields.

 

[SEL]

I've had an expensive year due to mud fever with both horses needing antibiotics - first time having it.

My mare is quite sharp with her back legs and I needed a helper hand feeding treats to get the steroid cream on. What helped was using a bedding of chopped straw called Probed which has been treated with something. It was an accidental purchase when the store had run out of woodpellets but helped dry legs out overnight so I could cream in the morning. Pig oil sprayed on from a safe distance also worked