muddy horses-how do you deal with it?!

LouandBee

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I only hose them off if they come in particularly muddy e.g when it's been tipping it down all day and they come in with mud up to thier armpits or if I want them smart for the next day. Don't bother to towel off after but both have thick shavings beds.

Otherwise I just brush off the dried mud before I ride. If I'm not riding then they just stay muddy. One has black TB legs and the other has white feathered (trimmed but not clipped) legs and neither get mud fever...touch wood.
 

unbalanced

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On Sunday afternoons I plaster her legs in pig oil, paying particular attention to knees, hocks, elbows, feathers and that bit just under the edge of the rug where the mud sticks. I also put 7 day mud away on her ears and around her eyes and cheeks and jaw as she hates having mud brushed off her face.
I plait her tail and tie it up in a tail bag.
I then put cowboy magic through her mane - it's amazing for stopping mud sticking.
I then spray the entire pony in cowboy magic bodyshine after a full groom. The end result is that during the week when I have no time I can groom her getting every last scrap of mud off in less time than it takes me to pick out her feet. She has never had mud fever. I can't hose her legs as I keep her on a farm and once the cows come in we don't have running water anymore as the pressure goes.

On Saturday mornings I have my lesson which I like her to be smart for so the tail comes out of its bag, the shavings come out and the pony is shiny and ready to go after a quick flick over - I arrive at the yard about fifteen minutes before my lesson. PRODUCTS are the way forward here, ELBOW GREASE IS THE PAST!
 

Piglet

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Every evening I hose off his legs and feet, because he seems to have permanent thrush, I then tub his feet in a mixture of Jeyes fluid and water, I then pop him into his deep shavings bed. Touch wood have no mud fever, just damn thrush :eek: :eek:
 

dreamcometrue

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Why do people think that white legs are more prone to mudfever? I am a biologist and carried out research on skin when I was younger and can't think of any reason why this would be true.
 

Tash88

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I don't bring my horse in during the week so they aren't touched in the evenings, I just brush the dry mu off his legs every morning then alternate putting on either baby oil or keratex powder every day and that seems to work. I put baby oil anywhere the mud seems to stick, it's so much cheaper than '7 day mud away' and does the same job, I put it in a spray bottle as well.

Depending on how much time I have I get the worst of the mud off his face etc. before riding, I find that mane&tail conditioner helps to stop mud from sticking as well, obviously just in the mane and tail though!
 

emma.is

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He's only alowed an hour out, but the field is a bog and he comes in absolutely covered. He's got no feather so just leave it and he goes straight into his stable with thick deep straw down. But there's never even any dried mud on him the next day, so I think it works well :D
 

Red_Diesel

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My Horse, a chestnut TB with one white sock, has always been very prone to mud fever on all four of his legs, especially when spending a lot of time out in the field, which is frankly quite muddy at this time of year as he shares with other horses.

I now use NAF mud guard put on brushed clean legs every three days, and this seems to have helped him a great deal. So I would be a fan of brushing off dry.

I was also once told that it is not the mud on their legs that causes mud fever, but the wet that causes the problems and was advised against hosing down his legs after taking him in from the field. Which could explain why some people have had more problems when hosing down rather than brushing off dry.
 

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite

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When mine was at equestrian college he was washed down every day before coming in; and (importantly!) THOROUGHLY dried off; I think that if you do wash down every day, then you have to be very very careful about drying the legs properly afterwards, and maybe this is the problem and why people who do wash/hose down experience mud fever problems?

With mine, they come in from the "bog" and are in at night. One is on shavings, the other on straw; and I just pick out their feet and let their legs dry naturally, and when they're dry brush off.

The only time I've hosed/wash down is before a hack - at the moment I'm mainly doing road work so I tend to leave them to dry if doing this.

Every week or so, I wash legs thoroughly with either Hibiscrub or Tea Tree shampoo and dry thoroughly, then apply Pig Oil to their legs/fetlocks, also brush through mane and tail and sponge over coat with pig oil - which makes it more difficult for the mud to stick to.
 

Tiaan

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E) Other

When it starts to get muddy I wash his legs of and when dry smother them in Pig Oil and Sulphur and then just brush when dry (mostly all falls of by then anyway)

I don't wash again until spring, but reapply the pig oil every couple of weeks - His white legs look yellow by then, but come up a beautiful white when washed
 

littlemisslauren

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I only ever hose legs if the farrier is waiting and the horse has muddy wet legs. Everything else is left to dry and then the dry mud brushed off. IME hosing legs encourages mud fever.

Out of 17 we have 2 with mud fever at the moment. One has had it terribly for quite a while, we tried every mud fever cream we could get our hands on it and nothing shifted it. We stuck some sudocrem on in desperation and have not looked back! He now only has one tiny scabby patch left :) We will continue with the sudocrem with him. The other has only recently picked it up (gate dweller). Neither have any feather and both have black legs.
 

TicTac

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Thanks guys.. I think.hosing does more harm.than.good!


On what evidence? I have always always always hosed my horses legs off if they come in muddy and I have NEVER had a problem. I dont dry them and they come in to a deep straw/shaving mix bed. In the morning I put Equimins udder cream on my mare's heels and fetlock but not my gelding as he has very hairy legs.

yes I do think a light, absorbant barrier cream works. Anything that's too oily just goes sticky and holds the mud.
 

Puppy

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My mare has four white legs and she always used to get mud fever when she was stabled overnight. I'd bring her in, clean and towel/hairdryer her legs, then put on a layer of Sudocrem as a barrier and bandage in the winter. She would still get some scabs under this routine.

When I moved her to a field, she was out 24/7 and I didn't have running water on site. As a result, I didn't ever wash her legs, just brushed off her legs when they were dry and checked for signs of mud fever. She hasn't had mud fever for the last three years since she's been out and I've left her legs alone.

Mud fever is caused by bacteria in the soil which is more prevalent in some areas/fields/yards than others. So actually that is more likely to be the main factor here, rather than your management.
 

MochaDun

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I'm another one that leaves legs and then brush off mud when dry but he gets his hooves brushed clean with a bit of water and hooves picked out every day. Mine is a cob x and has good amount of feather and seems to protect him well from mud fever as rain and muddy water drains down well I think. He's got white legs and and pale hooves and finds hosing very unpleasant so I avoid that and have to say overall the conditions of his hooves since I stopped hosing 2 winters ago I think has been better. I try and get the worse of the dry mud off his feathers every day if I can otherwise it starts getting itchy for him and pulls on the hair if it's mud on top of mud.
 

curran

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On what evidence? I have always always always hosed my horses legs off if they come in muddy and I have NEVER had a problem. I dont dry them and they come in to a deep straw/shaving mix bed. In the morning I put Equimins udder cream on my mare's heels and fetlock but not my gelding as he has very hairy legs.

yes I do think a light, absorbant barrier cream works. Anything that's too oily just goes sticky and holds the mud.

I agree here. The light creams are easier to apply and don't glue the hairs together. I use Mudbar or Mudguard. Both v good.
 

ATrueClassAct

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Wash off Arab and Geldings legs when they come in. Fields aren't v muddy though. Leave Welshies legs and brush off mud to make sure it's all off, she gets mud rash so don't wanna make it flare up while it's quiet. She's grey aswell so skin is more sensitive I think?
 
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