Mudfever boots

[gnubee]

I’ve just seen an advert at premier equine for mudfever boots. I’d never heard of them before, but mud fever is a constant battle with the state of my fields. Description says they can be worn for up to 12 hours, but likely to be more like 14 hours if I was using them given my turnout routine.
Does anyone have any experience of them in either direction? I’m a bit tempted to try a set.

 

[Mule]

I bought a pair last year for my cushings horse who used to get terrible mudrash. Unfortunately she died before she got to wear them 😔 On reflection, considering how wet my land is I think the mud would have squished up under them and not helped at all.

That's strange, I was just looking at them a few hours ago. I pulled them out for some reason. Coincidence 🤷

 

[Shay]

I tried them once for a mud fever prone cob. He was difficult to fit - they are made for the finer TB type legs. Although they did keep the mud out he still got warm and damp under and that just spread the mud fever like wildfire. Someone at the yard had better luck with them but her TB type horses are only out for 2 - 3 hours a day. (And I don't think had mud fever anyway - they were to keep legs clean. I did work for that).

If you can borrow a pair to try mud fever is one of those things that some things work for some people. But IMO they are too expensive to buy unless you are sure.

 

[CurryCombTalesBlog]

I heard the Equilibrium ones were very good but I would be concerned about mud squishing up them. You'd need a spare pair too to dry them out between wet days, which could get pricey very quickly.

 

[Cortez]

I've have used them on a horse that was mud fever prone, but not for that in particular - he wore them to keep the flies off his heels and pasterns (chewing on his heels caused the sores that then picked up the mud fever). They did get wet, but kept the mud out OK, and he never got mud fever again whilst wearing them. They dried out OK overnight (he was in at night) and went on again in the morning, damp sometimes.

 

[Squeak]

I used these le mieux ones last year for protecting an accident prone horse and reckon they would help to prevent mud fever as the legs were dry and clean underneath. They're breathable and so were ok to be left on for longer periods of time.

https://www.horsehealth.co.uk/horsewear/lemieux-boots/lemieux-turnout-boots/lemieux-turnout-boots

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Have you seen the woof wear ones? They look good.

 

[npage123]

I've tried a few makes over the years and they all fit differently I'm afraid. They do work on keeping the leg clean higher up, but if they stand knee/cannon bone deep in mud all day, the mud will get through eventually. Make sure you don't put the boots on if your horse has already got mud fever. The best thing you can do is to take him off the mud and e.g. turn-out in an indoor school, so the scabs and mud can dry completely. Regularly putting on a good slap of sudocrem on all the scabs will soften it eventually, and there are other good products too which are a bit more pricey (Keratex Medicated Hoof and Leg Scrub which goes foamy and can be left on; Or Hibiscrub although recent thinking is that using this too often will damage the skin. I would still use it though as it works so effectivey to soften the scabs and disinfect the lower leg. Once he is scab free and mud-free, I'd stick to a mixture of pig oil and sulphur - the oil so the mud doesn't stick to the leg so easily and the sulphur to keep unwanted micro-organisms away. If you've used the pig oil and sulphur for quite some time and the mud fever is kept at bay - do NOT stop with the pig oil at least - paint it on as thick as you can on all the legs to help prevent any problems. Good for moisturising your hands afterwards too!

 

[Flyermc]

I used this sort of boots (but not this make) on 2 different horses, for 2 winters and it did reduce the mud fever alot, however it was a lot of messing about. Both horses had 2 sets each, and each night i was wash off, 8 muddy boots and taken them home over night to dry, leaving the second set at the yard, to be put on in the morning and they all got a machine wash over the weekend. It was a real faff!!

I think switched to using pig oil, which did a much better job, with half the fuss!!

 

[gnubee]

Thanks for all the replies. Unfortunately I dont have access to an indoor school for turn out and one of them really isn’t happy stabled so in at night and out during the day is the best I can do to reduce their mud exposure. Fortunately it hasn’t started yet this year, so I’ll try the oil and sulfur treatments and see if we can keep it off that way. Tried it last year after mud fever had started, but maybe starting earlier will be more successful. I was going to try just one pair of boots to begin with, but 4 legs x 3 horses is a lot if they do work even before having a second set for everyone to give the first ones time to dry, which hadn’t occurred to me but definitely should have given the weather here!

 

[ShowJumperL95]

I have got the premier equine turnout boots for my accident prone one and he is prone to getting mud fever aswell and I use lincoln muddy buddy powder every day rub it on the legs and on the inside of the turnout boot which stops mud getting stuck up the boot. My other boy just has the powder on his legs and neither have had mud fever since using the powder