Mudfever - Preventing Recurrence

Ambers Echo

Ambers Echo

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Hi. In the past I have tried to prevent mud fever by not washing legs, allowing mud to dry and then brushing off and using pig oil & sulphur once a week. This is because I was advised that the key to prevention is healthy skin and that constant wetting of the legs encouraged chapping and gave the bugs a way in. This has worked in the past but Amber did develop mud fever despite this management which took hold pretty quickly and both back legs swelled up. Under advice from my vet I kept her in, used baby oil to soften the scabs, used Hibiscrub and a rubber curry comb to gently peel them away with warm water, dried the legs with kitchen roll and used aqueous cream with a steroid/antibiotic mixed in once scabs were off. This has resolved things very quickly and her legs are back to normal and she is back out. BUT I am now wondering about preventing recurrence.

My vet said the leave mud to dry advice is one respected option but so too is rinsing and drying. There is no clear cut 'right way' on this. If you leave mud on, the skin never really gets a chance to breathe or dry fully. So my other option is to carry on with the rinsing, drying and using an aqueous cream to moisturize over night.

I would be very interested to near other people''s personal experiences of this: how have you prevented recurrence, what has gone right/wrong with different strategies. Honestly don't know which way to go! Also do I leave the ponies muddy as they seem fine on that regime? Or if I change for Amber should I change for all 3? My instinct is to leave the ponies as they are on the basis that if it aint broke.....
 
We use baby oil and cider vinegar, mix in bottle and apply 3 times a week, washing off mud first obv. and leaving mud the other nights, if that makes sense. Baby oil softens the skin and keeps it from cracking, vinegar makes the environment inhospitable to the bacteria. Works really well and is cheap.
Don't do all the horses like this, only those prone to MF, in my experience that's those with white legs.
 
Make sure you feed a supplement with no iron and high levels of copper and zinc. I know it sounds a bit ridiculous but none of mine have ever gotten mudfever, and that includes cobs with white, clipped legs, apart from once when the supplement wasnt fed to one. I've had them on yards where other people struggle with it as well, so its not just a case of being lucky yard wise.

Anyway, its worth a try so I thought I would mention it :)
 
Some horses respond well to being washed every night and some don't. To be honest its trial and error. If not washing and brushing out when dry doesn't work for you - swap and see if washing and creaming works better. For my horses at the moment pig oil & sulphur and not washing is right. But I did have one for a while where washing and drying thoroughly every day was the correct option. Bit time consuming though!
 
Thanks everyone. Don't understand how cider vinegar which is acidic (when applied topically) can help? I thought mud fever bugs preferred an acidic environment and if anything I should mix something like bicarb into the aqueous cream or oil?? I like the idea of lwaving sometimes and rinsing sometimes though instead of feelinbg like is has to be one or the other. And cheap is good!

Leo W: what type of supplement do you suggest? There are so many it's bewildering! And do you have a mechanism in mind for why supplements should help. I should say that apart from the MF Amber is a picture of health. Her coat, hooves, eyes, behaviour all radiate well-being!

Shay, that makes sense. I will leave the ponies for now and just treat Amber's legs differently.
 
Ambers Echo said:
Thanks everyone. Don't understand how cider vinegar which is acidic (when applied topically) can help? I thought mud fever bugs preferred an acidic environment and if anything I should mix something like bicarb into the aqueous cream or oil?? I like the idea of lwaving sometimes and rinsing sometimes though instead of feelinbg like is has to be one or the other. And cheap is good!

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Here's the advice from the Dick Vet in Edinburgh, if you read to the bottom, their idea of mixing baby oil and vinegar 50:50 as a preventative is given, it does work btw, we have quite a few horses and lots of mud, so mud fever prevention is pretty vital :)

https://www.ed.ac.uk/files/imports/fileManager/dveprainscald.pdf
 
Mine got a bout this year despite similar management to other years so put it down to the warm wet weather as his greasy knee was worse this year than it has ever been! I got some more muddy buddy cream and powder and have been popping that on at weekends and then pig oil for his legs and that seems to have cleared it up. I have never washed his legs and i'm going to let them go fluffier over winter (usually they are clipped) as i don't like the idea of washing them with cold water on a cold night but that's just my preference and seemed to work so far!
 
Keratex do a mud fever powder type thing, they describe it as a special waterproofing and disinfecting powder for horses legs. Stops skin from softening so that mud particles are unable to enter the skin pores and hair follicles. A complete protection for sensitive skin which is affected by mud and water.

Obviously if you can apply this to your horses legs before turning out it will be of benefit. Mines on assisted DIY and I wouldn't ask or expect the staff to do this for me when I can't get up to turn out myself before work.
 
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