Put your hands up if you made it out of winter with NO MUD FEVER :D

TicTac

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 April 2008
Messages
3,109
Location
Bedfordshire
Visit site
Neither of my horses ever get it allthough my problems start in the summer for my mare who suffers with leukocytoclastic vasculitis :-(
 

Sugarplum Furry

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 June 2006
Messages
3,327
Visit site
No mud fever here. Our horses live out 24/7, AND WE LEAVE THEIR LEGS ALONE!! No hosing down, no clipping, and minimal brushing so as to leave the natural oils in. They range from a TB through a M/W and a Welsh Section C to a Dartmoor. They have hard standing, and bedded down barns into which they can go at will, so their feet and lower legs do dry out, but that's it.

LOL there must be something in the water around here (am also in NE Somerset). Ditto, 4 horses all out 24/7 all winter, no hosing or fiddling with their legs, no mud fever, so a hands up from me too.
 

TicTac

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 April 2008
Messages
3,109
Location
Bedfordshire
Visit site
Waving here too!

Not hosing their legs is the answer to not getting it! Leave them alone! The one year my pony was on part livery the yard manager used to bring her in and hose her legs = mud fever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Sorry, dont agree with this as I always hose my horses legs off and they NEVER get mud fever. What works for some is not always best all round!
 

mil1212

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 January 2008
Messages
1,981
Location
Shropshire
Visit site
Not only no mud fever, but no mud either :) The drought in the SE has some benefits ;)

Same here!
Brought my coloured last october and he came with cracked heels that didn't go all winter. This year i put him on naf mud gard as a precaution but we havent really had any mud either, but, no mud fever :D
 

debsg

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 January 2009
Messages
797
Location
East Kent
Visit site
My two wintered out with 4 friends, no mud fever here! Then again, a) we are on chalk, so drains well and b) it's been a very dry winter. I never touch their legs in winter, other than to check for injury. Certainly never wash!
 

ISHmad

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 April 2007
Messages
5,140
Visit site
Despite thick clay good old pig oil and sulphur has kept our horses mud fever free again, thank goodness.
 

Puppy

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 February 2006
Messages
31,649
Visit site
Whether or not your horse gets mud fever is more about whether there is certain bacteria in the soil, than stable management.
 

kirinsam

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 September 2008
Messages
264
Location
East Sussex
Visit site
Another pair of hands for my two living out on clay paddocks. Secret for me is rotating smaller paddocks in winter to save the ground and in summer to stop the fattness!
 

Capriole

Well-Known Member
Joined
19 May 2006
Messages
7,824
Visit site
No mud fever but two out of three have rain scald even though we haven't had much rain. One had it 11years ago but nothing until this year and the other was the first time that we know of. I've also heard of other first time cases of rain scald this year but without mud fever.

I got one last year with the worst case of rainscald Ive ever seen, from withers to dock was a mess. Ive been keeping an eye on her this winter and not a sausage, I was thinking she might be very prone to it but it seems not.

Despite thick clay good old pig oil and sulphur has kept our horses mud fever free again, thank goodness.

Mine had a reaction to POS one year that was worse than mud fever lol
 

Spyda

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 October 2005
Messages
5,148
Location
U.K.
Visit site
Waving.gif


Nor last winter either. I love these dry cold winters!
 

Piglet

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 November 2010
Messages
1,376
Location
Devon
Visit site
Made it through no problem with no mud fever, I am plagued by really bad thrush on my horse, :( :( :(. I have tried everything under the sun to cure it, am now using iodine. Actually my horse gets it pretty much all year round except when we have a drought, before anyone starts jumping down my throat, IT IS NOT DOWN TO BAD MANAGEMENT!!
 

acw295

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 May 2009
Messages
680
Location
Leicestershire
Visit site
You may all hate me for saying it - but never had any mud fever, ever!

I've always used pig oil on legs all winter as a precaution (and mainly cos it keep them clean!) but as never had mud fever I don't know if it helps or not. I am not prepared to stop to see though ;)

We're on clay and yard and fields are horrendously muddy too!

I also don't wash legs - unless for a show. Maybe that also helps - dunno!
 

Sophstar

Well-Known Member
Joined
29 July 2011
Messages
787
Location
Hampshire
Visit site
we have clay fields with bad drainage but the shelter has hard standing and the gate entrances are covered with wood chippings...every other week they had their legs hosed (not scrubbed) and allowed to dry and then sudocrem and vegetable oil..they live out 24/7..other ppl on our yard scrubbed their horses legs clean every time they came in to ride, the result was sore on the brink of mud fever legs!
 

sakura

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 August 2008
Messages
917
Visit site
none of ours have mud fever - all on clay soil

I've never had a horse with mud fever at various yards, I don't hose legs off in the evening, I have no idea if that actually helps or not though
 

smokey

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 January 2012
Messages
6,906
Location
sunny Scotland
Visit site
mine has lived out for the first time this winter, not a spot of mud fever. This despite never washing her legs, which are very hairy (shes a clydesdale) . She has been wearing a thick coat of mud since October, apart from a few days when it has been dry and the mud has fallen off! Havent used a thing on them, just left well alone. Have I just been lucky, or is it a case of "if it aint broke dont fix it" ?
 

Honey08

Waffled a lot!
Joined
7 June 2010
Messages
19,006
Location
north west
Visit site
We got through without having to call the vet for mud fever for the first time in four years!! They had a hard standing paddock this year with hay, and only went in the field once or twice a week. Still holding my breathe a bit as they are now starting to go in the clay fields daily again..

We had ponies on the same land that didn't get bad mud fever, but the two biggies get it loads - especially one who only has to look at wet to get it. They are silly horses that tramp around in the wet rather than staying in the dry bits like the ponies did.

I think its partly due to whats in the field and partly down to the horse.. With some its a weakness - nothing to do with bad care. If you don't have a horse with mud rash think yourselves lucky, but don't be smug! I'd not had any mud rash for 25 years until I got these two horses...
 

Honey08

Waffled a lot!
Joined
7 June 2010
Messages
19,006
Location
north west
Visit site
mine has lived out for the first time this winter, not a spot of mud fever. This despite never washing her legs, which are very hairy (shes a clydesdale) . She has been wearing a thick coat of mud since October, apart from a few days when it has been dry and the mud has fallen off! Havent used a thing on them, just left well alone. Have I just been lucky, or is it a case of "if it aint broke dont fix it" ?


Always makes me smile - if doing nothing, ie not washing off etc, prevented mud rash, then why would mud rash even exist...??

At the end of the day if what you do works for you and your horse then great. Thats the key - finding what works for each horse..
 

Marcell49

New User
Joined
21 March 2012
Messages
1
Location
Surrey
Visit site
I have never had Mud Fever in all the years I have had horses.Mine live out 24/7-all year

Never wash the lgs off unless I am bringing them in and can dry off completely and then I would cream the heels.
 

paulineh

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 July 2008
Messages
2,111
Location
Hampshire / Berkshire
Visit site
I have a rule in my yard and that is never wash the legs off unless you can dry them off.

The only time I have ever had Mud Fever in the yard was when I took a horse in for training and it came with it.
 

smokey

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 January 2012
Messages
6,906
Location
sunny Scotland
Visit site
Always makes me smile - if doing nothing, ie not washing off etc, prevented mud rash, then why would mud rash even exist...??

At the end of the day if what you do works for you and your horse then great. Thats the key - finding what works for each horse..

Totally agree Honey08, thats just what I've been doing this year, as I said, first winter out. I guess each horse is different, and must be treated as such. My point really would be that there are several horses on my yard who are in at night, never out in rain, wind, snow, fog............ you get the picture, who are washed off evey day, creamed and clipped and picked and booted, and to a man all have had mud fever to a degree this year. I'm not suggesting that I'm right and everyone else is wrong, but this is the first time I've done nothing, and no problems, so for me its a case of less is more!
 
Top