Rain scald - to clip or not to clip?

tankgirl1

tankgirl1

Well-Known Member
Joined
6 October 2012
Messages
2,486
Location
Derbyshire
Visit site
So Dolly has been suffering with rain scald for over a month. I have tried allsorts all under the vets direction, including twice daily hibi bathing, flamazine, antibiotics, staying in, rugging, and leaving well alone!

BUT she is really sore with it, I can't groom her, and she booted me a couple of weeks ago as I was bathing it, which is totally out of character. The vet agreed that he has not seen a pony so sore with it for a long time.

I got some deosect just as a belt and braces approach, but the vet has advised not to use it, and that it is classic rain scald in its presentation, and deffo not lice etc.

So I am now wondering whether to just clip her out and start again. The scabs have now all dried up, but are caught in her winter coat and obvs v uncomfy. She's not in work, and I would rug appropriately. She is in at night over winter anyway.

She's never been clipped before, and as it is sore this worries me, so she would probably need to be sedated. Long term I want to teach her that being clipped is nothing to be worried about... would sedating and clipping as her first experience make it a life long worry for her iykwim?

Sorry I'm rambling, I just wondered what other people would do?
 
I've clipped a horse with rain scald before was the best thing I could have done for her helped clear it up better than any spray or lotion
 
Repeated washing (in anything but particularly Hibiscrub) just weakens the skin which makes it worse.
From experience I have found that if I smother the area with something like zinc & castor oil cream, udder cream or Sudacrem to soothe it (don't rub in, just plaster it on) then leave and repeat as necessary, then the scabs will eventually roll off leaving healthy skin underneath and this method will not have involved making the horse sore from working at it all the time. You do have to have a bit of patience, it doesn't happen overnight but I reckon to have cleared up the majority within six weeks in a bad case. Also try to keep dry without rugging as trapped heat will only start it up again.
This has to be coupled with a decent diet that nourishes the skin so I would be adding brewers yeast and micro linseed (or linseed oil) or using a decent balancer. The skin takes more than three times as long to repair if the digestion system is screwed up or not given the right nutrients.
 
What Maesfan said - this is the approach I took, I think it was about a month of being super careful, and it is really important to keep the areas with the rain scald as dry as possible.
 
The one horse I had with rain scald cleared up much quicker once I clipped. I know it would look silly but you could just do the affected area for now if you're worried? With trimmers?
 
It depends how extensive it is as to whether I would clip.

I too am a fan of the sudocreme (I add sulphur powder too) approach which will work in an antifungal/antibacterial manner. Apply liberally daily/twice daily until the sore area clears up, leaving remaining cream there. Only then do I occasionally wash just to get the sudocreme out. Then having a good check through the coat for any small bits as they start/keeping pony unrugged if dry.
 
Maesfen said:
Repeated washing (in anything but particularly Hibiscrub) just weakens the skin which makes it worse.
From experience I have found that if I smother the area with something like zinc & castor oil cream, udder cream or Sudacrem to soothe it (don't rub in, just plaster it on) then leave and repeat as necessary, then the scabs will eventually roll off leaving healthy skin underneath and this method will not have involved making the horse sore from working at it all the time. You do have to have a bit of patience, it doesn't happen overnight but I reckon to have cleared up the majority within six weeks in a bad case. Also try to keep dry without rugging as trapped heat will only start it up again.
This has to be coupled with a decent diet that nourishes the skin so I would be adding brewers yeast and micro linseed (or linseed oil) or using a decent balancer. The skin takes more than three times as long to repair if the digestion system is screwed up or not given the right nutrients.
Click to expand...

Thanks, she is on top spec lite balancer, a handful of chop to mix it in and linseed tablets as she won't eat her bucket with linseed oil in lol! Will look into micronized linseed and brewers yeast!

lindsayH said:
The one horse I had with rain scald cleared up much quicker once I clipped. I know it would look silly but you could just do the affected area for now if you're worried? With trimmers?
Click to expand...

I don't care if she looks daft, I just want her to be comfy! It's pretty much all down her spine and her ribs poor lass!
 
My horse probably didnt have rain scald per-se it was a similar kind of bacterial infection. She kept on getting these small scabs that were coming out of her coat.

Until I clipped her, I couldnt see where they were coming from, and couldnt really apply the cure. (Vet just said get some iodine spray for them.) Gave her a full clip, then sprayed where the scabby bits were, and it cleared up. If I hadnt clipped, I wouldnt have known where the problem was stemming from.
 
Quick update - procrastination works wonders!

I spoke to the vet we decided clipping was the way forward, I ordered some oral sedative.... and errr haven't picked it up yet :/

However! Dolly is much less sore, and a grooming stone seems to be bringing out the dried up scabs without bothering her - Yay! :D

She's still in a rainsheet, and as she doesn't seem to be getting hot in it, will probably remain in a rainsheet for most of winter with this unpredictable weather!

Thankyou everyone for commenting, I'm just so chuffed she is feeling more comfy!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top