when i got my foal last yr he had it a wee bit, i put a light rain sheet on him to stop it getting any worse and thouroughly brushed him every night and it just gradually got better.
I think when my horse had it a few years ago I was given antifungal/anti something shampoo by the vet to use to soften the scabs so I could pick them off. And then once I'd dried where the scabs had been I used aloe vera gel to dab on and that seemed to work and heal it up. Was better and easier than trying to rub in any sort of cream as horse was very uncomfortable, itchy and crotchety in his coat and didn't like too much being done to the areas where the scabs were.
Keep it dry and if you can uncovered. So stable and no rug for a few days if possible. I usually give it a bit of a wash with hibiscrub and stick some sudocreme on it til the scabs fall off/ come loose enough to rub them off. Then more sudocreme. Don't force the scabs off unless they are starting to dry up and come loose or it will make them bleed and become sore.
Hibiscrub 1st. Gently pick off any scabs if they are easy to remove as the bacteria "lurk" underneath. If it's slow to heal over, you can make up a small amount of dilute hibiscrub and gently scrub it into the hair and leave it in without rinsing. As others have said, 2nd is keep it as dry as you can while it heals then 3rd is invest in a really good, rainproof rug and make sure ned doesn't get sweaty underneath it.
Thanks everyone, was going to try Camrosa as have had realy good results with mud fever with that, but thought i'd find out what other people have tried first. This is onley the second time he has ever had this, the first time a rug made it worse. He has'nt had a rug on for years as he trashes them within two or three days and i can't stable him at the moment. The Camrosa would waterproof the rainscold, what do you think?
Pig oil and sulphur worked brilliantly for my boy.
He is too idiotic to hibiscrub (doesn't do this 'wet' nonsense) and can't be stabled, plus needs to wear a rug cos he's a pansy and gets cold if wet.
So he was smuthered in pig oil and sulphur twice over a week then left with a lightweight very breatheable rug (Horsewear's no-fill rugs (rhino, rambo amigo etc) are brillant, esp as they're nylon lined). The scabs healed up over the week then just brushed out over a couple of weeks. Unfortunatly he smelt horrible but he didn't seem to mind
My friend used it in the same manner for her horses reccurently occuring rainscald and it's finally cleared up.
I think you'd struggle to get the camrosa to cover all the scabs - if it's anything like my boys you'd be there for ever and a day picking out each little scab individually to put the camrosa on. Plus there will be lots of little areas that haven't yet developed but are going to that you'll miss.
sudocreme would keep it waterproof. I think i would leave the camrosa until after the scabs had come off and the skin was looking less pink and sore. That's just me though.
I have never tried pig oil and sulphur despite dealing with a mud-fever/rainscold infested horse for 8 years... I always thought it sounded a bit harsh and have never had problems with good old hibi scrub and sudocrem (or caster oil and zinc cream which is generally cheaper but less 'waterproof').
The method that has worked for me is to trim (or lightly clip) around the affected areas and then wash with a good anti dandruff shampoo, the kind you get from the pharmacist not Head and Shoulders or similar, and towel dry it well. Then I keep the horse rugged. This does seem to clear it up quickly. I avoid creams or anything else as they seem to keep the skin moist and vulnerable to further rain scald.
The hairy mare will not be working this winter but she will still have a light body clip and be rugged as she has a tendency to rain scald