Rainscald Question

[sonjafoers]

I know this is an impossible question really but roughly how long would you leave a pink skinned horse out in the rain if you knew it suffered from rainscald?

Unfortunately my coloured horse has suffered twice in the past and I am now so careful with her I'm making a rod for my own back! After yet another trip to the yard to get her in because it's been raining for an hour I'm wondering whether I'm being over cautious

I wouldn't dream of leaving her unrugged if we were forecast heavy rain but should she be ok in light rain for a few hours?

 

[Tnavas]

Rainscald is a fungal infection so may not always happen with the rain. Conditionis need to be right.

He can probebly deal with a couple of days of heavy rain but if you are really concerned then a light rain sheet may be the way to go just to protect him.

If you sppot any rain scald then a quick bath with Nizoral will sort it out rapidly. You can buy Nizoral from a chemist. Dilute with hand hot water and rub well into the coat. Treats Mud Fever and greasy heel well too.

HAving lots of seriously white legs I keep some ready diluted in a pump spray bottle - the sort that you pump up first rather than by squeezing the trigger. Spray over the area and rub in. I usually leave it on ao no rinsing.

 

[sonjafoers]

Thank you for your reply Tnavas, I'll certainly look into Nizoral as she also suffers from mud fever.

My vet advised me to keep her back as clean as possible if she's going to be out in rain so I do wash her in an anti bacterial/anti fungal shampoo. The 1st time she got rainscald was because of my naivety - I'd never had a horse with it before so really didn't expect it, but the second time someone else was looking after her & she got it after 36 hours of heavy rain. Of course I've no idea how soon it started developing so she may have started getting it after only a few hours.

I do put a lightweight on if we are forecast anything other than light showers and if I get it wrong I dry her out completely before rugging her but I wonder how long I could leave her if I wasn't able to get down to the yard.

Can you explain to me what conditions are needed for rainscald to form please.