Rainscald...?

[Lill]

New mare Saf has rainscald on her back, so far we have been picking scabs off and smothering her in sudocream and it seems to be healing ok ish... am wondering whether it might be best to fully clip her as will be able to get to the scabs fairly easily then? Her coat is quite thick and long where not clipped.

 

[laura_1983]

baby oil!! smother her with it instead and leave her overnight with an old rug on (it'l get yukky on the inside), when you take the rug off the next day you should be able to clear her back easily without having to actually pick and pull at the scabs with risk of hurting her!

i dont think clipping will work as the hair will be stuck to scabs underneath so eventually you want to be left with a bald back, sounds horrible but the hair will grow back quite quickly once you get the old scabs and hair off!

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

You need to attack the bacteria that cause rainscald which will be living on her skin. Pick the scabs off but then wash in Hibiscrub. You can make a cupful of weak Hibiscrub solution and rub it into the area and leave it on to dry. Once all the bacteria have been killed off, protection from the rain should stop it returning. Good luck.

 

[Thistle]

It's the same bacteria as mudfever so those treatments will help.

 

[Resupgirl]

My youngster had rainscold when I bought her and lost most of her coat through it. I got a shampoo from the vet called Coatex and did a bit every day as it was winter and cold. Unfortunately putting a rug back on if the skin is wet or overheating just makes things worse as the bacteria love wet moist conditions.

Come spring my youngsters coat grew through fine with no white. If you get a nice day let the air get to her. You must try and get the scabs off but do it gradually as otherwise they get wise. They will be pink and weepy underneath but do not be tempted to put any sort of thick cream on i.e Sudocream etc.

 

[henryhorn]

We found plastering the area with cream then leaving an old rug on 24 hours worked wonders, all the scabs lifted off and the area started healing after that.
You do need an old rug as it will need an extensive wash afterwards both to remove cream and bacteria.
Once the scabs are off wash the area in diluted hibiscrub and dry well with towels then a wicking type rug.
I wouldn't clip her unless you are sure the blades won't clog with the scabs, but otherwise clipping makes fixing the problem easier as there is nothing to stay wet.
We have rubbed athletes foot cream into areas not raw and that's solved it too.

 

[kit279]

The best thing I have found for rainscald is something from Pegasus Herbs called Herbal Skin Mix. My chestnut came up a bit scabby and miserable in November so I just added it to his regular feed and it cleared up beautifully in a month. I didn't have to pick the scabs at all which I think he appreciated! Made his mud fever better as well.