RingWorm??

J

JumpingJacks

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My horse has some little scabs/hair loss under his chin. He has had a grazing muzzle so I think it may be from him trying to rub this off but it also could be ring worm. Are there any home remidies to treat ringworm or am I best getting a vet out. I have researched ring worm on the internet and some of the reviews I have read said that the antibiotics the vets give aren't always very effective. I remember we use to treat a horse at the riding school with iodine and a scrub and that cleared up. Have also heard about foot cream and creams to treat thrush also work. Thoughts please.
 
you don't need anything from the vets, we had a couple of new horses with it at the beginning of the year, we called the vet and he suggested some stuff, which I cant remember what it was called but they sell it in scats!

if you call scats and ask for the horse treatment for ringworm they should know what you need and check that they have it in stock!

we were told to use it on the affected area every 3 days for 4 weeks and it completely cleared it all :)

best to be safe than sorry
 
It's far more likely to be rub marks. If you've had the horse for a while, and no new horses come in recently, it's unlikely. It's found mostly in youngstock who have been stressed, or living with cows (cows are the main carrier). It also likes dark damp conditions and therefore more common in horses who have been penned over the winter. They develop a bit of a immunity to it so once they've had it once they are less likely to get it again.

Ringwork start as slightly raised, almost perfectly circular, patches of hair. The hair and the very top layer of skin then peel off, leaving a bald, slightly red, circular patch which will go scurffy over a couple of days and grows outwards. There is no scab and no bloody unless you irriate it. It's really quite distinctive once you've seen it before. You then get many more patches appearing over the week.

It's a fungal infection and very infections but not particularly serious. It's not even itchy or sore.

It's easily treated. You need some form of anti-fungal wash to clean all the brushes and spray the rugs with and most importantly wash your hands with (you can catch it too!). there are various anti-fungal washes but Imaverol is the one most vets would give you (without a visit usually). Much easier to apply to the horse is Clomitrizol cream (unbranded Canestan) which you can get from chemists (tell them you've caught ringworm off some cows ;)) or online cheaply.
 
you could get some clomatrizole from the pharmacist, it's cheaper than canasten and pretty harmless if it is just a rub mark. Don't tell pharmacist its for an animal though.
 
I can remember my cats having it when I was young too and I got it then. I have been to see him today. (I have been in hospital all week). He wouldn't let me catch him for the first time ever today the cheeky devil must of known that I wasn't feeling up to scratch. I did get a look at his face though and it didn't look like ring worm to me. He has some marks under his chin and some down the side of his face (where the muzzle would go). I wore some gloves just incase and will put some iodine type spray on the bits under his chin to see if they clear up. The vet is coming out next week to do his jabs so if they are still visiable I will ask them to have a look. Thanks for your advice.
 
IME ringworm is quite debilitating both in humans and horses. OH catches it sometimes as he works with horses and it can be a pest to get rid of. Imaverol is effective for animals.
 
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