Sunburn - photosensitisation - some advice please!

[cidermillcottage1]

Hi there,
I wonder if any of you could give me some advice on suburn or photosensitisation....
I have a chestnut mare with four white socks who last year suffered from very nasty sunburn on her legs - basically her legs became very scabby much like mud fever to the point where they were very sore. We obviously sought advice from the vet, cleared up the sunburn and kept her out of the sun for the rest of the summer but he did mention some boots that were avaliable that would reflect the suns rays and help to prevent sunburn (bit like the silver rugs). He can't remember where he saw these and we spent the whole of last year searching but with no success! As the sun is now out and finally summer is approaching has anyone any ideas?? Obviously we will keep her in for the hottest of summer days as at times the heat is uncomfortable for any horse but I would like to find something for the odd occassions when it may not be possible to bring her in...
any help would be hugely appreicated!
thanks

 

[dozzie]

Ambre solaire 50+ sunblock!! If you get the water resistant stuff you only need to put it on once a day really. Look for times when its on offer!!

 

[lucy245]

Equlibrium make boots that stop Sunburn - they are called Sun Protect chaps i think.

 

[Tia]

Yes I agree; buy a total sunblock. Make sure you buy a childrens one though and try to get one that block UVA aswell as UVB rays.

 

[Sparklet]

My old horse used to get really bad sunburn on her nose and her white leg - I found that using the more liquid type of total sun block worked better than the creams which just rubbed off.

Also if you have a lot of buttercups in your field they will exaccerbate the problem - so perhaps get your field harrowed before summer properly starts.

 

[zoesophie]

My horse has a big white blaze down hiz face and we use either total block (making sure its not bright green or anything

) or the kids waterproof stuff coz otherwise it comes off when hes drinking

Its very good though and (touching wood now) hes never got burnt yet...

 

[Lorian]

My horse has photosensitivity and I use the Cashel Crusader Leg Wraps. They are the same material as the fly rugs so their legs dont get sweaty in the summer but it reflects the uv rays. (see link below)
web page
I did use the equilibrum ones but they made my horses leg sweat too much.
Also I didnt use any human sun blocks as this made it worse. The best sun cream I found was Gold Label Sun Block.

Hope this helps

 

[xapplex]

My horse had that last year really bad and i slapped loads of udder cream on his leg....But in the rideaway book they are now selling boot thing for £29.99 so i will be trying them out

 

[JennyMare]

Hi, my mare is chestnut with a white blaze and four white socks, and we've been suffering with this photosensitisation problem for over 15 years. Basically, we now avoid buttercups, unless the stems are short enough that they do not touch her legs. I smother her nose with a very high factor sunblock and we seem to be fine. Contact with buttercups seem to cause photosensitisation. When I notice scabs forming on her legs I use a TINY DROP of benzol benzoite from the chemist on it. I can't stress how tiny a drop I use though, once I made the problem much worse by using too much. I literally put a drop the size of a pea into a cloth to use on on four legs. Hope this helps.

 

[Enfys]

Hi,

Can't help with the boots sorry, but would like to add that besides buttercups, St Johns wort is also thought to be a cause of photo-sensitisation.
[image]http://www.dreamstime.com/stjohnswort-thumb1441036[/image]
http://www.dreamstime.com/stjohnswort-thumb1441036