Swollen legs and sores

[Freya]

Last Tuesday when I brought my yearling in from the field I could see that both his back legs were very swollen, cold hosed and wrapped up. Next morning all four were like balloons, cold hosed again and re-wrapped and put him on some bute and box rest. Over the next couple of days I could see improvement and by Saturday his legs were almost back to normal, still some swelling on his knees and hocks with a little bit of heat.

The only explanation I can think of (also someone else in the yard is having similar problems) is the hard ground we have at the moment. I know on Monday my yearling’s best friend was put out who doesn’t like another horse in the herd, so he was chasing him around a lot which no doubt my little lad thought it was a fun game to play too and in the process concussed his joints.

We’ve had a fair bit of rain over the weekend, so he did go out for an hour on Saturday and all day Sunday, which has really helped with the remaining swelling. However he has now developed sores on his pasterns just above the heel. His back legs are the worst and only small sores on his fronts. I gave them a good hibiscrub and removed a load of dead raw skin and then applied some hydrogel. My question is should I keep hibiscrubing them or leave well alone?

Lots of black scabs and red raw, I can’t see any puss but I’m terrible for wanting to pick scabs away! Any advice would be much appreciated, he would do this when he has his futurity at the end of next week!

 

[Claws and Paws]

Hello Freya

Have you thought of sunburn - White legs, sun and sores.

PS - it doesnt follow that they get mudrash, as some people will tell you

 

[Freya]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, however it's turned out to be mud fever I've been applying Nizoral shampoo and keeping them dry and clean as much as possible. Front legs are almost scab free but the backs still have a fair few but I can see improvement from a few days ago.

 

[galacasinoking]

try and get some steroid cream off the vet for mud fever, realy works. the redness goes down within a few days and it loosens the scabs so they fall off

 

[popularfurball]

try and get some steroid cream off the vet for mud fever, realy works. the redness goes down within a few days and it loosens the scabs so they fall off

Steroid cream is effective because quite often it is not mud fever, it is a dermatitis. Steroid cream is ineffective at kill the bacteria which causes mud fever, it only reduces the inflammaotry response. Chances are if steroids are used, and it doesnt immediatley flare back up that it is actually a form of ezcema/dermatitis