Washing legs?

[Jericho]

What do you all do regarding washing legs when your horses come in for the night with very muddy legs? I generally try and hose the worst off with the view that clean and wet is better than muddy and wet and that they will dry faster. I don't dry them off but will run a towel over the leg to soak off worst.

 

[horsefeed]

During the week I leave mud on, I only turn out Monday to Friday, Saturday mornings I clean them off then ride and then hose off again after riding if needed and leave in to completely dry, Sunday before turn out I completely cover legs in pig oil or baby oil and then don't touch them again until next weekend.

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

washed daily with cold water and a little bit of shampoo, then sprayed 3 x a week with dilute hibiscrub.

thermatex wraps on to dry.

 

[Copperpot]

I leave it to dry and brush off. Then when he's clean I spray pig oil all over his legs. I worry the constant washing will cause more trouble than the mud!

 

[Follysmum]

Leave mud to dry overnight brush off next morning then pig oil them. Do this every few weeks.

 

[Jericho]

I worried about constant washing but figured that they were wet anyway...

 

[Gloi]

I worried about constant washing but figured that they were wet anyway...

It depends on the horse. On a fine coated horse the legs might be wet to the skin in which case there's no harm in washing them off, but a horse with a lot of feather could easily be coated in mud and yet have dry skin underneath all the mud in which case it's better to leave it to dry off most days so you aren't wetting the legs unnecessarily. You can then give them a good wash and oil at weekend so you can give them a proper check over.

 

[tallyho!]

I deep litter on straw and I just pop in all muddy and they come out in the morning clean!! She must have employed a mud-fairy or something...

 

[Marydoll]

For 2 of them Wait till it dries then brush it off, the other 2 wash and towel dry, legwraps on until dry

 

[MissMoo]

I leave them.
The only time I have had any problems was the year I was guilt tripped into washing their legs off each night like everyone else on the yard and the horses ended up with mud fever. Haven't touched them of an evening since and haven't had any problems. I do think it bottles down to what suits each individual horse though. A friends horse suffered badly if she adopted my method, for her horse, washing off and towel drying was the best course of action.

 

[Piglet]

I personally wash off legs and feet every night, when feet dry I put Kevin Bacon on to keep them moist, legs I leave and no mud fever has appeared.

 

[delaneys]

Wash of daily!

Ps can you tell me the reason for the hibiscrub? Someone else told me to do it but never told me why! Also how much do you dilute by?

 

[Prince33Sp4rkle]

erm, very un-scientific, i prob put 2cm hibiscrub in a 500ml bottle of water.

horse has suffered from cellulitis in the past and this way any tiny nicks etc get cleaned thoroughly before they can cause an issue.

vet advised me to do it every other day so as not to dry the skin out.

seems to work as he is fine coated but doubt it would impact on a very hairy sort!

 

[Ceriann]

Mine only come in at the weekend (or if weather really bad) so they can get their legs dry (as its clay that usually takes half a day or more for the feathery one). Ive started just wiping the worst of the mud with a towel when they come in to aid with the drying (coolex leg wraps on order - they seem to be sold out everywhere!). Then brush off when totally dry and pig oil (with sulphur) or baby oil (with a touch of disinfectant) and sudocrem if any scratches etc. So far so good with all 3 of mine (mix of no feather, some feather and lot of feather) and they're field is very muddy. Once i get my coolex boots i will probably rinse the worst of the mud off my no feather girl and wrap (she's had mud fever years ago so more wary). The feathery ones are dry at the groove of the heel even when they come in so dont think there's any benefit to washing.

 

[delaneys]

Thanks PS have tbs and one who got fat leg syndrome last year, this must be why I was told to do it, though they would of been a bit more helpful if they said why! Luckily out of the 12 tb legs owned only one has a white and pink sock!

 

[3OldPonies]

Even when my boys could come in at night I used to leave their legs well alone - and I've never had to deal with mud fever. I think the same mud fairy must have visited me that visited another poster, because in the morning they were either clean, or so dry that I could brush anything remaining off quite easily - even out of long feathers. Probably the nice thick straw beds I was using helped!

 

[spotty_pony]

I only wash mine if I bring him in and ride straight after and he is absolutely covered, and even then I just hose them, don't scrub them and then dry thoroughly with a towel. Most of the time though I leave to dry and then just brush the mud off. Most of the mud actually crumbles off and comes off in the straw anyway. Too much washing weakens the skin and means the horse is more likely to get mud fever so I wash as little as possible.

 

[lhotse]

My two natives are never washed and rarely brushed off either. Both are on straw, neither are standing in mud in the field and neither has mud to the skin. My arab on the other hand has very fine hair, likes to charge about a bit so her field entrance is muddy, and she's on shavings. Mine are only out at the moment for 3 hours max, so I do wash my arab's legs off when she comes in. She only really gets wet mud on her as I'm bringing her in, so her skin is not waterlogged and I figure that the 3 minutes it takes me to hose off the mud is not going to make her skin waterlogged either. They are then very well dried with a towel (which she loves!) and then she goes into her stable with clean dry legs. I smother them in udder cream before she goes back out again the next day. I did have to shampoo them once this winter after I put baby oil on her legs as I'd run out of uddercream. All the baby oil did was keep the mud on her legs wet.

I do think that mudfever depends a lot on the bacteria level in the soil though, I haven't had a case of mudfever with my horses for over 20 years, yet some people seem to battle it no matter how careful they are.

 

[tallyho!]

My two natives are never washed and rarely brushed off either. Both are on straw, neither are standing in mud in the field and neither has mud to the skin. My arab on the other hand has very fine hair, likes to charge about a bit so her field entrance is muddy, and she's on shavings. Mine are only out at the moment for 3 hours max, so I do wash my arab's legs off when she comes in. She only really gets wet mud on her as I'm bringing her in, so her skin is not waterlogged and I figure that the 3 minutes it takes me to hose off the mud is not going to make her skin waterlogged either. They are then very well dried with a towel (which she loves!) and then she goes into her stable with clean dry legs. I smother them in udder cream before she goes back out again the next day. I did have to shampoo them once this winter after I put baby oil on her legs as I'd run out of uddercream. All the baby oil did was keep the mud on her legs wet.

I do think that mudfever depends a lot on the bacteria level in the soil though, I haven't had a case of mudfever with my horses for over 20 years, yet some people seem to battle it no matter how careful they are.

Aha but that's not because of the bacteria level.... The bacteria are present everywhere. It's the ability of the skin to resist a full blown infection!

 

[lhotse]

I have heard that land that was previously grazed and poached by cattle is worse for mudfever. Maybe I'm just doing something right then!! I think that horses that are standing all day long in mud do get waterlogged skin, which is maybe the reason mine don't as they are not standing in mud.
I feel sorry for anyone who is battling it, apparently January has just broken the record for rainfall, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon either.

 

[TwyfordM]

Legs are hosed every evening when she's bought in, didn't for the 3 winters before that and she is fine/has no mud fever with either methods. Just makes my life 10 times easier not to be scraping off dried on clumps of mud every morning, and she's got a thick bed so legs dry pretty quick

 

[viceversa]

washed daily with cold water and a little bit of shampoo, then sprayed 3 x a week with dilute hibiscrub.

thermatex wraps on to dry.

Does anyone know whether the thermatex leg wraps are better with the cordura covered outer, or without? To be left on all night.
Also, do they do a pretty good job of drying the legs? Rather than just trapping in the warm / damp conditions?
Thanks

 

[Lucyad]

Never wash - just brush when dried if required, and when it is very muddy apply pig oil once a week.

 

[tallyho!]

I have heard that land that was previously grazed and poached by cattle is worse for mudfever. Maybe I'm just doing something right then!! I think that horses that are standing all day long in mud do get waterlogged skin, which is maybe the reason mine don't as they are not standing in mud.
I feel sorry for anyone who is battling it, apparently January has just broken the record for rainfall, and it doesn't look like it's going to stop any time soon either.

Yes you hear all sorts of tales about mud fever and I battled it for a long old miserable time with my boy believing it to be the soil and the vet wasn't much help apart from taking my money and injecting my boy with useless steroids...

Aaa anyway, as usual, if you want something doing.... so did some research and found the problem was indeed the horse! Changed his diet and gave him some specific vits n mins and no more mud fever.

I've got a box full of unwanted useless remedies. Free to a good home!

 

[Spot_On]

I've always hosed off after bringing it and once a week run baby oil through feathers/tail.

 

[NellRosk]

Only wash legs if I'm going somewhere/ the farrier is coming/ I want to check they have legs under all that mud. A shavings bed does an excellent job of removing mud!!

 

[Sparkly Snowdrop]

I never wash a horses legs in winter and I have never (touch wood) had a problem with mud fever. I do believe that muddy legs are better left to dry and brush off.
Horse now lives out 24/7 so I wouldn't dream of washing his legs.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

never have, never had mud fever. I will wash feet if trimmer due.

eta I had a horse with a fine coat and three pink heels-he never had it either.

 

[Dreamer515]

my tb is chestnut with 4 white legs (and i mean proper legs not just socks/stockings) his field is waterlogged and very muddy by the gateway. have tried fencing it off but the other horse goes straight through it. he always comes in with no white showing he has to endure the hosepipe every night and then gets towel dried after. He hates me as he has a fear of water...though he has got a lot better with the hosepipe now...no snorting and wide eyed looks lol on the odd occasions i havent been able to use the hose due to above reason i have used warm water and a sponge. (warm water is more for my benifit as i have poor circulation) so far we have had no mud fever this year

 

[whizzer]

Used to hose every night but after horse had mudfever 2-3 winters in a row I was advised to just rinse down in baby oil & very warm water every 3-4 weeks & leave off the nightly hosing. Have never had a problem with mud fever since. I just brush the worst off before I ride.