Dusty85
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
They say that you're always learning and I just wanted to ask you all something, Im wondering whether I've been doing the wrong thing for many years!
I have always hosed my horses legs off after bringing them in from the field. I hate them having thick wet mud on their legs (we have clay soil here) overnight, and I thought I was being good and avoiding mud fever. Its hosed using cold water. I don't tend to dry them afterwards. I do apply pig oil/sulphur in the mornings, on to dry heels. My mare has her fetlocks trimmed, so there isn't much feather there (WBxTB).
Ive never had a horse thats had mud fever.
However a good friend and I keep our mares together- her mare has had mud fever before. She said that the vet told her not to hose the legs down and to let the mud dry overnight, then just brush it off- the theory being that the mud just sits onto of the hair and doesn't get down to the skin.
Our gateway is quite muddy at the moment, so they are tending to come in with sticky mud all over their hooves and lower legs.
Have I been doing it wrong? I can see both sides of the argument. I dried them off with an old towel this evening to get rid of the worst of the damp. Im a bit of a clean freak and I don't really like the idea of her having horrible muddy feet all night long!
Thanks- what do you all do?
They say that you're always learning and I just wanted to ask you all something, Im wondering whether I've been doing the wrong thing for many years!
I have always hosed my horses legs off after bringing them in from the field. I hate them having thick wet mud on their legs (we have clay soil here) overnight, and I thought I was being good and avoiding mud fever. Its hosed using cold water. I don't tend to dry them afterwards. I do apply pig oil/sulphur in the mornings, on to dry heels. My mare has her fetlocks trimmed, so there isn't much feather there (WBxTB).
Ive never had a horse thats had mud fever.
However a good friend and I keep our mares together- her mare has had mud fever before. She said that the vet told her not to hose the legs down and to let the mud dry overnight, then just brush it off- the theory being that the mud just sits onto of the hair and doesn't get down to the skin.
Our gateway is quite muddy at the moment, so they are tending to come in with sticky mud all over their hooves and lower legs.
Have I been doing it wrong? I can see both sides of the argument. I dried them off with an old towel this evening to get rid of the worst of the damp. Im a bit of a clean freak and I don't really like the idea of her having horrible muddy feet all night long!
Thanks- what do you all do?