Weird crusty heels (like mud fever but not!)

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kittykatcat

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Hi everyone! My horse has got white stockings and pink skin on all four legs. About a month ago i noticed that right under his heels on his hinds he had developed these crusty scabs, a bit like mud fever. As his field is very flat and dry with no long grass, i do not think that this can be mud fever. It seems to get pink and hot when he is out and is a bit better when he's out of the sun but is not going away. I started treating it with hibiscrub, lathering on uddercream and slapping on the factor 50. Everytime i washed it however it got angry and red. So now, i have stopped washing it and am liberally sprinkling Keratex mud shield on as it has a detergent in it and may offer some protection. The scabs come off easily when wet and scratched a little, and it's not open skin underneath...It doesnt seem to bother him that much and legs aren't puffy and he's not lame..

Weirdly - the yard that my sister is working on in the summer - most of the horses with white legs have got this too...vet said it's 'photosensitivity' however, they ONLY have it on their legs. If it was true photosensitivity they would have it on all their non pigmented skin....

Has anyone else experienced this? What did you do? What is it?!!
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A pony I look after has something like this. He sometimes has it under his dock too. He's had various topical treatments, washing with hibiscrub and courses of antibiotics and nothing's shifted it so far. Swab results showed that its a bacterial infection - in fact the same bacteria as MRSA, not that yours in necessarily the same. At the moment I'm using some sort of sulpher shampoo the vet wants me to try, but it says on the bottle its for fungal infections.
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Sorry I can't tell you I know what gets rid of it, if it is the same thing, but I'm as clueless as you are.
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It's horrendous isn't it?! My sister's yard has had the vet out as mentioned earlier and they prescribed antibiotics, but hasnt seemed to shift it. The horses on her yard seem to be less sore when the scabs go (she's been told to wrap their legs in clingfilm to chivvy the process along - not so easy on a 4 month foal!) and then get sore again when the scabs re-appear. My friend also has this on her two horses....you dont live in Kent do you? Perhaps its something weird going on in Kent!
 
did the hibiscrub, then flamazine off vet, finally cracked it with aromaheel, just slapped it on, cleared up in days, scabs went , heels lovely now. best £15 spent in along time.
 
My TB has had similar, only on the white legs, and despite trying everything I couldn't get it to shift. It definately wasn't mites as only affected two of his four legs, and only the white legs. Plus I've seen harvest mite infestations before and it looked completely different. Someone on here suggested trying sublime sulphate, and this really did the trick. Mixed with aqueous cream and slapped on twice daily it had cleared within a week. I'm in kent, near sevenoaks - you are welcome to borrow some if you want, i have a huge supply!!
 
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.you dont live in Kent do you? Perhaps its something weird going on in Kent!

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Nope, Cheshire, but the pony came with the problem from near Plymouth.
 
Our big horse has had this last 2 summers, at first we thought it was from the sun but this year I notice it seems to be biting flies that are getting her heels and this is only prevented with a thick application of wound cream everyday.

I was convinced it was sun related prior to seeing the flies this year, they have eaten in her ears so they bled (now wears fly mask) and also under her belly which also bled also has cream there too. Perhaps the flies are your culprit?
 
photo sensitivity affects white socks and ankles. usually caused by buttercups or eating the hedge and loading the liver. i find that 'mud fever cream' thats aqueous cream with steroid and antibiotics mixed in from your vet heals really well. and try to take the hedge and buttercups out of the equation. a liver de toxify helps as well. wear gloves when applying. really useful cream for all sorts of nicks and scrapes
 
Hmm...i dont think it is mites...horse not irritated by it at all, and exactly the same as horses on my sisters yard and it's only affecting the white legs...unless mites are being selective this year! But worth covering all bases.
The aromaheel sounds interesting...as does the 'sublime sulphate'.
Anyone who has had this and its cleared up - did you keep the horse out of the sun, or did that not seem to make a blind bit of difference?
 
my horse had this on one of his socks! we hibi-scrubbed it, applyed mud fever ceam, nappy ceam, fungal ointment, antibacterial cream - everything and it didn't work!!!

hibiscrub angered it, however i picked off the scabs without using hibiscrub and kept it dry and applied cream that helps burns (i'm sorry i forget the name - ask your vet!) and it cleared up in a matter of days!
 
Another one here struggling with this. Been washing with hibiscrub, bandaging over wet cotton wool and a pad of clingfilm with sudocrem but can't even get the scabs off to apply the fuciderm cream. She's had a course of antibiotics and it is nowhere near as painful as it was...she was hoppping lame for a couple of days but I can't clear the damn thing.
My vet says it is massively common at the moment and is mud fever, it doesn't need to be muddy, just a bit of damp from dewy grass can trigger it and almost always on white feet.
I am wondering about trying aromaheel but with mixed reviews from others not sure I want to try another £15.
I am certain it isn't mites, my horse is an arab with no fetlock hair and there is no evidence of anything biting her. I also asked the vet re liver damage/photosensitivity. He didn't think it was a concern as he said there would be other signs and she is otherwise well (apart from dodgy teeth!!)
We also don't have any buttercups or access to hedges so neither of those.
I hope we can get a solution soon as it is depressing to get nowhere and we have been treating for over a fortnight now.
 
Does it look like this?

6331_99839179222_511914222_1925643_6811679_n.jpg


this was frankie about 2 months ago, he wasnt lame but i just couldnt clear it up, the vet told me to leave the scabs on and use fuciderm cream, this made it worse. I collected a 5 day course of antibotics and applied loads of fuciderm cream then a square of poultice plastic down put for padding then bandaged with vet wrap over night, the next morning it looked like this -

6331_99839219222_511914222_1925650_3727393_n.jpg


I then just put germaline on it twice a day and every time the scabs came back I repeated the bandaging. In total i porb bandaged it 7/8 nights. It then completly cleared up in less than two weeks and the hair has now grown back.

This was him last weekend and as you can see the hair has grown back (near side fore)

6091_116811469222_511914222_2169326_511621_n.jpg
 
You dont need mud to get mud fever. It is caused by a bacteria. You only need a small entry site, such as a scratch and the horse will get mud fever. It is more common in winter because the wet weather softens the skin and therefore allows the bacteria to get under the skin easier. So, you CAN get mud fever in the summer.

Liquid paraffin is the best thing to soften scabs. They have to be removed to clear it up because the bacteria are anaerobic, so cant survive if exposed to air. Leaving scabs on gives them a lovely warm, wet breeding ground.
 
Where would you buy liquid paraffin from?
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Mine has developed mud fever in the last week (since changing fields actually from starvation to one with much longer grass). I don't usually both to treat it as he only gets a couple of scabs and they always dry up and drop off of their own accord. However, as he has it so early this year I want to treat so we have a clean slate for winter. I usually just whack Protocon on.
 
Protocon isnt the best as it clogs the skin up. I get LP from my local saddler. if they dont stock it ask them to get it for you. Or a chemist. Its really cheap
 
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Does it look like this?

6331_99839179222_511914222_1925643_6811679_n.jpg


this was frankie about 2 months ago, he wasnt lame but i just couldnt clear it up, the vet told me to leave the scabs on and use fuciderm cream, this made it worse. I collected a 5 day course of antibotics and applied loads of fuciderm cream then a square of poultice plastic down put for padding then bandaged with vet wrap over night, the next morning it looked like this -

6331_99839219222_511914222_1925650_3727393_n.jpg


I then just put germaline on it twice a day and every time the scabs came back I repeated the bandaging. In total i porb bandaged it 7/8 nights. It then completly cleared up in less than two weeks and the hair has now grown back.

This was him last weekend and as you can see the hair has grown back (near side fore)

6091_116811469222_511914222_2169326_511621_n.jpg


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my mare had this and I used to clean it with muddy marvel disinfectant which helped soften the scabs then I dried it thorughly then applied sudocrem, it healed lovely
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It's sounds like what I call cracked heels. not quite mud fever as just a little bit scabby in the back of the pastern. I don't like to use hibiscrub as it is very drying on already dry crusty skin, tea tree shampoo or pevidine scrub are good.

At the moment Moo is getting benzyl benzoate (also great for sweetich) on his hind legs I have used it for years, its great for softening and lifting off scabs, it also moisturerises the skin.
Germoline, savlon and sudocrem are fab if the skin is raw. This combination sorted our old boy in a week when the 'loaners' had let him get so bad we thought he had infected mud fever. we just washed his legs dried them and piled on the benzyl benzoate, all scabs gone in three days! so washed every other day and them lots of creams.
 
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Protocon isnt the best as it clogs the skin up. I get LP from my local saddler. if they dont stock it ask them to get it for you. Or a chemist. Its really cheap

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Great, thanks. I will pop in to the chemist later
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Hi, there's a condition called leucocytoclastic vasculitis, which was featured in an H&H vet article a while back. This looks superficially like mud fever, and is typically found on white legs exposed to the sun. Unfortunately the treatment for mud fever doesn't work with this and just makes the horse's legs more sore. If possible, try to keep the areas protected from light, don't pick anything or scrub or use detergent, and use a soothing cream instead, this won't do any harm and if it is this condition, it will start to improve in a few days. It's worth mentioning this to your vet.
 
woops forgot to mention this! Do you have clover where your horse is kept? This is a cause of photosensitisation in some horses, and does so through contact, so would only affect vulnerable areas of the body it touches. There are other plants that cause this too.
 
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Hi, there's a condition called leucocytoclastic vasculitis, which was featured in an H&H vet article a while back. This looks superficially like mud fever, and is typically found on white legs exposed to the sun. Unfortunately the treatment for mud fever doesn't work with this and just makes the horse's legs more sore. If possible, try to keep the areas protected from light, don't pick anything or scrub or use detergent, and use a soothing cream instead, this won't do any harm and if it is this condition, it will start to improve in a few days. It's worth mentioning this to your vet.

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I have followed your link and come up with some really useful information! Thank you very much!
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