when you bring your horses in, do you hose their legs?

Tiarella

Tiarella

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i do and i dont, cant decide which is better.

sometimes i dont wash his legs and put him in, and then his legs are mostly clean in the morning. or sometimes i wash them and theyre still wet for ages after.

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nope, not unless i know he has a lump or a bump. Never for mud, wait till it dries and then brush it off.
i do however spray his tail & legs with coat conditioner so the mud doesn't stick & it brushes off easy when dry.
 
I don't hose my horse's legs its best to not let the skin get wet unless you dry it properly afterwards. I spray legs with baby oil and put barrier cream on from the fetlock down and his legs don't get too muddy at all, I just brush off whats left in the morning, and it comes off really easily.
 
yes I do, as the mud here is unbelievable thick. I do understand where people are coming from. However we have a very big RS yard where the horses get there legs hosed. There are 40 horses and have been countless over the 9 years I have been there. We have only ever had one horse with mud fever or any sores on legs, and he came with it was a pre existing condition.
 
I hose legs when they come in, unless the mud is completly dry. Never had a problem with mudfever, and means I can get boots on easily and not worry about brushing wet mud from horses legs, which I think is far worse than getting the legs wet as really iritates the skin
 
I don't but I am fortunate that the mud is only on their feet, even though my field is muddier than normal.

However if they were muddy up their legs, I would still leave well alone, unless I thought there may be a problem than needed seeing to.

My theory about them being better left alone ..... as like a tent, they are more or less waterproof unless you touch it, if you see what I mean
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I don't, and I rarely brush the mud off either.

I've tried the whole hosing and barrier cream method and TBH, my horse does better if I don't touch her legs at all. They get a flick over and thorough check once a week. Other than that they won't get a proper brush until April.
 
I always wash my horse's legs off when he comes in from the field and *touch wood* have never had any mud fever problems. They dry quickly enough and then its easy to put boots on to work him rather than waiting for wet mud to dry and then trying to brush it off!
 
I think this should have been one of the 'Hot Topics' we were asked for a while ago (or was it?)

Matter of personal opinion I think - different people swear by different tactics when it comes to mud. I'm currently hosing off one leg which is a bit scabby and leaving the other 3 muddy
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Thanks for asking this question Rachael - I always hose Bob's legs when he comes in, but I have been wondering whether I should do
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I hose when I am riding so the legs are clean to put boots on, but if I dont intend to ride should I leave them muddy
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Yeah I know a few like that
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I also think some people just do it out of habit - hose off their wellies, then hose off the horse
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Apart from the scabby leg I don't usually bother. I compete during the winter so trim the wooliest bits off my girl's heels - as the hair is short, what mud there is on the 3 un-hosed legs has always dropped off overnight.
 
yep, always wash legs as we have heavy clay soil, I then put Legs wraps over night. In the morning I smother legs in udder cream. Never never had any problems doing it this way.
 
Well I think you could argue that either way... I wouldn't fancy putting boots on wet legs, but if I'm going xc and there is a water jump half way round the course, I'm hardly going to worry about my horse's wet legs and boots for the rest of the round, am I
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My pet hate is people using dirty boots. So boots on dirty legs must be equally bad! Urgh... How confusing!
 
I am very lucky and my field is quite dry and so all he has is a bit of mud on his feet mainly from the track to the field. If he is competing or going for a lesson he has his legs washed (2 white socks!) but other than that the straw tends to take off any little bits of "mud splatter" further up. Never had any problems with mud fever.
 
NO NO NO. Have never hosed legs in over 30 years of owning horses and have never had one with mudfever and all mine have feather which I never clip off - it is there to protect the legs - I leave their legs to dry overnight and then brush off the mud in the morning.
 
I used to hose my horses legs if they were very muddy and it didn't seem to be drying, mostly I'd brush teh mud off when dry.
 
Not usually. If I am about to ride I do as otherwise the boots go yuk! If we are competing the next day I do too but otherwise just leave it!
 
All my lot have their hooves and up to fetlocks washed every day when they come in. We have quite heavy clay soil - and it is a buggar for hanging in clumps on their legs. Then when it is hung in clumps it won't dry. At least when their legs are washed they will dry.

I have always gone on the best way to prevent mud fever is to ensure legs dry - our mud just doesn't dry that quickly.

We used to have a TB that was prone to mud fever (but then he was prone to a lot of things TBH) - but I haven't had mud fever on any of mine for years now.
 
ouch!!

Would you like to be hosed on a cold frosty day! cruel!

All except me do on my yard, and yes a few do have mud fever, but to be fair who knows if they would have it if they were not hosed off.
 
I oil my horses heels, pasterns and fetlocks with pig oil or liquid parafin every few days and never have to wash the mud off their legs. Any mud which is on them when they come in at night, dries and drops off of its own accord over night. And the legs are clean, the hair shiny and the skin really hydrated and healthy by morning. It works really well for mine. For any of the sensitive ones I also use turnout boots with sulphur powder sprinkled inside, each morning when turning out. So far, no mud fever.

*** Touch wood
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No. They never come in overnight, I don't need to, and it's too cold anyway. I have never had such a clean horse!
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Before, in the Land of Mud, my horses legs were babyoiled every couple of days, I used to leave the mud on overnight and it would all be off by the morning.
 
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