Mud Fever Help!?

Question

My horse's field is very boggy at the moment and a horse that shares his field has now got bad mud fever, the girl that owns the horse was washing his legs down most nights. I've started to leave the mud on and let it dry overnight and then brush it of to try and prevent my horse getting it. Am I doing the right thing or does anyone out there have any other advice? Thanks! x

Answer 1

Mud fever is horrible and can be very painful so it is much better to try to prevent it! You are right not to be washing your horses legs, as it is not caused by mud, but by constant wetting. The skin chaps and the bacteria gets in, causing hairloss and raw looking oozing scabs to form. The bacteria breeds under the scabs, which the spread up the legs and can become more infected, possibly needing antibiotics from the vet.

Check your horse daily for any signs of scabs around the heels, pastern & fetlock area. If he's ok apply a barrier cream to clean dry legs and then turn him out as usual.

If you have scabs or scaly, sore looking areas, try to get him into a barn or onto dry ground. Let the mud dry and brush it off.

You must remove ALL scabs, clip his legs if he is really hairy then clean the skin with an anitbacterial wash, ( a diluted iodene solution or hibiscrub is ideal ) The skin is now sterile and clean so apply a soothing cream to any raw areas as neccesary and he should now heal up pretty quick. Try to keep him either inside or out of puddles and mud if you can untill new scabs are forming. If you have no options but to put him out then apply a really good barrier cream. Make sure it is covering the whole area, and smooth down the hair and any feathers to form a complete water proof layer.

Inspect him daily untill the ground dries up, and if the new scabs show any sign of infection you will need to get an anti biotic cream from the vet.

This winter has been horrendous for mud fever due to the wet, mild weather. ( In the UK ) My lot have so far wintered out, happily, with plenty of hay on the dryest part of the field. But, two weeks ago we got the scabby heels in the native pony! My TBx and the Arabx as well as the Welsh cob have been fine, but the greedy Highland pony stands at the gate all day ( in a big muddy puddle ) looking for food! Guess who got the mud fever? Bald Highland? Shaved legs? Not an option as show season will soon be upon us!

I keep an eye to the weather forecast and bring him in when it's wet.

One really good tip: if the mud fever scabs are too hard to remove, apply baby oil generously then wrap the legs in cling film over night while the horse is "in"

By morning the scabs will be soft enough to pick off easily! ( Gross isn't it? ) then scrub & carry on as usual!

Answer 2

Keeping the skin clean and dry is the basis of treating this condition. You may have to remove the horse from the wet and mud and kept him stabled for some time.



You have to treat the causal organisms under the scabs, so these must be lifted and removed at the start. You may have to have the vet out and sedate him as it can be very painful. Some of the tougher scabs may need soaking or poulticing first to soften them, before they can be peeled away.



Once the area is clipped it should be washed — using either a mild disinfectant such as chiorhexidine, iodine wash or surgical scrub, or another a medicated shampoo — and then rinsed well. Drying the limb thoroughly is imperative— a hairdryer is an excellent way of doing this if he is ok with the noise.



Once dry, there are numerous creams, lotions and emollients that may help. Zinc, castor oil, lead acetate and various commercial anti-inflammatory ointments can all help, but only if the skin is dry underneath.



Bandaging can be a good way of keeping it clean and dry. Bandaging that's too tight or has moisture trapped underneath can allow an infection to flare up again.



This whole process may need to be repeated several times, and in bad cases a full recovery can take many weeks.



Good luck.



Tigger: Went to site and Equr would bother me. No where does it give the ingredients. They give more info on Heelit but they push that for mites over mud fever.

Answer 3

To treat mud fever: Evening: when you bring the horse in, wash his legs with shampoo to remove cream (see later). Wash again in hibiscrub or betadine scrub to kill the bacteria that causes the mud fever. Throughly dry the legs - this is really important. Then put lots of barier cream on. Nappy cream or zinc and caster oil cream works really well and is quite cheap. I usually bandage overnight as well although thats probably optional.

Morning: Reapply the cream before turnout - use lots!!



To Prevent: Evening: Wash the horses legs again hibiscrub or similar is good as it prevents the infection in a horse prone to it, but just rinsing the mud off is ok for a horse without mud fever. Dry the legs again - this is really important! again lots of cream.

Morning: reapply lots of barrier cream!



Mud fever is caused by bacteria that lives in the mud and when the horse gets a small cut the bacteria get in and causes the mud fever. Therefore the treatment requires killing the bugs and prevention requires preventing the mud reaching the leg.

When treating remember that mud fever can sometimes go as far up as the belly and so that should all be examined reagularily. If the mud fever doesn't clear up within a couple of weeks of this sort of regime you need to speak to a vet as the horse may need oral anti-biotics to kill the bugs.

Answer 4

If you do end up with mud fever..I use a towel that has been soaked in water with tea tree oil, wrap it under the fetlock covering the mud fever, then gently pull one side then the other - this dislodges the scabs until you get to the skin underneath. Then apply manuka honey.



Otherwise just checking it every day should suffice - some horses suffer more with this than others, no matter what you do.

Answer 5

mud fever is caused by when the horse gets cuts or scraps to the skin which allows the mud to enter the horses skinwhen your horse comes in on a night you should wash there legs thoroughly to make sure all the mud is ofis the horse does have it make sure there legs are clean by washing them with hibiscrub making sure you take all the scabs of allow the legs to dry and put an antibacterial cream on them i would advise you to keep your horse out the mud until it clears if you can if not make sure there legs are well protected before going out in the mud again ie putting sudocream on helps alot as it acts like a barrier then when they come in takes warm water with hibiscrub again and wash the cream of and re apply the anti bacterial cream then start again before turn out in the morning with sudocream

hope this helps

Answer 6

I always wash legs off. Before turn out in the morning and when the legs are REALLY dry, apply a hefty amount of liquid paraffin. It's like wellies for horses. If they are feathered, really rub it into the feathers. When they come in that evening hose off mud and repeat application the following morning. Follow this routine for 4 days. Then apply every 3/4 days until the weather drys up. ( am down to once aweek now). Your farrier may not be to happy but you can always shampoo off and start again if he's very fussy.

Answer 7

I prefer to leave the mud on and let it dry naturally as you do. For horses who already have mud fever, I can recommend Equr as an effective treatment. Check this link for more information on Equr and advice on preventing mud related conditions:

http://www.gayneprospero.com/products/equr.html

Answer 8

The best thing go do is nothing. I found that when my mare got it, the more I tried to get rid of it the worse it got! You should tell your friend to leave it alone. And I think the same goes with your horse. If you feel the need to do something I would hose his legs and then use a towel to dry them. That way the moisture isn't on his legs all night while the mud dries.

Answer 9

for mud fever you can either:

Wash the horses legs, then dry them.



or



leave the mud too dry then brush it off.



As long as the mud comes off you should be able to prevent it. You can also use a mud fever lotion. Good luck

Answer 10

sounds like your doing ok, you can do it either way, but obviously if he already has mud fever you should hose it down then dry it and put ointment on. or buy mud guards for your horses legs.

Answer 11

Hi,check this site out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki.mud_fever

Hope it helps.Goodluck & hope your horse is alright.Links are not working.I typed Mud fever into Yahoo there is loads of advice.

Answer 12

1

Answer 13

wash legs