Posted by rosalita208 on 6/19/2012, 2:17 pm 208.121.74.182
One of my horses has little black scabs under the feathers on the back of his feet. All of his feet! It's not swollen and not itchy. Just scabby, and mildly irritated as in a bit pinkish. The horse isn't complaining about anything. At first I thought maybe he had just nicked his feet in the pasture on a bush or something but it's too similar spreading on all four feet.
I have looked around online and I think this might be "a mild case of scratches" aka "pasture dermatitis." Supposedly horses with white feet and feathers get it more often. My mustang has feathers and three white feet, one black foot. I don't know why this would happen in dry conditions in California. But from the pictures online it looks like that's what it is.
Anyway, every few days I've been washing with betadine, letting it dry then putting an anti-bacterial spray on the area, with also some swat to keep flies off. That seems to be helping. Any other suggestions? One suggestion online said they use a mix of desitin and antibiotic cream...
I've found that Nutrogena T-Gel works best of everything I've tried. You can get it at any grocery store - in the dandruff shampoo section.
Lather on a sponge, scrub onto affected area (I like to use a sponge with a scrubby-side), wash off. Do so daily for 3-4 days in a row. Repeat as necessary.
My first horse always lived in dry pastures, and he got scratches, too. He was severe IR, back in the days when no one knew anything about it. A horse that becomes immune compromised can get scratches even on dry pasture.
My current horse got scratches in irrigated pasture when he became IR from obesity, the year before he foundered. I successfully eliminated it in three days using EE Body Wash, then spraying with the blue spray, and coating it with EE Wound Relief after it dried.
"Employ your time in improving yourself by other men's writings, so that you shall gain easily what others have labored hard for." - Socrates
Re: Is your horse IR
Posted by rosalita208 on 6/19/2012, 5:09 pm, in reply to "Is your horse IR"
He's a five year old mustang and has always been healthy. He does get a skin allergy in early spring but as far as I know he is not IR. He is a pony. The vet believes he suffered starvation in the womb or as a young foal that stunted his growth. But since he's been off the range with me he's always had decent feed and has always been out in pasture, not in a stall.
The skin allergy he gets earlier in the season is more itchy bumps. The vet thinks the itchy bumps are caused by something in pasture that blooms a certain time of year. There are a lot of weeds and stuff that grow and come and go throughout the year in that pasture.
His weight is perfect. His coat is shiny. He's alert and happy to get worked... The only stress in his life is that I recently got horse number two and he is jealous. They are out in pasture together with a group of other horses, and Reno does not like horse number 2 at all. They were kind of friends for awhile, but then a new horse came out to the pasture and my horse number two and the new arrival became best buddies. The new horse just glommed on to my horse number 2 upon arrival and pretty much sticks to him like glue. So maybe that is causing a bit of stress for my little mustang? Sometimes it's just the three of them left out together and Reno stands apart from these two that have become glued.
Still, my mustang seems happy enough in general, not agitated or grumpy or shut down about the situation. Just wants to be dominant over horse number 2, and horse number 2 is not a dominant personality, he lets my mustang push him around as he pleases. So the hierarchy between them hasn't been at issue.
I have EE stuff so I will try that. Seems to work on everything. If it doesn't improve I'll ask the vet.
I managed to give my gelding scratches with an overzealous application of fly spray once!
Here's what the vet told me to do. Clean the area with a very mild soap (I used ivory hand soap). Wait for it to dry completely, and then apply desitin. Re-apply the desitin daily. If the area gets really dirty, repeat the wash with the gentle soap and then re-apply the desitin.
Yep Desitin That's what works. My mare has chronic scratches. I put it on and wrap it with vet wrap and leave it on for a couple of days. The scratches just melt right off. If He's in pasture you might want to use a disposable diaper and duct tape as well.
my shireX mare gets this every summer. . . . i mixup mineral oil and sulfur to the consistency of a banana shake, apply it to the feet and legs. works great at keeping anything from biting the feet. helps clear up the current scratches too.
i get the sulfur off ebay. . . i apply the stuff about once a week. . . . . . A balanced diet is Chocolate in both hands.
