Mud fever is quite common and is generally (not always) but generally fairly easily brought under control. You should rinse off her hooves and legs soon as possible after riding (always, as a rule)and not wait until it is dried and caked on. And, be sure to dry off the hair and leg from the fetlock down in particular. I know that all that you have asked about is about cleaning off the mud, but, if you end up having a persistent problem because of the wet conditions then you might want to consider a very old but very tried and true remedy. Providing first of course that you have established that there is no infection that needs to be treated with antibiotics.

That being a 60/40 mixture of iodine and glycerin. The 60% being iodine applied liberally twice a day, morning and night. I have seen tens upon tens of animals treated over the years and without fail, this has worked every time. You must be consistent however in the application and try not to miss any days. Generally, the problem disappears within 10 days.

With respect to riding, if its bad enough you will find that she will be itchy and irritated and won't be that thrilled about being ridden. Once you have her dried off and "cleaned up" I am sure that you will find her much more amenable to being ridden. Especially after a few days of being treated with the 60/40 mix.

Cheers,

Paul

Hi Abi and Paul,
Great advise, just another question...
I have good results, once the mudfever is treated and under control, but the wet conditions continue, to cover the area with nappycream, which contains zink, before the horse is turned out. You can wash it off with lukewarm water with some mild detergent, even babyshampoo.
Is this something you favor? Just curious.
Thanks,
Miriam

Hi Miriam;

Actually Miriam, that is a great idea, particularly when pasturing options are limited and the horses have to be turned out on wet ground, which is almost impossible to avoid this time of year.

Your idea to use baby shampoo is an excellent idea, in light of the fact that 99% of all (even mild) detergents contain SLS, (Sodium Laureth Sulfate), which, in its purest form we use as an engine degreaser and is considered a HAZMAT. If one googles it, the potential problems that sometimes arise from use are rather scary.

I know I'm off topic right now, sorry, but what the heck, just a quick comment? I try to stay completely away from any products that have any "chemicals" in them.

Cheers,
Paul

Hi Paul,
Since we take responsabilty for our horses and put them in situations they cannot avoid, I think you're right to stay away from as many chemicals as possible.
I'm glad I could add something to your repertoire of things that work!
Keep the good information coming!!!
Miriam

Nicky developed really bad mud fever last year which was hard to cure as she consistently went into a muddy dam - her hock joint even swelled up with it. However she was not lame and I continued to ride her. My solution was to fence the dam off and then had a vet visit. After that I kept her hoof area shaven, picked off the scabs as they developed and applied the green oinment the vet supplied 9 Sorry can't remember its name as I eventually dropped and broke the jar. I think it was quite severe and probably full of chemicals as you had to wear gloves to apply it. The iodine and glyserine mixture sounds better. The shaving really helped and made it so much easier to get the scabs off and keep her legs clean. I also used nappy rash cream (sudocrem) once it started to heal with excellent results. Sudocrem seems to be great stuff as my Golden Retriever used to get bad hot spots and despite many vet visits she still had outbursts untill I tried Sudocrem on them - no more hotspots! Just a thought just in case others have dogs that are prone to hot spots.

Actually it was the equine vet of some 35 years ago now whom I knew very well who jokingly said he would give me a choice, that being between an extremely expensive ointment that he could provide or just to mix up my own iodine/glycerine and apply that. As it turns out I had always kept a supply on hand as it is an excellent remedy for ringworm that the cattle sometimes got, so it was all good. It took about 3 to 5 days for the scabs to soften up and just fall off on their own, and as long as I kept their legs reasonably clean and dry things never got out of hand.. : )