Mud Fever

Being relatively new to horse care on the West Coast (as opposed to the Prairies and Eastern Provinces) I had never heard of "mud fever". This is a condition where constant mud and wetness can lead to small lesions on the horse's pasterns that spread infection up the legs and, if unattended, throughout the body.

Since the weather was improving I noticed the horses spending more time lying down and basking in the spring sunshine. One morning I looked out to see my big thoroughbred, Laddie, lying down with his friend, Sara Mae, standing over him. I passed an hour later and he was still there. Once again I passed by on the way to the house and he was still lying down. Now I was thinking that this was far too long to just be enjoying the sun.

When I went out to the field he didn't get up and I was immediately worried. I went and got his halter and came back. When he saw the halter he did get up, but he just didn't look right. His back legs were stocked up (swollen) and he was moving quite slowly. The look in his eye wasn't right either. I lunged him in the riding ring for a while and the legs went down, but when I threw him some hay he wasn't really interested (this is a rescue horse that was starved and is ALWAYS interested in food).

I cancelled my plans for the afternoon, and watched out the window to see how Laddie would react. It wasn't long before he was down again. So now I was frightened. I went out and brought him in the barn where we took his temperature and sure enough it was elevated. His legs were swelling up again as well, so I went in and phoned the vet. Thankfully, he arrived within the hour. After a thorough examination, Dr. Martin explained the workings of "mud fever". He gave me anti-biotics, some anti-bacterial/pain relief cream (of course, I made up my own afterwards) and told me to scrub his legs with Hibitane, let them stand for five minutes, rinse it off and pick off all the scabs to make sure the infections could run out, then put the cream on. He also said to keep Laddie's feet as dry as possible. This is no easy task in the Lower Mainland of Vancouver, Canada during the wet season.

I followed the doctor's instructions, but added a Dead Sea salt soak. Dr. Martin said to treat him daily, as well as administering the medicines. After one week he said to maintain the treatment 2-3 times per week until the wet season was over or the scabs all dried up. Every day for the next five days I followed the treatment and also soaked Laddie's feet for five minutes each in a bucket of our salts. At the end of this time there wasn't a scab on his legs, the swelling was completely gone, the fever down; and even though I did follow the procedure twice the following week—just in case—it wasn't necessary. The salts, mixed with the essential oils, drew out the infection and dried up the lesions. After two days of soaking his legs the largest of the legions "bled out". The blood was running clean and this episode marked a turning point in Laddie's recovery. Thank goodness Dr. Martin was able to come out promptly and explain this awful "mud fever" thing to me, and also thank goodness for the natural remedies that really boosted his healing.

P.S. He is doing just great, no recurrence, and we will be back in the saddle very soon, weather permitting.

Sharon