# Fungus on legs?



## Miss Katie (Dec 30, 2007)

Rain scald or mud rot. Treat it with an anti fungal shampoo. And if the horse is constantly getting muddy legs move to a dryer paddock and remember to brush the dried stuff off with a dandy brush. When you wash the horse towel dry the legs.

Curry combs should only be used over muscled areas.


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## Junebug (Jan 18, 2009)

Miss Katie said:


> Rain scald or mud rot. Treat it with an anti fungal shampoo. And if the horse is constantly getting muddy legs move to a dryer paddock and remember to brush the dried stuff off with a dandy brush. When you wash the horse towel dry the legs.
> 
> Curry combs should only be used over muscled areas.


 Oh thanks! I know that i just used it that time to get it off. Im going to be clippin her legs soon anyway. Thanks!


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

The white nasties are very common. It's not rain scald or rain rot (both show irritated or weaping skin underneath). It's usually due to urine splashing up on the legs. If your horse is stalled, I would bed him a little deeper. If you have your own pasture, provide some pea gravel or other high drainage area to urinate.

Curry him often and bathe with betadine scrub on occassion. It will go away on its own, and ocassionally come back. It's nothing to really worry about.


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## dimmers_double (Jul 13, 2008)

i notice that on my mare when she sheds in the spring and summer....does your horse always have that or just in the shedding season?


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## hotreddun (Jun 27, 2008)

my horse has had this off and on since I moved from a desert climate to an icky humid climate. I haven't found anything but daily betadine scrubs to get rid of it. Just noticed he had it again yesterday and its still to chilly to do daily scrubs:-x


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## Appyt (Oct 14, 2007)

Too chilly to wash? Slap on some desitin diaper ointment. I'm tellin y'all it works wonders. LOL


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

It doesn't seem to bother the horses any. The skin usually doesn't get irritated, unless you scrub it too much, lol. It's really nothing to worry about. Just curry the area good whenever you groom and give your horse a soft or absorbant place to pee-pee, so it doesn't splash on their lower legs.


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## smrobs (Jul 30, 2008)

It is rain rot, mud rot, scratches, whatever you want to call it. Try to keep him out of the mud or wet areas, give him plenty of bedding, and when you bathe him, make sure to dry his legs thoroughly. This is common in show horses because they are bathed all the time and don't think to dry the legs off. All of the corrective suggestions listed above should work well.


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## Britt (Apr 15, 2008)

I've found that Triodine spray or MTG both work very well for getting rid of rainrot. My horses both have rainrot right now, but it's too cold and moist to do much about it... so I'm having to wait until it warms up some.

Remember to disinfect your grooming supplies very well... rainrot is very contagious in horses.


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## luvs2ride1979 (Nov 9, 2007)

smrobs said:


> It is rain rot, mud rot, scratches, whatever you want to call it. Try to keep him out of the mud or wet areas, give him plenty of bedding, and when you bathe him, make sure to dry his legs thoroughly. This is common in show horses because they are bathed all the time and don't think to dry the legs off. All of the corrective suggestions listed above should work well.


Those are different things. 

Rain Rot is caused by a bacteria on the skin. It produces little round scabs.

Mud Rot, Mud Fever, or Scratches is a skin infection, usually located on the back of the pasterns under the fetlock. It's produces an area of scabs and irritated or weeping skin and is warm to the touch.

The white gunk on the lower legs (between the hock and fetlock) does NOT have irritated or scabby skin, unless the owner/handler scrubs it too hard. The ONLY symptom is the production of white flaky dandruff-life "stuff" from the skin. The hair doesn't come off in chunks like rain rot either. The hair will shed like normal, or slightly more pronounced shedding, but the horse won't go bald.

Private Discussion

From the vet: "Well I think we have two related problems here. There is a definite condition of greasiness without hair loss that occurs on the front of the rear cannons that does not seem to be an infectious disease, more of an overproduction of sebum and the hair is not lost and the skin not irritated underneath. I am as much at a loss to explain why some horses do this though males do seem effected more. Shampooing is the only reasonable course and antiseborrheic shampoos seem logical." (_dandruff shampoos_)

Oh, and curry combs are fine on the lower legs. Just go with the direction of the bone (up and down) and don't curry to hard across tendons. My horses LIKE being scrubbed with their curry on the front and back of their legs.


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## zanytactics (Sep 8, 2007)

MTG works wonders!


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