# Rain rot-MTG-Blanket?



## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

My OTTB mare has rain rot on her rump, I just got the MTG in the mail today and applied it onto the rain rot this evening, but she has a blanket on because she is clipped and it's still pretty cold out here. should i not have put it on? or is it ok to be applied and then put the blanket over it?


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

If your horse is clipped, I would just leave the blanket on. 

If you start supplementing Vitamin A, he will get over it much, much more quickly and if you supplement Vitamin A in the future -- at least during the winter and spring -- he won't get rain rot -- at all.


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

If the MTG doesn't get it, try tea tree oil It works really fast.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

my horse is so susceptible to that. he also has a few spots on his rump. I treat right away with a weak betadine solution which does eventually work. curious how you add vitamin A to a horse's diet and why that would prevent it. I ordered omega horseshine yesterday, after I discovered his spots, because someone said that will help. possibly that has vitamin A in it?


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

It is directly caused by a deficiency in Vitamin A. I have been supplementing Vitamin A for about 40 years and in that time, have had NO rain rot or lice -- also seen this same time of year.

Vitamin A is stored in the liver and horse's Vitamin A stores run out in late winter - early spring. Hay only has Vitamin A in reasonable amounts n it for about 6 months. So, just before green grass and warmer weather, stored Vitamin A runs out.

It affects their skin because it takes sufficient Vitamin A to have healthy skin, healthy eyes and a good immune system. I have raised horses for about 50 years. I used to have a mare or two that did not pass their afterbirth for several hours after foaling so would have to have a Vet out to 'clean' them. I have not had to clean a single mare since I started supplementing Vitamin A.

The main signs of a Vitamin A deficiency are:

Runny goopy eyes.

Flaky dry skin, rain rot and lice.

Poor heat cycles, breeding problems and failure to drop afterbirth within a few minutes of foaling.

Susceptibility to sickness and various illnesses. 

You can supplement Vitamin A in many ways. A vitamin supplement like Farnam's 'Mare Plus' has very high levels of Vitamin A.

I use a loose mineral that has 150,000 units of Vitamin A per pound in it. Most horses eat 2 to 4 ounces a day of it.

We only feed a feed (a grain pellet) that has added Vitamin A in it.

When horses are deficient, the quickest way to get Vitamin A into them is to give them the injectable form only give it orally. Any stock or cattle supply store carries it in 100cc bottles. You can give a horse 4 or 5 cc orally and do it once a week until their problems clear up.

When we get in a horse that has rain rot, or scruffy skin, we deworm them and give them Vitamin A. I do not even treat it any more. A healthy horse with a good hair coat and good healthy skin will never get it from them and it clears up as quick or more quickly with the Vitamin A than it does to treat it.

Rain rot is always a symptom of unlealthy skin. The horses with healthy hair coats and lay flat and have a bloom on them even in the winter will never get it. Some horses just require more Vitamin A than others and it will always be the same ones each winter / spring.

They all clear up on their own once there is green grass -- a very good source of Vitamin A in nature.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

That makes a lot of sense. My horse does not have goopy eyes but he tends to get a respiratory cough when the other horses don't. The vet has said Peppy has lower resistance to things and I need to vaccinate him 3 times a year. Also, he has said that he has a poor immune system which makes him more vulnerable to the skin problem. It is in the middle of the winter when his skin goes crazy. I just ordered mega horseshine from smartpak because I am getting desperate to fix it. Wish I would have gotten your post two days ago! Smartpak has a supplement called Smart Omega 3. They said it would not hurt to feed both supplements. What do you think? The Smart Omega 3 has 10,000 I.U. of vitamin A per serving. Do you think that is enough? I am planning to order it unless there is a better product anyone knows about. I have a loose mineral supplement the vet says to offer free choice but my horses always turn their nose up at it. Thanks so much for your information!


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## Firefilly (Oct 13, 2010)

Cherie said:


> It is directly caused by a deficiency in Vitamin A. I have been supplementing Vitamin A for about 40 years and in that time, have had NO rain rot or lice -- also seen this same time of year.
> 
> Vitamin A is stored in the liver and horse's Vitamin A stores run out in late winter - early spring. Hay only has Vitamin A in reasonable amounts n it for about 6 months. So, just before green grass and warmer weather, stored Vitamin A runs out.
> 
> ...


 
All I can say to this is.... wow. I think I know what I have to go and get for my horse now! I have an OTTB that I picked up from the track in September 2010 - and she has HORRIBLE hair coat. And I mean horrible. She has patches of missing hair all over (even in places that could no way be from rubbing on something). And she has runny eyes.... all the time. I have been trying to figure out what it could be - was just about to get the vet to run a full blood panel and see what she might be lacking. Maybe this is it?


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

The Horseshine will help but you're paying a huge premium for the product. The main ingredient is nothing more than ground flaxseed. Instead of going with the Omega 3, use the liquid A. You will see immediate results (within the week) and a $15 bottle will last you 2 years with one horse. At 10,000 IU, you're going to be waiting a long time to get things cleared up.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

okay, called Walgreens and our health food store and neither has liquid vitamin A. Where do you get it? I will look it up online next too.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

the feed store has something called Red Cell which has a lot of stuff in it but 25,000 I.U.'s of A per ounce for $24.95 a gallon. Would this work? How many I.U.'s by the way do you suggest a day for how long?


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## Firefilly (Oct 13, 2010)

Juniper said:


> the feed store has something called Red Cell which has a lot of stuff in it but 25,000 I.U.'s of A per ounce for $24.95 a gallon. Would this work? How many I.U.'s by the way do you suggest a day for how long?


Red Cell may make your horse hot - as it is a red blood (iron) builder..... usually used for race horses etc.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

Firefilly said:


> Red Cell may make your horse hot


Well, that is absolutely out of the question then.....thanks for that info!


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## Rachel1786 (Nov 14, 2010)

I'm debating going to walmart and getting some vitamin A pills and mixing them with her feed, and i think i'll give it to my appy as well because his eyes have been goopy lately...I don't think our tractor supply has the injectable, but i'll check this weekend, is it given S/Q or IM? i can't give shots to my appy, he sees the needle and freaks, but Bella normally isn't too bad for it, maybe i should just stick to orally for both tho lol that will be easier


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## Cherie (Dec 16, 2010)

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO INJECT IT AT ALL. It is labled for cattle and can cause a swelling type of reaction in horses. Just squirt it in a horse's mouth and they absorb it just like the dewormers.

If you cannot get the 100cc bottles of the injectable at a local farm supply store, you can get it with no prescription from Valley Vet Supply. You can order it from them on line.

I think the reason horses get like this in the late winter and early spring is it is nature's way to insure that horses do not cycle and produce foals out of season. If they do not have enough Vitamin A until there is green grass, they usually do not have fertile heat cycles. So, unless they are fed the extra Vitamin A, they do not cycle until green grass and that is when they start shedding and get a GOOD hair coat. You have to work at getting a good coat out of season.

And Yes -- they will get higher than a kite on Red Cell. Vitamin A does not cause that kind of response -- Liver, Iron and B Vitamins makes horses get 'high'.

'Mare Plus' does not make horses high and has a lot of Vitamin A in it.


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

If you have a Big R or Murdoch's nearby, they carry it. Any farm supply or vet supply will have it too. The bottles are 100ml or 250mls of Injectable Vit A and D or Vit A,D and E made for cattle. Each ml will have 500,000 IU of Vit A so much more than any other product (don't waste your $$ with the other stuff). Valley vet only carries the big bottle and Jeffers carries both.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

I did not know you could eat the injectible cattle vitamin A. But I did get some Purina minerals, the 12 - 12 something, that does have vitamin A in it. I also bought a bottle of CoMega Supreme. It was $24 a gallon. Per ounce it has 14500 IU of vitamin A. It also has omega 3, 6 and 9 and vit E. Hopefully this will improve his coat and not make him more energetic. It says it is a concentrated source of energy. uh oh. What do you think? I suppose I could return it.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

this comega has 4mcg of iron per ounce. I don't see any vitamin B though.


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## Left Hand Percherons (Feb 1, 2011)

I feel you need a minimum of 1,000,000 IU Vit A to see a change. In using other products, you need to consider how long it will take you to achieve that plus the cost.

1,000,000 IU Vit A of Injectable is one 2ml dose at $.30. One day.

With the CoMega you would need to feed 69 oz at $12.94. Feeding 2 oz/day of the CoMega, it would take one month. Can you safely up it? Depends what else is in it. Granted there are other things in it that are beneficial but if you're only looking for the A than it's too expensive for me.

Mare Plus is also mentioned. At $16 for a 3# pail (2,400,000 IU total) 1,000,000 costs $6.67. By doubling the 2 oz dose (4 oz), you can get there in 5 days. Much better and 1/2 the cost.

The 12:12 will add 10,000/2oz portion (12.5# or 100/2oz portions for 1,000,000 IU). The best loose mineral product out there for adding Vit A is MoorMan's. At 300,000 IU/# you will get there with 27 2 oz portions at about the same cost as the 12:12.

MPs Show Glo is another good source of Vit A. 

There are ways of getting there but the injectable will always be the cheapest and fastest.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

thank you so much. I printed out your informative post and put it in my horse notebook. I am feeling very hopeful about vitamin A helping!


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

In addition to the dietary changes... give your horse a good bath with a chlorahexadine based shampoo.. Let it soak and pick off all the scabs while its soaking. You can make your own shampoo with ivory dish soap and add some chlorahexadine or Nolvason to it. If you can't bathe your horse where you are.. squirt some chlorahexadine on each one of the spots and then pick off the scabs and repeat.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

the chlorahexadine shampoo did work very well last year when it finally got warm enough to bathe, and we could suds up well and let it soak for a bit. That is well into spring for us in the frigid north though. After all the spot treatment during the winter, I did do the shampoo when it got warm enough, and never had an issue for the rest of the year. That's why I thought I had conquered it. But, here the little stinkin' scabs came again the end of February. Are you saying to put some in a spray bottle and leave it on the spots, not rinse off? I suppose it could not be any more irritating to the skin than what I am putting on now, weak bleach and betadine.


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## Juniper (May 4, 2007)

Update, I threw every supplement with vitamin A in it at my horse. Well, not literally, I gave it to him in some LMF, which has vitamin A also. No more skin problem and he did not have his usual spring cough and runny nose. I have also been giving our horses at least an hour turn out a day on green grass. We board, so this can be tough to do, but I am making it happen. 
The supplements have been expensive but anything is better than a scabby bald horse and betadine scrub treatments all the time. Next winter I will look into the cheaper cattle vitamin A. 
Another benefit is Peppy just looks better all around. People keep saying what a nice looking horse. 
Thanks for the good advice.


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