Hittade detta på facebook och ja, där har vi svaret på varför aldrig mina hästar har haft mugg, även om vi haft skimlar och skäckar med vita ben! 

Lång text, men så läsvärd!

SHOULD I BE WASHING THE MUD OFF EVERY DAY?



At EqWest Equine Clinic we often are asked if horses should have the mud washed off their legs when they come in in the afternoon. After all, mud fever is caused by mud isn't it?.....Well , not quite. Out-wintered horses that spend their days hock-deep in mud rarely suffer from mud fever, and mud fever is rare in wet summers. It seems that it is the constant wetting and CHILLING of legs that is the key predisposing factor. We have shown, by washing just one front leg with a hosepipe and then scanning both front legs with a thermographic camera, that the washed leg remains significantly colder than the unwashed for at least two hours afterwards. 

The picture shows a pony that had it legs washed free of mud every day last winter, yet suffered from severe mud fever in all four legs. On our advice this winter the owner just applies indoor padded leg wraps directly on top on the muddy legs, to dry and warm them. The legs are never washed, just brushed in the morning. And contrary to what you might expect, it has been completely free of mud fever this winter - one of the wettest and muddiest we have ever had!

If you DO decide to wash then it is important to DRY the legs quickly with a dry towel so that they can warm up quickly.

UPDATE: This post has generated an extraordinary amount of interest (350,000 views in less than 24 hours!) and we are grateful to everyone for sharing their thoughts, which have made fascinating reading. 

Every horse - thank goodness - is an individual and what suits one might not work for another. Perhaps though we should clarify a few things as there seems to have been a bit of mis-interpretation and over-interpretation. There is no problem in washing legs but our advice if you do so is that you should also DRY them. With the exception of heavily feathered horses (where the feathering seems protective) clipping the lower legs (especially the heels) will make drying more efficient and quicker. Waterproofing the lower legs with an oily barrier (such as Pig Oil) is of course also a good thing to do.

The leg wraps shown in the photo are the soft INDOOR type. Thy don't cause rubs. It seems the jury is still out however on whether the OUTDOOR turn-out wraps really do protect. We made no reference to applying 'products' to the legs so we are baffled how that thread started! Finally ALL bad cases of MF start as tiny crusts in the heels. Check for these very regularly, treat promptly and the problem will go away. 

 

Hoppas det kan hjälpa någon där ute som har problem med mugg! :)