After rummaging though my stack of blankets I found a heavy winter blanket, (Shneiders) that fits my mare quite nicely. Hurray I don’t have to buy a new blanket.
I pulled the blanket off today and found rain rot. This is the third winter with this mare and this is
the first time she has had rain rot.
The mare that used to use the Shneiders blanket seemed prone to rain rot. Do you think
its possible she got from the blanket? I know its a bacteria, it just seems an odd coincidence.
Also, this is a big heavy weight winter blanket, not sure my currant washer can handle it, could I spray the inside with bleach water to disinfect, kill any bacteria? Bleach is made ineffective by organic matter, there will be some organic matter on the blanket as it is next to the horse.
Set me straight please.
I’d take it to the laundry mat and wash it with Lysol disinfectant or clorhexidine (sp) in a big rubbermaid bin to soak. Then re-treat it with waterproofing.
I’m not sure how bleach would work on a horse blanket.
There is no laundry mat in my town anymore. Its below freezing now so washing outside won’t work either.
Lysol spray might be a better option than bleach.
I think you will need to soak the blanket in a disinfectant solution. Surface spraying isn’t likely to kill off all microorganisms lurking in seams and filling material. Would you be willing to use your bathtub? The tricky part will be getting it out to a place to dry. You could cram it after soaking and rinsing into a clean muck bucket to move it without getting your floors wet. Do you have a garage where you could hang it over something?
I like the chlorhexidine idea, but I’d need to research what draining a large volume of disinfectant into a septic tank might do. But if you are on a city sewer system then have at it.
Good thought about washing the disinfectant down the drain, we are on a lagoon which likes a healthy bacteria population.
I would use my tub no problem, a muck bucket or similar to transport to a drying location; this could work. Just have to convince hubby to let the horse blanket into his shop. lol.
Do you think after some years of hanging, under shelter but subject to outdoor temps, the blanket could still harbor bacteria?
Absolutely!
If you can’t send it out for cleaning and then do a disinfectant treatment, bag it up until you can do that yourself next summer, and put something else on your horse. I’d go as far as putting a sheet next to the skin and a blanket on top. Have 2 sheets so you can always keep one between the harder to wash warm layer and the horse. That way you can regularly wash the ‘skin’ layer throughout blanketing season. And, anything that your horse may be harbouring now after wearing the ‘infected’ blanket, will eventually be washed away, and in theory, not contaminate the outer, warm blanket.
I like the sheet idea! This blanket fits her very well and doesn’t rub so I would really like to keep using it.
What’s the diet? Rain rot (and scratches)bacteria generally doesn’t cause problems unless the diet has made it so the skin isn’t as healthy as it could be
Often it’s a matter of adding more copper and zinc, but it can be low Vit E, selenium, or sometimes Vit A
Isn’t rain rot incredibly contagious? (At least that’s what I’ve been told…)
“They” say it is, and I suppose technically it is. But consider that the bacteria lives in the soil. Consider that if you have a larger herd of horses, only a horse here and there tends to get it, so really, how contagious can it be?
Would I groom an infected horse and then groom another with the same tools? No, that’s just pushing it IMHO
It’s such a weird thing. This fall I had a case of rainrot (first one ever on a horse that I own, and only one in the barn) - the horse had been on SMZs and almost instantly developed rain rot and cannon crud. I guess there’s a connection there, which is news to me! A few baths in aloedine shampoo and spraying with Eqyss cleared it up. He’s on E/biotin/cu/zn/etc, so I’m blaming the antibiotics.
To OP, I would not use the blanket, not until it’s been washed. If the horse is sensitive to the bacteria, you’d be surprised how mobile it is and now it’s on the liners and your hands and brushes, etc. Bathing is the only thing I’ve seen get rid of the ick, and even in heated barns with hot water, it’s getting to that time of year where it sucks to have to bathe. IIWM and washing is hard, I’d straight up buy another blanket and have two for next season 
She definitely could’ve gotten it from the blanket if it wasn’t washed and disinfected in between horses. If getting it in a washer is a problem you can always take it to self service car wash and use the clips to hang it up on the wall and wash it with the big wand.
What a great idea!! I can take it to the car wash!
This is the mare that reacts to bug bites 
Her feed hasn’t changed, last year I switched to Mad Barn mineral and she seems to be doing fine. Good hoof growth, her coat is richer and shinier than when she came. Could still be borderline low??
I have heard that also but my experience a few years ago was one of my horses got rain rot but not the others living in direct contact with her.
Yup hang it and soak it with whatever disinfectant you’re using and go at it . It will be really heavy so might need to drip a bit but it will be nice and clean
Not an answer to your question but my guess is she is getting too hot under the blanket and sweating
Some horses are prone to rainrot and some aren’t. I had one horse who always battled rainrot every year. She would be bald by the end of summer. It was a lifelong management situation with her.
I’ve had rainrot in others mainly when i let them grow out a thick winter coat and then we have had excessive rainfall/humidity and moisture.
It’s not a bad idea to disinfect the blanket, but there’s probably a underlying sensitivity or the blanket itself is trapping moisture and making her sweat.
This makes sense, I have no doubt she would be sensitive and we did have rain and a couple of warmer days.
Probably what happened.
If you were to use a sheet between the mare and the heavy blanket would you use a cotton or nylon?
Cotton makes sense but wouldn’t it catch, nylon would slide easier for movement?
It seems to me when I was boarding and blanketing every day I used nylon sheets but I’m not in the swing of it anymore.
