Skin crud after chestnuts came off

[quietann]

So… the mare has some skin crud. A couple of weeks ago I noticed her chestnuts were getting big, so I did my usual thing, rubbing Vaseline onto them every day to soften them so I’d be able to peel off the excess.

The chestnuts in front either came off on their own, or someone took them off (which would be weird but you never know.) I’m just as happy that I didn’t have to do it, because she doesn’t like having her chestnuts messed with.

Anyway, whatever happened, I noticed yesterday that she had skin crud around her right front chestnut, and today she has it on the left front one, too.

The skin is slightly warm to the touch, and the edges are a little weepy. She isn’t itchy and it doesn’t seem to be painful. Any clues? Any treatments that could help?

[eqsiu]

Sounds like the edges of the skin surrounding the chestnuts was damaged when they came off.

[quietann]

@eqsiu

Sounds like the edges of the skin surrounding the chestnuts was damaged when they came off.

It does look that way, but the crud is away from the edges, too.

[DarkBayUnicorn]

Any chance that whoever took them off while you weren’t there used something caustic to soften them instead of vaseline?

[quietann]

@DarkBayUnicorn

Any chance that whoever took them off while you weren’t there used something caustic to soften them instead of vaseline?

Yikes. That would really surprise me as her barn is super careful with the horses. Plus she’d be a PITA about having them touched, never mind putting something painful on them!

It’s … possible … that the Vaseline has gone bad??? But her rear legs are unaffected and I am still putting it on the rear chestnuts.

I’m now thinking it looks like rain rot, just in a weird place. (She has no signs of rain rot anywhere else.) She’s had scratches before, but only on one leg, in the typical location just above the heel bulbs. Paddocks are muddy (welcome to spring in New England!) but the area around the chestnuts isn’t sitting in the mud.

[walkinthewalk]

They can get itchy – I have seen one of my horses bite at his if I don’t get them cut off in time.

I’m wondering if those are your horse’s own bite marks and he bit himself raw?

if you don’t have any medicated soap or shampoo, wash his legs with original Dawn dish soap and warm water. Pat dry and put some sort of antibiotic cream on the sores and mineral oil on the chestnuts. That should stop the itching if those are the horse’s own teeth marks:)

[quietann]

Hm… seems possible, but honestly her chestnuts would grow to over an inch if I didn’t remove them occasionally. But if the Vaseline bothered her, yes she could have bitten them off. (She just hasn’t before.)

In any case, wash plus ointment will hopefully help.