Chlorhexidine scrub. They also make RX Chlorhexidine shampoo.
White or Apple Cider Vinegar rinse as it clears & to prevent.
During the moist summers in Florida, I keep a bottle of 50/50 white vinegar & water mix right on my horse’s stall. I spray him every day before he goes out, and when he comes back in, in the morning. A great preventative which is easy to deal with, cheap, and the side effect is a horse with a gleaming shiny coat.
At 2 months duration with the infection spread out over multiple areas on the body, this is a serious case. Chlorhexidine scrub, keep the areas dry dry DRY. Oral antibiotics are also probably a wise move at this point. Don’t let it get to the point that you have to do penicillin injections… I’ve done two rounds of 10 day penicillin injections in the past (two different horses, two different illnesses)… it works but is absolutely miserable for everyone!
The exceed antibiotic works great on the really stubborn cases. One key thing is this stuff is often called fungus when it is in fact a bacterial infection. If it doesn’t go away have you vet test it/ culture it.
My guy had this weird rain rot on his cannons. Equiderma got rid of it super fast, nothing else worked. I work in a tack shop, and all of our customers love it too. AND you can get it on Amazon now 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004K5GVUY/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new
I recently adopted a pony that came to me with previous diagnosis of Cushings and a pretty bad case of rainrot. Equiderma worked quickly and well, and I also started the pony on daily flax. Pony is also under much less stress as she is now living without her super pushy, food grabbing pony “friend”.
I do also think it’s never just a local problem, but indicative of some immune system weakness as well.
I have a skin sensitive chestnut, and what really seems to help this horse is the addition of ground flax to the diet. Her skin really settled down, although it took about 6 months of being on flax before she stopped exploding in rain rot when it rained.
Hilton Herbs Mud Defender was developed for rain rot and scratches. The supplement is for horses who get either one every year. The lotion works great on its own and is proving to work on all kinds of skin issues, from summer sores to crusty, bloody ears in dogs.
I have two chubby miniatures with gutter backs that stay wet and the varmints love to roll creating the perfect environment for rain rot. They have both had rain rot in the past. Since I put them on CA Trace supplement and use the No Thrush dry powder on them as a preventive, they have not had it again. One of them actually has scars (white hair) that grew back as the RR was bad. I groom them about once a week with a stiff brush to get them clean down the skin them sprinkle the powder down their backs and brush it in. I tried several liquid washes and sprays at first with no success other than shivering from washing a pony in winter. I Love the No Thrush power. I sprinkle it on hooves for thrush, pasterns for mud fever and down the back to prevent rain rot.
Equiderma is amazing. Sounds like at this point a systemic antibiotic for this case.
The fact that you’re a vet student should NOT mean you delay in getting your horse’s skin scrapings done promptly. You’ve already tried 3, maybe 4 different methods to eliminate this crud, which is now on cannons, hind quarter, and back of ears. So it means it’s spreading. Time to stop guessing and get this horse the care it needs.
What are you doing with these products you’re applying? What’s the rotation/ duration between products? How often is the hair coat wet? All these things will impact healing. For example, using Eqyss Micro Tek soon after a Betadine product will cause blistering…
Had an intern at our clinic who let a case of scratches on one of our blood donors go 2 weeks because she refused to hear her ‘treatment’ was incorrect. She was “researching” what she thought would work… according to what she read in her textbooks… despite getting good, solid advice from more experience people. Finally had to have a sr. partner intervene and set her straight.
If you need to ask what to use on your brushes to disinfect them --being a vet student-- I think it’s time for you to set your ego aside and put your horse’s care and comfort first. Enough already. While you’re ‘researching’, your horse is uncomfortable.
Skin scraping, CBC and as others have said, check E/ Se levels in your area.
I cleared up my mare’s rainrot with chlorhexidine. It worked really well, but only after I’d clipped her. Her long winter coat was making it difficult to get treatment down to her skin, and it was providing a wonderful moist warm environment for the rainrot.
Where is everyone buying Chlorhexidine scrub? I can only find the Chlorhexidine solution which looks like it is for disinfection of premises rather than the horse itself.
Thanks.
[QUOTE=GallopHer;8479002]
Where is everyone buying Chlorhexidine scrub? I can only find the Chlorhexidine solution which looks like it is for disinfection of premises rather than the horse itself.
Thanks.[/QUOTE]
I buy it from my veterinary distributors :D. You can likely get a DVM’s office to sell you a pint–it’s not Rx.
My TB was a hot mess when I bought him - emaciated (with a body score of 1.5) and covered in the worst case of rain rot/scratches our vet had seen in a long time. We did a LOT in the first year…we obviously got him up to a better weight (an equine nutritionalist was a fabulous resource for us!), and I became OCD about anything and everything that touched his skin. I cleaned his brushes 4-5 times a week (dunked in diluted betadine), and always used freshly laundered/bleached saddle pad/polo wraps/blankets, etc (my basement at home can seriously double as a tack store, it’s insane!!!). Our vet gave us a shampoo that contained chlorahex and we used that sparingly - I think he got 2-3 baths in the summer since we didn’t want to strip the oils in his skin. We spot treated areas with diluted chlorahex on a gauze pad. This approach took care of 90% of it, but he still had some ick left over…we ended up moving to a different barn this year with gorgeous, dry footing in turnout and that took care of another 9%. He does occasionally start a little bit of cannon crud, especially if he’s out in the rain, but a good curry with a rubber pimple mit and a spritz of the EquiFit silver spray keeps it in check. Today he’s fat and happy with a gorgeous, glossy coat…so it’s totally doable with good horse care and a lot of TLC. Good luck!!!
As others have said, shampoo with chlorhexadine scrub. After the horse is thickly lathered up, work it in to the roots of the hair with fingers or a gelly mitt and let it sit 10 minutes before rinsing.
In the future, rain rot prone horses are best managed with prevention. I once in a while do a chlorhexidine or iodine shampoo when dry dusty weather turns to wet weather–only for the horses that are prone to severe rain rot–not all the horses. If I see the slight “dimpling” that precedes rain rot, they get a chlorhexidine bath straight away.
The great thing about Equiderma is that you don’t need to let it sit, then rinse. You don’t need to bathe the horse at all, which is hard of a lot of us, if not impossible, this time of year.
You only need apply the chlorhex to affected areas.
FWIW, chlorhexidine is the major ingredient in Equiderma lotion.
I got a big jug of chlorhexidine solution from Amazon for a pretty good price. I use it in two ways:
Mix a big splash of it with a dollop of shampoo and a gallon water in a bucket. This makes a “scrub” that I use for bathing. I use it on the whole horse and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before rinsing.
Dilute some in a spray bottle and spray on the affected areas. I use a weaker dilution if it is dry out, a strong one if it is raining as the rain will dilute it further/ rinse it away.
I’ve always had great luck with using dilute (maybe 1:9) betadine solution. Just put it on the affected area, make sure it gets down to the skin and just leave it. Make sure it dries before putting on blankets or sheets.
Usually I can clear up rain rot in a couple days with this method.
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