Weird scabby lump things near coronet?

[IPEsq]

After trying all the usual things without much luck—one patch would heal but the scans were spreading outward into a larger and larger area each time I thought they were gone…

Vet dropped of CK shampoo and Animax ointment. Because of pink skin, I cover any places that have lost some hair or are a little raw looking with Equiderma Zinc. I’d been using the zinc for a little while before the Animax without much improvement. Vet also told me I shouldn’t use betadine scrub that often but CK is milder. It is healing pretty rapidly now and is for sure less inflamed. Yay!

Vet says we’ve got something in the soil at this barn. This is the third horse this summer who has needed Animax to get on top of the skin crud.

Now if only I knew what to do about this bug bite caused granuloma on horse’s back?? It’s itchy and hard and right under the saddle. Been there for weeks now and looks to have moved from normal bug bite to a granuloma that’s going to hang around…

[Simkie]

@Groom&Taxi

Have you tried the Silver Whinny Sox?

Nope. Looked at them, but they’re pretty pricey for a flier. And I’m really dubious that they’d stay down over the coronary band and not ride up.

@Lusoluv I healed the scabs last year. They were gone. They returned over the winter. I suspect, at least for this horse, that there’s some interfering or just knocking around going on behind, perhaps in addition to some skin abnormality that prevents what are really small little scrapes from healing. All of her scabby bits are to the inside of the hoof, or on the front–none on the outside. I’m hopeful if I can get these to heal again, a set of fetlock rings will prevent the small scrapes that turn into these ridiculous persistent things. Bell boots would also work?

I’m not comfortable using something like compound w on my own horse…have you ever had a wart and used it on yourself? It burns through the tissue, leaving a hole. Then normal tissue fills back in. Cool for warts, but I don’t want to make these wounds any bigger. My thinking is they already have a hard time healing here–I don’t want to create something bigger to heal. Of course, if there’s some pathology in the skin, maybe removing that and taking it back to healthy tissue is just the thing. Keep us all posted on how things go with it!

@IPEsq that sounds like something very different than what I’m seeing. These scabby things are stable for years. They don’t grow or spread.

[Lucie_Too]

@Simkie

Lucie, I hear ya. I’ve had this horse 6 years. She’s had these things the whole time. This is the first year it’s mattered. Benign neglect is great, but after two rounds of cellulitis, it’s no longer benign

:eek: yikes! Twice in a year, oh man, my heart couldn’t take it. I hope she is feeling better now!

Just to chime in re: treatments that haven’t really worked, the horse at my barn is on a regiment of silver sulfadiazine cream applied liberally to the bumps, and then it’s scrubbed off in the morning with medicated shampoo. It hasn’t really done anything to reduce the bumps, but they also haven’t gotten worse. Like Simkie, hers are only on the insides or front of her pastern/coronet area.

[Simkie]

@Lucie Too

:eek: yikes! Twice in a year, oh man, my heart couldn’t take it. I hope she is feeling better now!

Just to chime in re: treatments that haven’t really worked, the horse at my barn is on a regiment of silver sulfadiazine cream applied liberally to the bumps, and then it’s scrubbed off in the morning with medicated shampoo. It hasn’t really done anything to reduce the bumps, but they also haven’t gotten worse. Like Simkie, hers are only on the insides or front of her pastern/coronet area.

Yeah, thank you, she seems to be doing well. This climate is brutal on the cellulitis :dead: In … over two decades of horse keeping, I never had a horse pop with one before. Move to CT, and BAM. One last year (different horse) and then the two this year. Barf.

Maybe the horse at your barn would like to try the gall salve. I have the scabs gone and it appears the skin is healing. No scrubbing. Really pretty easy. I just put it on a couple times a day. It does kind of melt, so the white socks are greenish. I just wipe off any excess before each application.

[Groom_amp_Taxi]

@Simkie

Nope. Looked at them, but they’re pretty pricey for a flier. And I’m really dubious that they’d stay down over the coronary band and not ride up.

The Sox were one of the most promising things I feel like I have tried over the last 10 years of trying to “cure” a horse with chronic crud. They rode up a little at times but really not badly. My issue was getting them on and off. I think they would be worth a shot in your situation if you can manage changing them on a daily schedule. Compared to how much I have spent on topicals over the years, they are really not that expensive.

I honestly don’t believe this stuff is curable; I think you just have to try to manage it as best you can. I do think it is aggravated by things outside as well as inside the horse (like an allergy), and it seems rational that something that breaks the cycle of aggravation could help.

[IPEsq]

@Simkie the vet thinks that it’s all just pastern dermatitis basically. Because the bigger area was caused in my case by boots (creating the environment for the funk to take hold), it’s spread out like “mud fever” where I can’t seem to get on top of the scabs. Some come off but then the crusty edges turn into the funk, and it’s expanding outward. It’s in the middle of the lower leg, so we think that’s why it’s acting a little different. There’s another couple of patches that look like the more typical scabs, on the pastern, and likely started by a slight interference injury that turned into the funk.

One of the other horses had a similar interference injury, though that one did spread some in diameter. Primary horse with the never ending, yearly battle with this has the scabs largely just on the heels and a little around the pastern.

In any event, it’s apparently all the same thing just there’s something that creates the moist, warm, irritated environment in whatever location makes sense for the horse and then the crud invades. There seems to be a photosensitive component, and at my barn, I think some of the spreading I had going on was from the flies getting at these veiny parts of the leg and further spreading the bacteria or fungus or all of the above.

Vet thinks we have to scrub off the scabs once the CK shampoo has set and the skin softened. He thinks the scabs keep the bugs alive though perhaps dormant at times. However, one boarder did that last year (or was it the year before?), and horse blew up with cellulitis the next day. So YMMV!

[Simkie]

@IPEsq

In any event, it’s apparently all the same thing just there’s something that creates the moist, warm, irritated environment in whatever location makes sense for the horse and then the crud invades.

That’s not at all what I’m dealing with.

These are full thickness unhealing wounds.

[Simkie]

Alright, so it’s been a month or a little less of using gall salve on these suckers twice a day to keep them soft, and I added pastern rings maybe a week ago. We have some DEFINITE healing going on.

Current working theory is there is some interference that happens periodically that causes the little scrapes in the first place and then prevents healing long term. It’s nothing major–my farrier has watched her move and there’s nothing of note–but I’m guessing she’s banging herself a little when she snorts around or rolls or something like that.

The pastern rings are cheap as these things go and gall salve is too and it’s easy to smear it on a couple times as day. As the weather gets colder it lasts longer (it does melt a bit in the heat.) The Gateway people used to make one that I much preferred, and this might be it with a different name, so might order it when my Bickmore’s runs out.

But this might be worth a shot for those of you who are trying to get these to heal on your own horses. Certainly seems to be working pretty well here

Oh, something else about this horse that may be related: she gets little skin tags from fly bites. They dry up and fall off over the winter, and then gradually come back over the course of the summer. It makes me wonder if there’s just something about her skin that’s reactive and proliferative and also causes problems healing these things on her feet. Anyone else see that on their horses?

[dungrulla]

The longevity of this thread astounds me.

Mine still has weird scabby lump things 3+ years on. But he otherwise seems happy and healthy, so eh, we pick our battles.

[Simkie]

@dungrulla

The longevity of this thread astounds me.

Mine still has weird scabby lump things 3+ years on. But he otherwise seems happy and healthy, so eh, we pick our battles.

I absolutely would be in the same boat if not for the cellulitis. I’ve had this horse for 6 years, she’s had these scabbies for every single moment of those six years (barring the brief period last year where I had them resolved) and this year is the first time a problem has arisen. Maybe the cellulitis isn’t related at all, but it seems prudent to try to resolve all paths for bacteria since this area of the country does seem prone.

[dungrulla]

Mine got cellulitis like two years ago. He’s been fine since with no reoccurrence. I would guess the two are probably unrelated.

[Xanthoria]

I had a horse with this - ended up being diagnosed as Sporotrichosis (also known as “rose gardener’s disease”) - infection of the fungus Sporothrix schenckii.

Here’s the thread: https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/163620-weird-crusty-sore-on-legs-any-ideas

Ended up horse was stalled and treated for 6 months after the scabby things went wild on him. He had 4 different types of antibiotics with little success, vet took 2 bloods and 3 pus samples and finally after consultation with UC Davis diagnosed sporotrichosis. The diagnosis process took 3 months.

Vet started horse on a weekly IV of sodium iodide, and daily oral itraconazole (Sporanox) powder which was $400 a month, for 6 months.

The horse finally healed, went out to pasture, then passed away of old age 6 months later. FFS.

[Simkie]

@dungrulla

Mine got cellulitis like two years ago. He’s been fine since with no reoccurrence. I would guess the two are probably unrelated.

Mine has gotten cellulitis twice this summer. I’m not taking the risk.

And @Xanthoria HOLY SHIT! :eek: :eek: :eek:

[Xanthoria]

@Simkie

And @Xanthoria HOLY SHIT! :eek: :eek: :eek:

yeah… I have no luck w horses

[Simkie]

@Xanthoria

yeah… I have no luck w horses

Your pic links are broken on the other thread–I’d love to see. I don’t think this is that based on the description, but, um…let’s compare. :lol:

[Lusoluv]

My horse scraped off one of her scabby things in the morning, earlier this summer. I noticed it weeping a bit of yellow serum in the afternoon. I washed it with medicated shampoo and doused with iodine. By the next morning she had cellulitis in that leg. I definitely think there’s a link!

[Simkie]

That’s so crazy, @Xanthor![](a. Thanks very much for the pics, I think we’re definitely dealing with something different. Mine aren’t circular and don’t change. I have some pics from last year around here somewhere, letsee…

This is after the scabs had come off in treatment and shows the full thickness of the wound and location well. There’s also a small scabby right at the coronary band at the front of the hoof that is barely visible. I did get this to heal last summer but it’s back–although not quite in the same spot as I thought. Slightly different location.

[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/p9Eke4c.jpg)

[SuzieQNutter]

Mix sulpher with vaseline and apply daily. It should work in a week or 2.

[Simkie]

Yep, I have. I started a new thread so as not to hijack this one…let me find a link.

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/10460530-chronic-wounds-scabs-on-hind-foot

This is the ONLY thing that’s ever worked. They’re still gone.

[diceuf]

@Simkie

Yep, I have. I started a new thread so as not to hijack this one…let me find a link.

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/horse-care/10460530-chronic-wounds-scabs-on-hind-foot

This is the ONLY thing that’s ever worked. They’re still gone.

Awesome! Sent you a PM.