What the fungus? Mare Legs edition

[StormyDay]

Has anyone seen something like this? Mare had hives about a week ago. She’s a redhead so she’s prone to such things. I gave her Benadryl and it went away and she’s been every happy on her body ever since. But her front legs look like this. And are super itchy. She’s itching herself raw. Just her front legs, no where else on her body. At first I thought it was maybe weird rain rot but I’ve never encountered a case of itchy rain rot. It’s also not presenting like sweet itch because it’s just the front legs, and we really don’t have midges at all where they are.

I’ve been bathing her legs in anti itch shampoo and using eqyss spray on it. I’ve ordered some Benadryl gel too.

[Hippolyta]

Skin stuff is so difficult. As you say, it could be fungus, but if it is rain rot it would be bacterial, it could be none of the above (allergies).

I think rain rot can be itchy. When you pull out hair, does it stay together, like a paint brush? I not sure why it would it would be on the legs, though. Maybe she is having a reaction to plants that she is brushing against.

For anything skin-related on me, horse, other hoofed creatures, I use sulfur products. They work for all sorts of skin stuff. It is antifungal, antibacterial, anti inflammatory and acts as a keratolytic. After thinking this for years, I found a review article in a human dermatology journal that essentially says sulfur is good for a wide range of skin conditions, often as good or better than some of the newer drugs we have. Always spot test!

That being said, it is probably better to get an id on the issue before treating. Sorry I’m not more help.

I found this, with lots of links to related articles at the bottom of the page: https://equusmagazine.com/horse-care/common-equine-skin-diseases

[Fiesta01]

Saw something similar on a mare at my barn, but only on her chest. She got it every year in late spring/early summer. She always was scratching it raw on fences. She was a pasture horse who belonged to the BM who did no care with her except for feeding.

She was my old gelding’s favorite mare, so I always treated her myself. After trying a bunch of things, the only thing that helped her was daily cleaning with Betadine scrub (really sudsing it) until the hair started to grow back.

[StormyDay]

It’s not really clumping out. I’ll pick up something with sulfur in it tonight.
I hope it’s not mange

[StormyDay]

I’ll try that. I’ve been treating it more as allergies than an infection but that’s not helping it.

[Weezer]

If you can get the raw wounds to heal, daily spraying with absorbine treats fungal infections well - but don’t spray on open wounds. We have a mare who gets something similar every spring but it doesn’t seem to be rain rot. Good luck!

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

This time of the year horses tend to become photosensitive from eating certain plants.

Wild carrots, wild parsley I know are just two of them.

You may want to contact your County Extension office. And you can also Google pictures of those plants so you can recognize them.

However, if you are in a boarding situation you may not be able to do anything about it.

My horse went through this every June. I never had an allergy test done. You may want to look into that, because you can narrow down the cause and be able to treat effectively right away as opposed to the spaghetti method. Throw several things at it until you find the one that works.

I had the best result with both oral and topical ivermectin.

But again, you have a situation where you may more than one thing going on, fungal problems invite opportunistic bacterial infections, for example.

Also, you may want to have your vet pull blood and check her vit E . Several posters on the forum have posted about adding supplements which helped their horses immune system to fight off skin problems.

Good luck. Hope this helps.

[StormyDay]

Just an update in case anyone has something similar and sees this thread; this product took care of it

VETERINARY FORMULA CLINICAL CARE Antiparasitic & Antiseborrheic Dog...

I’ve been using it 2x a week. Cleared it right up, no more open wounds. She’s still a little itchy (chestnut mare, bugs) but not literally eating herself.

And yes, I know it’s for dogs. But have you guys ever tried the anti-itch shampoo they make? Total lifesaver if you get bit by mosquitoes.

[jumpermom]

Our mare would get a skin condition in the summer basically because the dew on the grass made for good fungal and bacterial growth on the lower legs. Trainer had a good “home made” mixture that worked great and coated the legs. I forget the exact proportions but it was a mix of diaper rash ointment, triple anti-biotic ointment, hydrocortisone ointment, and women’s yeast infection ointment (miconazole like Monistat). Mix in a container and rub on the affected areas daily.