Clipping feathers off?

[RobaDob]

Say, if i was to clip all of Rob's feathers off, would he develop mud fever because of all the mud?

Thanks x

[nemolucy]

i'm not quite sure 'coz i have a welsh mountain X show pony and he dosen't have feathers he did get mud fever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D

[Joyscarer]

Well there are 2 schools of thought on this one.

I fall into the leave the feather on camp. When I riffle through Joy's feathers the mud doesn't get anywhere close to her skin because of the feathers. I still use the piggy oil and sulphur treatment as a preventitve though :)

The other school of thought says to clip them off in the belief that you can keep the legs clean more easilly. But as I don't believe in continually washing JOy's legs because she is out 24/7 then I do souscribe to this. :)

If you use the piggy oil and sulphur once a month as a preventitive then feather on or off the choice is up to you because the piggy oil should stop mud fever happening :)

[xloopylozzax]

you could never say oh if you chop it off he will, and if you dont he wont- alot of horses have feather when they get mud fever, and alot are bald and dont.

why were you contemplating chopping them off?

[RobaDob]

why were you contemplating chopping them off?

mainly because he would look alot smarter than he is now, and the show season is starting next month.

[Rarah]

Mine has had her feather clipped off for the past year now without any mudfever. I think it really does depend on the horse.

[eventerbabe]

my vet advised me to take off a decent amount but leave some length to protect against mud fever. Too long a feathers and my cob gets mites, too short and it's mud fever. We have to find a happy medium somewhere inbetween :)

[joey_olop]

Both mine have there feathers off-I hate hairy legs:D Touch wood have never had mud fever & they both live out 24/7:)

[Iron Maiden]

My old horse was clipped out before I got him & I clipped him at first, he had horrendous mud fever. I let his feathers grow & it got loads better.

[RobaDob]

Im now thinking of clipping a bit of his feathers off and just leave a little bit there to protect his legs from actually catching mud fever..

[iloveshearer]

Shearer has pathetic feathers that i let grow abit in the winter to give his legs some protection but he still got mud fever this year and i had to cut them off to treat the mud fever. It's a tricky one really!

[Bay Horse]

The only time my lad ever got mud fever was when I bowed to pressure and cut off his feathers. :mad:

It depends on the weight of feather. If you just have light feathering it's not going to offer much protection against the mud.

[chunky monkey]

I was told to keep them on to help protect against mud fever. However I do suggest that once in a while if they are very hairy you wash the mud off the legs and just have a ruffle through the feathers and skin to check that there is nothing going on underneath just to be sure.

I try to pig oil and sulphur mine after the farrier comes. Only trouble was last time he came I a) was running out of the stuff and b) it rained continuously for a week after I did it. I got him in this morning and washed off his legs whilst the mud was only on the outside layers of his feathers to my surprise underneath the feathers were actually white still but something has been going on cos he has either got his mite patches developing again or its mud fever. So I have slapped on some PO & S against to touch wood next week it will be all gone.

I must admit I have been a bit lapse with checking in the last few weeks, naughty mummy.

[Tatooed Lady]

How about using a clipper with the comb attachment to trim the feathering down some, but leaving some length? Then you could start applying pig oil and sulfur to help protect against mud fever...this way, not only would his legs look "cleaner" because of the clip, but the feathering would stay whiter. From what I've read on these sites though, be careful that you don't apply the stuff within a couple days of wanting "show white" feathering, as the stuff will initially stain the hair...but the color goes away in a few days or a week...something like that. ;)

[x.fat-pony.x]

Gem got mud fever and her feathers were huge!
Feathers can help, but it won't prevent it by itself, I know plenty of clipped horses that still get it, all depends!

[coyote]

TBH if you use the piggy stuff,it wouldnt matter what amount you took off his feathers,the piggy stuff would protect them,feathered OR naked.;)

[charlotte+jill!]

chop um off :D!

i much prefer cobs smartened up :D

[mogadoga]

Well there are 2 schools of thought on this one.

I fall into the leave the feather on camp. When I riffle through Joy's feathers the mud doesn't get anywhere close to her skin because of the feathers. I still use the piggy oil and sulphur treatment as a preventitve though :)

The other school of thought says to clip them off in the belief that you can keep the legs clean more easilly. But as I don't believe in continually washing JOy's legs because she is out 24/7 then I do souscribe to this. :)

If you use the piggy oil and sulphur once a month as a preventitive then feather on or off the choice is up to you because the piggy oil should stop mud fever happening :)


I tried keeping Alex's on, but he got mud fever with them, they were too short to protect, yet too damned long to get into to treat. I now keep them off and show him, pig oil has been a god send!

But like someone has said when i was reading through, may get it, may not. Wont ever know until you try.

[Soot]

Lucy got mudfever when she was clipped out.
The mudfever patches grew out as the fevers cam eback and now her feathers protect her.

[Retty]

Interesting thread. I have tried both feathers on and clipped off. It seems to work differently for different horses. Max got mud fever and mites with his feathers on; when I asked my vet he advised:

(BTW this was for Max who is heavily feathered au natural so I am sure would differ for others)

If Max is feathered they will to a certain extend protect him from mud fever due to water etc not being easily able to penetrate through his masses of hair
However, if he is standing in very wet conditions for prolonged periods of time then the water and mud will penetrate the feathers and then provide a lovely breeding ground for the mud fever. Hence - dry and dry'ish conditions = feathers for Max and very soggy conditions = clipped feathers :D If he has mites then feathers are completely clipped off as I find it easier to keep an eye on and thus control. :o

[Denbenj]

I'm in the leave feathers on camp!!

Feathers in my world have always done a good job of protecting. I am often reluctant to wash Kais legs if hes come in knee deep in mud, underneath all that mud and feathers you will find the heels are hardly even wet!

Some people wash horses legs every evening theu come in... even tho Kai looks a damm state I prefer to just brush of when dry.

I would only trim feathers of if there was a severe mite infestation or genuine problems with the heels.