Leg washing

[me2]

My only access to fresh water is a cold hose. To date I have not washed my horses legs during the winter so they are stabled at night with filthy legs which I brush clean when dry the next morning. I wonder if the risk of mud fever is outweighed by the risk of them catching a chill. They are VERY hairy so would be difficult to dry. Any advise welcome please.

[Maci]

Unfortunatly, I don't know much about mud fever, just the basics, so my advice may be inaccurate, but here's my shot! You could always bring warm water from home, or warm the water you have over a stove, etc. so he won't get a chill. And after you wash his legs, just towel dry it, and then blow dry the rest.
The unfortunate part is that he might get dry skin, so I would only wash his legs once a week. If his skin does start to get dry, just rub them with cream everytime you see him, and that will help with his itch's.

Maci :)

[Allie]

My horses are out full time with muddy legs and have no problem with mud fever, but I am I assume in a different climate (US vs. England). He will not catch a chill just from you hosing his legs down, so if that is your only concern I would go for it. Just dry them when you are done or he can just as easy get mud fever from clean water as dirty water.

Allie

[Mossy]

I was always told NEVER wash a horse's legs with warm water if the wash is to avoid mud fever. The warmth dilates the pores softens the skin and renders Mud fever more likely. Use cold water if absolutley necesary but otherwise leave to dry and brush out. Only wash if problems have already set in and it is a treatment wash, even then COLD - unless vet says otherwise - and dry ans thoroughly as possible to avoid chapping. Sorry if I sound heartless but there is sound physiological reasoning behind the comment.

[Sarah]

..Even if you did wash your horse with warm water, all it would do is cool down given time so the horse would be left with cold water on its legs, so there really is no reason to wash a horse with warm water, unless you have a horse hairdryer!

[Wally]

We have several burns that flow through our parks. The horses spend a lot of time crossing and paddling in them. They have never caught a chill through wet legs. If you do wash them don't use detergent, just plain water to swill off the mud.

[Groovn]

I'm not sure what type of horse you have, but have you thought about shaving his hair around the area? That way you could try brushing the mud off and with whatever mud is still on you could get an old rag and try to take the rest off. With the less hair there the easier it will be on you when you are trying to get off.

Also my hores has a a little stream that never freezes in the winter, and he always seems to be in it, thus making his legs always wet. He has never caught a chill from it!

JMO
Carly!

[Charlie's Angel]

We have a horse who is prone to mud fever and has a lot of feathering. The vet advised us to cut off the feathering, wash the leags each night with Hibiscrub (we use a back scrubbing brush with nice soft bristles that we got from Bodyshop to do this and it works a treat!) and dry them (we use lot of newsprint to do this. Cheap, readily available, esy to dispose of and is very absorbent). We then leave him overnight. In the morning before turning out we rub udder cream in from the knee down. All the washing is done with cold water as that is all that is available at our stable and it is VERY muddy. So far so good--no mud fever, no chills, no cracking or dried skin.

[floppy]

a horse i ride has big hairy legs ad she doesnt seem to have any problems with mud fever...she is kept out during the day and stabled at night and as soon as the mud has dried on her legs it is brushed off...she lives in germany