Help! Is it rain scald

silly mare

Sara
Aug 11, 2000
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Colchester, Essex
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Can anyone describe what rain scald looks like? My horse has a scab at the top of his shoulder, and someone said it might be rain scald, but not having come across this condition I don't know what it looks like when it starts.

Also, what is the best way to treat rain scald - can you treat it yourself, or should a vet be called in.

My boy has been rugged for months now, so I'm a bit sceptical that it is rain scald.
 
Are you sure it isn't where his rug has rubbed?

Rain scald needs damp conditions to thrive. It is a general scaly, scabby condition, the skin and hair will lift and fall out and maybe leave bald patches, the skin thickens too. Keeping it dry and free from secondary infection are the main aims, no vet needed unless severe.
 
Rug rubs

Absolutely positive not a rug rub - it is further back from where his rug ends, back from the shoulder, and down from the withers.

First noticed it when grooming as lumpy little scabs in a patch. Then the hair and scabs have fallen away and left weepy skin, although he is not bothered by it. Does this sound like rain scald? Normally I would expect a scab and hair coming away to leave skin that has healed underneath.
 
Does sound very much like rainscald. It needs to be kept dry, as Wally says and you could try something like tea-tree oil (diluted in carrier oil or whatever) to bathe it and keep infection out (works for me). If the scabs are loose and lifting, most people pick them off because the bacteria that cause the condition live in the air-less conditions under the scab. However, it will clear up on its own, provided you keep it dry - just takes longer. If you get a really bad patch, with lots of weeping skin (a horse I knew had it over the whole of his back), you may have to clip the hair away in order to let the air in and treat - but that's only in severe cases and yours sounds pretty minor.
 
It has been diagnosed!

He has dermatophilis (sp?) which if I have understood correctly is caused by the same bacteria as mud fever and rain scald? Vet thinks he may have got too hot and sweaty under rug, on top of being a bit stressed anyway as it's only a few weeks since he was moved to my yard (and he's a highly strung TB!).

I've cut hair away from around the scabs, and have used an antiseptic wound powder as advised, and they are starting to heal up nicely - no longer red and weepy.
 
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