Yesterday after visiting with Denali I worked at the Giant Warmblood Barn. I love it there. I love the horses. They are some of the most amazing creatures ever. It's amazing to see them in their stalls, looking like every other horse I've ever met, but to get the chance to watch them under saddle. It truly is amazing.
I got to the barn early and decided to pull Pete out to groom him.
Can we say Hot Mess??
The poor guy's tail was so full of crap, and he has scratches SO BAD. His owner really is never out. Pete is HUGE. He's at least 17 hh, but probably bigger. I took him to the wash rack, but there was only one cross tie because one of the Giant Warmbloods decided to do some rearranging. I turned the hot water on to scrub the legs with some medicine, and asked Pete to stand there. I was preparing for a battle (because with D, that's what I'm use to) but he just stood there. Perfectly still without moving. I was shocked. Even when I was scrubbing his legs with the medicine, he stood stock still. Without being in the cross ties. His tail is SO GROSS. I scrubbed it the best that I could, but it is still gross.
Does anyone have suggestions for scratches?? They are bad, really bad and although I don't get out there much I want to try and help him when I can. I have MTG, but wonder if that is effective at this stage.
12 comments:
Poor guy... I would try the MTG for now and suggest the owner get a vet's opinion. Honey had Scratches on one leg when I first brought her home and I can't for the life of me remember what the vet had me use, but I have herd a few people swear by MTG for it.
PS Denali looks great in that pasture! I hope she warms up to the other horses out with her!
Geeze, what a good boy though. I have used listerene and MTG. Both worked when I got Naigen and she was a damn mess too. Really, really bad scratches, mites and rain rot. The best thing is picking the scabs off. The bacteria can't have a place to hide or they come back.
I think M.T.G. is just great, I really do. At the very least, if you think Pete's scratches are too much for M.T.G. to handle, it won't hurt at all to use it. Still, the stuff really does work, especially if you can use it consistently. Poor guy. I'm sure even just the attention he got from you helped him.
Yeah, he has HUGE scabs on his legs. One is bigger than his chestnut. I will try MTG on them, but I just assumed that it was too much. We'll see! They are impressive scratches!
My advice is to leave the scabs alone - they're protecting skin that is healing and will fall off on their own and picking them off is also very painful for the horse. I would treat initially with some antifungal/antibacterial creme - like Nolvasan or Eqyss medicated spray/shampoo. Do not use anything harsh or irritating as it's likely to make things worse. Otherwise the area needs to be kept clean and dry - wet bedding and mud in turnout can cause scratches or make them worse. Sometimes clipping hair around the affected areas helps. Once things are scabbing up, using Desenex powder (it also comes in spray) can be really helpful.
See - ask a bunch of horse people for an opinion and you'll likely get a bunch of different answers!
A different suggestion to keep in mind--I always use cornstarch with great success. My farrier told me about it. It just dries everything out. It is also as cheap as can be.
Ok, I'll throw in my $0.02. I would keep using the MTG (I like to put it in a spray bottle) until the scaps just wipe off, which may take a few treatments. Once you get to that stage, wash well with Novalsan or Betadine every other day or so, and then once the legs are bone dry (dry well with a towel) apply desitin or balmex, followed by cornstarch, to the entire area. If it's really bad, you can also use stuff for athlete's foot to clear it up. Poor Pete!
wash with nolvasan, and let dry, and keep 'em dry.
I agree on the MTG. I got a rescue horse over a case of full body rain rot with the stuff. It is truly amazing!
I use salt water on thrush in the hooves so that might work too, although I've never had to deal with scratches so I don't know. It's cheap and can't hurt. I've never heard of the cornstarch idea, but I'd be willing to try it. Good luck! It's sad that his owners ignore him . . .
I have to put a plug in for good old Desitin, or just generic diaper rash cream. Cheap and SUPER effective. AND it stays put!
The other thing I loved was the Seashore Acres scratches remedy.... very similar stuff, also super effective. Metro had little stratches once, I put some Desitin on and literally they were gone in just a few days.
Now, if they are REALLY bad and are seeping/really sore/infected, he may need to see a vet for something stronger. See what you can do for him, but keep that one in mind too.
I've had the best luck with Silver products (I have the wash). It's a little pricey, but a little goes a long way, and clears up the scratches in a week or less if it's used as directed. I went into the tack store, asked what works best on scratches, and Silver is what they told me. Many people at my barn use it, too. So there's my two cents :). Unless the scratches are really bad, you shouldn't need the vet...At least try treating first and see if it starts to improve.
I'm going to try the MTG and cornstarch (read cheap things) because he's not my horse and I'm not going to put a ton of $$$ in him. I'm going to scrub his legs up again on Wednesday and put the MTG on them after to see if that helps at all. They are SO GROSS. (He, he is SO CUTE!!)
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