horse with scratches

[Tom Coughlin]

just an informal poll I am thinking of purchasing a horse, great in every way as far as i can tell except she has a pretty good case of scratches ,heavy feathers on legs. any opinions?

[Does’ Leap]

We have not personally dealt with scratches, but I have heard of people curing their horses of chronic problems with Selenium supplementation. It would be worth seeing if she is currently supplemented and it might be a good thing to try.

Kristan

[Jay]

I’ve had a couple of mares over the years who seemed to get them most often this time of year. I 1)clipped the hair short up to the hock to alow it to stay drier and then used athelete’s foot cream on it. If I was consistent with the cream, it generally cleared up fairly quickly. Some thing to try any way. Jay

[Donn Hewes]

For me scratches is a mixed bag with multiple causes. Usually I have had to deal with mites as part of it. Finding drying housing and bedding, cutting the hair, treating with almost anything anti fungle or sometimes antibotic is where I start. For mites, oils or creams just prevent respiration of the mites. also worming can help. I have had good luck treating them when I stay on top of it, but I have also had animals that seemed prone to recurring. Not usually a deal breaker for me. When caught early mites seem a little more scabby and less open sores.

[j.l.holt]

scratches often comes from damp skin, irritated by a scrape that gets a small skin infection. as a rash grows we see it and treat. keep clean and dry and stop before mites start using it for a moisture supply. had a lot of mite problems when I had free running chickens. even the penned rabbits had them. anti-biotic skin creams are a good place to start..have had good results with strong Listerine mouthwash. what ever you use, or where you start, you will need to clipper the hair off, clean and keep dry.
j.l.holt

[Author]

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