By Vet Emma Trott
Through the winter months our horses are more prone to many diseases including mud fever, foot abscesses, colic and winter coughs.
Mud fever, or more appropriately called Pastern Dermatitis, is a collection of diseases that causes inflammation of the lower limb. Clinical signs can include reddening of skin, hair loss, scabs, purulent discharge, and swelling. These lesions can be painful and can cause a secondary infection known as cellulitis.
Prevention of mud fever is much easier than treating lesions. Reducing the time spent in wet muddy fields can be hard during the winter, but chronic wetting and drying of the skin can predispose your horses to mud fever. To reduce the risk, we advise that you do not wash your horses’ legs when you bring them in from the fields, reduce stocking density, avoid overgrazing and rotating fields to reduce poaching of paddocks.
When treating pastern dermatitis, it is important to find the underlying cause; this might be related to the mud but may be exacerbated by feather mites, contact with chemicals or sunburn. Treating lesions early and breaking the cycle of inflammation is important to reduce the severity of the disease. There are many creams and lotions on the market, therefore we would advise that you phone your vet to get specific advice for your horse.
Foot abscesses are more commonly seen in the winter, especially in wet weather. Bacteria and moisture can enter the foot via puncture wounds, nail holes and small cracks in the hoof wall, or can track up the white line leading to infection.
Horses with a foot abscess often present with extreme lameness due to the buildup of pressure within the hoof capsule, however, in early stages it may be present as mild lameness.
A veterinary examination is often required, where they will assess the lameness and use hoof testers to locate the pain. They will then remove the shoe if present and pare the hoof to find the abscess allowing it to drain. A poultice can then be applied to encourage drainage and prevent further contamination of the site. Foot abscesses can often take a week to fully clear however, in complicated cases your vet may advise an X-ray to make sure the infection has not involved the bone.
With the increase in stabling over winter, we often see an increase in the numbers of horses with coughs and colic. Respiratory infections and equine asthma are both more common in the winter.
The most common cause of non-infectious respiratory diseases in horses is Equine asthma- many people will know this by the previous names of COPD or heaves. Equine asthma can range from mild poor performance cases to severe cases that are struggling to breath and wheezing.
Diagnosis of asthma for some cases can be by clinical examination, or for more complicated cases your vet may require further investigation with blood sampling and scoping your horse’s airways.
Managing a horse with asthma can be very complicated and relies on a combination of veterinary medications and managing the environment to reduce exposure to allergens that trigger your horse. Management changes include maximising turnout and ventilation (increase the number of windows or openings in the stable), use dust free bedding, steam or soak hay and feed from the floor.
With many of these conditions, careful management of your horse can help reduce the risk of disease. We would advise that you contact your equine vet at the earliest sign of any condition to help you manage them quickly and appropriately to ensure a quick pain free recovery.