Page 39 - Speedhorse Canada Spring 2020

scraped. Horses with white “socks” usually develop lesions only on the white legs.
“There are differences of opinion regarding treatment,” says Evans. “In my practice, I like to sedate the horse and clip the legs to get all the debris and crusted hair removed. Sometimes I can do this with just a salve containing moisturizers, antibiotic and a little bit of steroid, to soothe the sore pasterns and soften the scabs so we can lift them off. Then we can clip around the area.
“I clean the affected area with chlorhexadine soap and thoroughly dry the legs. I tell clients that it
is very important to dry the area very well with a towel or hair drier. One of the problems with scratches and why it lingers for weeks is that clients are continually washing the lesions and leaving the legs wet. Because the microbes that cause scratches have an affinity for wet conditions, this delays healing.”
This is also good reason to not bandage the area. “Some people like to bandage the leg after cleaning
it and applying medication, but
I personally prefer to leave it
open,” he says. “A bandage holds moisture and exudates against the skin. I prefer it to be dry. If the environment/management is such that the feet cannot be kept dry because the horse lives outside in the rain and mud, it becomes a real problem.
“If there’s opportunity to keep the legs dry, I like to meticulously dry the lesions and keep the horse indoors in a dry stall, with good hygiene so there’s not much urine and ammonia in the bedding. If
Rain Scald is a wet-weather skin problem that typically shows on the back, shoulders and rump, looking similar to rain dripping down the horse, and likely comes from carrier horses through direct contact. Wet conditions can trigger infection if there is a break in the skin.
possible, we let the horse out on a nice paddock where the sun can get to the lesions and where the feet are not buried in mud.”
Scratches can be frustratingly slow to heal and may come
back again. “Typically I don’t
use antibiotics unless the horse
is exhibiting other signs of subcutaneous infection like significant limb swelling or lameness associated with the scratches,” he says. “In early stages, I just use local treatment with topical ointments. But keeping it clean and dry is most important.
“The other group of horses in which I see a lot of scratches is show horses or any horses that are bathed a lot. They aren’t standing around in muddy paddocks, but frequent excessive bathing leaves the legs
wet and this is hard on their skin.” It’s just like human hands being continually wet and dry, wet and dry. The skin tends to chap.
“Even though the owners want their horses clean and shiny, this is not the best for the skin,” he says. “We create a situation where we set the horse up for inability to adapt; the skin never knows whether it will be wet or dry.
“A complicating factor in scratches, because there’s very
little agreement on the cause, is
that people tend to use a variety
of pharmaceutical and chemical treatments. Since this is a frustrating disease and doesn’t go away quickly, horse owners may
get overzealous with the number
of treatments they apply—using various soaps, salves, and sometimes caustic medications. These may deter healing by creating chemical damage to the surrounding skin, in addition to the initial lesions. I’ve seen cases where a relatively minor infection got out of hand, and I suspect it had something to do with an overzealous owner using multiple
SPEEDHORSE CANADA Spring 2020 39
EQUINE HEALTH