Wet legs, long nights

Mud fever is not a dirt problem, it is a moisture problem. How to get the pastern through winter before it becomes a case for the vet.

Autumn never arrives overnight. It arrives across two weeks in which the paddock turns soft, the legs are wet by evening and nobody has time to dry them. Those two weeks decide whether the pasterns hold in January.

Skin that stays wet swells. Swollen skin loses its barrier, and what normally sits harmlessly on top gets in. That is the whole mechanism. Dirt alone does not cause mud fever. Days of wet does.

The mud is not the problem. The hours it spends on the skin are.

Dry beats clean

The most common well-meant mistake is the evening hose down. It removes the mud and leaves exactly what causes harm: wet skin in a cool box. Better to let the mud dry and brush it off the next morning. If you must wash, dry thoroughly afterwards, right into the pastern fold, with kitchen paper if need be.

• After washing, check with your hand: if the pastern still feels damp, it is.
• Do not cut long feather off; it channels water away from the leg. If you do clip, you must be all the more consistent about drying.
• Keep bedding dry. A damp box causes more mud fever than a wet paddock.
• Put bandages and boots on dry only, and take them off after work.

How to spot the beginning

First the skin in the fold turns slightly scurfy, then small crusts appear that you feel rather than see. Handle the legs daily and you notice on day two. See it on day ten and you already have an inflamed, painful area the horse would rather you did not touch.

What helps day to day

Movement, because it drives the lymph and takes the fill out of the legs. A dry place to lie down. And a routine that does not constantly strip the skin: shampoo the legs three times a week and you remove exactly the protection they need in November.

A thin, breathable barrier in the pastern fold can make sense in the wet season, as long as the skin is intact. Nothing occlusive belongs on open or crusted skin.