There's two schools of thought on this
those who agree with Jean - leave it to dry then brush it off
those who do as I do - hose it off when still wet.
My thinking is that if the mud dries on, it is then likely to be abrasive against the skin whether brushed off or left on (that, and the abrasive qualities of brushes that are hard enough to cope with dried on mud...) resulting in somewhere for the bugs to get in and cause mud fever. similar to getting e.g. a grain of sand stuck between sock and foot ...
Whereas, if you hose it off, everything is clean once hosed, horse put straight in stable and all dry for morning when you can, if you wish, then apply your choice of mud fever prevention to the lower leg/heels/etc....
and as for the feet - the way i look at it - if the mud is so deep and wet that i feel a need to hose legs off, the feet are getting softened anyway and i'd rather clean them than otherwise..
today we have snow - a fine covering when i turned out this morning, but it then got worse and worse and there was far too much in Stanley and Consett (on way to hairdressers & mothers) and it was clear the Councils had been caught out ..the first snow plough i saw followed me down Blackhill Bank (mother's area) and that would have been about 10.30....even coming back from their the Dipton road hadn't been cleared, and that's a main road...
At least M's feet will have been cleaned out by the snow!
Since I do not clip horse legs in winter, the long hairs tend to keep the mud away from the skin. The only time I had some mud fever issues was a year when we had snow and the horses were out in the wet stuff day after day--and then it was only on a white socked leg.
ReplyDeleteinteresting how different people end up with different results..
ReplyDeletei've never clipped a horses legs and don't know of anyone who does...
queenie had horrendous mud fever once when at the yard i was then on the mud was knee deep .... moved her off there ASAP...
It's also, i gather, about the type of bugs in the soil
the other thing is the poo/whatever mixed in with the mud, more bugs....
When we were in England I would hose off Tetley's lower legs and put mineral oil on to prevent scratches. He never got it but then again maybe he was not susceptible.
ReplyDeleteOur snow melted on the roads as it was only about -2C.