Mud Fever hits my one horse (Traveler) every year. This year (2005) rain has continued long past its due. I have treated his feet now 4 times with the treatment since the end of April and still the rain comes and the mud swallows his feet-

So what is Mud Fever and can it be prevented?

Mud fever is known by other names, cracked heel, scratches, rain rot, muddy heel, mud rash. It seems to be attracted to horses that have white feet. Constant exposure to muddy fields allows the bacteria in the mud dermatophilus congolensis to infiltrate the heel of the horse.

The result can vary depending on the time of exposure, but with added contact to the muddy ground, the scabby sking can suddenly become an open, weeping wound, raw and bleeding. For some unknown reason, the back legs are affected more than the front legs.

Mud fever is stubborn and hard to treat. It clings to the feet and the horse becomes sensitive to you handling their feet. In severe cases, getting the horse onto dry areas and out of the mud will help to speed recovery, but then you have a stalled horse that will grow bored out of his mind.

I tried this year to prevent mud fever from forming, and was quite unsuccessful. First, I shaved off all the hair on the back of his feet. Then as the rainy season hit, I tried coating his feet with vaseline to keep the moisture away. Well folks, it didn't work. Trav got mud fever this year worse than ever! The only cure I have found to effectively treat it- is called Aromaheel. You order it out of the United Kingdom and I highly recommend that you do. There is nothing else that I have found that touches this and cures it as quickly as Aromaheel does, that is, if the rain stops! I found out the hard way, you can't cure this until the mud dries up.

It's quite nasty to treat, because the scabby portion of the mud fever sores needs to be removed in order for the ointment to have proper contact to the skin. This involves some scraping and thankfully Traveler is a mellow and tolerant horse and scraping his feet doesn't bother him.  I hope that the mud fever will be gone in about a week.