This past weekend I hauled my horses out of state for the first time to a race. All was normal until my run, my horse tried running up the fence on the second barrel. Nothing seemed abnormal when I unsaddled and cooled him off. The following day I noticed how tight his muscles were and sensitive over lumbar area. A few days later he was still very tight so I had my massage therapist come see him. He was biting and trying to kick her the moment her fingertips touched his back. That evening I felt inflammation and rough patches so this morning I decided to shave the area and see whats going on.
Just wanted some opinions. I shaved, then scrubbed the area with betadine and applied vetericyn but curious on what would cause something so rapid and painful.
Posted 2014-03-08 4:34 AM Subject: RE: Mystery Skin Issue
Extreme Veteran
Posts: 371
dont know what it is but looks painful. no wonder he was so unhappy. only thing that comes to mind is rain rot? or did you put linament or sprays on beofre you rode that could have burned him?
Posted 2014-03-08 10:11 AM Subject: RE: Mystery Skin Issue
Veteran
Posts: 114
This may be a dumb question because I have no experience with rain rot, but we are about as dry as dry can be in this lovely Nevada desert, is rain rot still an option without rain?
Posted 2014-03-08 10:28 AM Subject: RE: Mystery Skin Issue
It looks like sweet itch or girth itch which can happen anywhere on a horses body ... it is contagious to other horses. It is a fungus ..
Race barns will give horses a dose of ivermectin and then skip a day and give them another and also rub ivermectin on the itch spots.
MTG is also used by other trainers with one ivermectin dose.
You need to sanitize everything that came in contact with your horse including your saddle pad since that looks like where the spot is.... cup of bleach to 5 gallons of water ... brushes everything and anything that might have been shared with other horses .. at least a 10 min soaking ...
It can disappear easily or give you days of doctoring .... stuff is unpredictable ..
Mystery Skin Issue
