Dealing with these ANNOYING scratches on my horse!

The back of Bo's pasterns - fronts - post Owyhee ride

A closeup of the scratches on the pink skinned area.

I have been meaning to do a thorough post on dealing with scratches.  I’ve gotten lots of input from friends this year and have learned about quite a few different treatments and ways to manage horses that are prone to scratches.

I’ll need to work on the more thorough post later, till then here is an update on Bo along with photos.  Plus me whining a little.

I’ve been lucky to have had horses that have done thousands of miles without having scratches be an issue.  Seriously.  I know I’ll never have this horse thing completely figured out.

If you read my Owyhee 100 ride report you know that Bo started to get scratches late in the ride.

The frustrating thing about that is that Bo has been going really nicely for the last year without getting scratches.  He was originally prone to getting scratches, then we kind of worked it out and he did well for some time.

To compare, the back of Chief's pastern.

I’m pretty sure that a large part of the problem was that Bo’s hay the week prior to and during the ride consisted of a higher percentage of alfalfa (with clover in it) than he usually gets.  That is because I’m starting to get down to my last ton or so of hay and that particular squeeze load had bales with more alfalfa in it than grass…and I had run through all of my straight grass hay on the trip prior.  The hay growers in my area are all cutting weeks later than normal.

In addition to the hay change, I didn’t put Desitin on Bo until we got to the 80 mile point.  I think that the hay had increased his photo sensitivity to the sun, and of course the day of the ride was nice and sunny (which was actually quite nice!) – but I should have been more careful and observant of the fact that we would be spending a lot of time in the sun that day after being in wet conditions for a few days prior to the ride.  I think the combination of things all contributed.

I’m posting a few photos to show the scratches, and what I’ve done so far to treat them.  I’ll take photos in a day or two to update how things have healed up.

Just to compare – Chief did 50 miles on Friday at Owyhee and didn’t come up with scratches.  He also used strap on Renegades.  I don’t think the boots cause scratches, but once you have them they can increase the sensitivity or irritation level.  This is why it’s so important to avoid getting them!

The differences were that Friday was cloudy and overcast all day – not much sun.  There was a lot more water crossings and consistently wet conditions on the Friday ride and I think that Chief stayed mostly wet or damp rather than the wet-dry scenario.

I think that it can be the wet/dry wet/dry environment that contributes to the skin starting to crack and break allowing the scratches to take hold.  Bo was getting sponged down at each check which got his pasterns wet, then they’d dry by the next check, then wet again and dry again whereas Chief was going through water crossings more often and also staying in a wetter and damp environment with all of the mud and creek crossings.

Another big factor between the two horses is that Chief has dark skin so he is less likely to get sensitive from the sunlight or feed changes as Bo, who has three pasterns with white hair and pink skin.  This is clear to see in the photos – check out how the area with the scabs are right over where the white hair and pink skin is on Bo.  Bo’s one black pastern doesn’t have scratches, so it’s clearly affecting only his pink skinned areas.

To start with treatment, I first used Eqyss medicated shampoo.  I’ve used this stuff for  years and love the products – however, their packaging is less than adequate because more often than not I’ve had to replace their products before they get used because their bottles break, crack and come apart.  Be on the lookout for that and change the product over into something more durable if you are going to keep it in your barn.

I made sure to use a nice soft brush, starting first with hosing the pasterns so they are all wet then gently applying the brush with the shampoo until it foams up.  If there are scabs it takes awhile longer to loosen them.  It helps to go from pastern to pastern while things soften up, making the scab removal easier.

Make sure you stay within your horse’s comfort level.  In Bo’s case he didn’t really have a lot of scabs (scratches) but the couple of spots that he did have took some soft scrubbing to finally get them loosened up.

After I got the pasterns all cleaned and the scabs removed I sprayed the back of the pasterns with the Eqyss medicated spray.  I let that dry and then applied Nolvasan and then wrapped with vetwrap.  I’ll leave this on overnight and check tomorrow and see how things look.  If the scabs are back, I’ll lather, rinse and repeat.  If I wrap just right, the wraps will stay on overnight and most of the day tomorrow and keep the pasterns protected and covered from the sunlight.   This really helps everything heal up faster.

The horses are back on their low-carb grass only hay.  I won’t give them any alfalfa until they are competing in their next endurance ride.  The scratches on Bo should be cleared up in a few days, and I’ll pay more attention in the future so that he won’t have to endure another episode of scratches.  I’m lucky he’s been a pretty good sport about it.  Scratches can be very painful for a horse so I feel bad that he’d had this happen.

More info on Photosensitivity:

Photosensitivity

• What you see: reddened skin and crusty, raised scabs.
• Is it contagious? No.
• Cause: sun exposure along with other complicating factors. Photosensitivity almost exclusively affects pink skin, which lacks a dark pigment called melanin that protects against sunlight. Primary photosensitivity occurs when a horse consumes high levels of photodynamic agents–found in alfalfa, clover, bishop’s weed and a variety of other plants–which overwhelm his system and damage his skin when exposed to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. In secondary photosensitivity, a horse with a damaged liver ingests normal levels of photodynamic agents but his body cannot break them down properly.
• Pertinent facts: Photosensitivity lesions can appear on any area of the body with pink skin, most often the muzzle and face and white ankles or pasterns on the lower legs. The acute lesions begin as purplish blisters that weep or slough away and scab over. Affected areas are sharply painful to the touch.
• Treatment: If you think your horse has photosensitivity, contact your veterinarian. He may prescribe topical or oral steroids to reduce inflammation, as well as Banamine or bute to keep your horse comfortable. He may also test your horse’s liver function for signs of damage.
• Prevention: If you know your horse is susceptible, keep him stabled during the daytime and limit his exposure to direct sunlight. If your pasture contains plants that trigger photosensitivity, you may need to move your horse to another field. Horses who suffer photosensitivity on the lower legs benefit from being turned out wearing shipping bandages or boots.