Unusual scabs above horses hoof??

Question

My horse has weird scabs on his legs just above his hooves. The actual hooves thwmelves are fine and healthy, but teh scabs come off with little pulling and leave a little bit of blood behind. The other two horses he is stable with are not displaying any signs of it, and teh are kept in exactly teh same comdition.

Ideas?

Answer 1

I'm not sure where you mean, if the scabs are in the back of the horses legs it's usually something called scratches, and it's just a bacterial growth that some horses are more susceptible to. I would suggest cleaning it daily and keeping it dry, they usually clear up on their own. If they persist contact your vet.

Answer 2

I'm pretty sure that it's scratches...it's a fungal infection from morning dew, or standing in mud.  Clean the sores with betadine shampoo and thoroughly rinse the soap off, then make sure you completely dry the area.  Once it is dry, I use EMT ointment which I buy at Farm and Fleet..it is the best thing I've used, and heals up the sores in a couple of days.

You need to try to keep the horse out of the mud, if that's the cause, or it won't improve.

Answer 3

My guess would be Scratches. It can be treated with a 100 different home remedies. I usually scratch them off with my nails and then wash the leg with antifungal shampoo. Some horses are more prone to them than others. I know that TB's are very prone to it.

Answer 4

It sounds like your horse had a few abscess's that blew out through his coronet band. Horse's with light colored or white hooves often have chronic abscess because their hooves dry out much easier than darker hooves. Dryness tends to cause the hoof to easily bruise causing these abscess's. Horse's that have a chronic abscess problem often don't display any signs of lameness or discomfort.

Keeping the hoof clean and using a hoof moisturizer will help. Trust me, I have several light colored hoofed horses that will have an abscess blow out from their coronet. The times you really need to worry about them is if they aren't escaping through the coronet, otherwise you could have a major infection on your hands or a total hoof blow out.

Answer 5

Are they jsut on the front feet? They could just be cuts from him over reaching...

Answer 6

sounds like mud fever(which is lesions on the pastern area that range from crusts to inflammation, white legs are most likley to be effected[idk why they just are lol] this most often occus in wet condidtions)...but call your vet as a proper diagnosis can only be made upon clinical evaluation...

Answer 7

it's either a fungus, (that'll have hair loss too), scratches (in muddy conditions) or most likely, bug bites. Try fly spraying his legs and put an ointment on the scabs.

Answer 8

Ummm a bad case of rain rot can look like scabs and leave bloob when pulled off. Some horses are more prone to rain rot than others. My horse gets it every year around this time on his back legs and butt. It never spreads and is never on the front legs.

If it is rain rot the I would try to pick off the scabs (if you can, my horse tries to kill me but some seem to like it) and treat it with iodine once/twice a day until it clears up.

Pictures would be a great help though.