What is Rain Rot?
Rain Rot is a nasty little fungus that occurs on horses
during rainy or wet weather. The fungus
is always present in the dirt, but it needs moisture to actually affect the
skin of the horse. Rain Rot can often be
felt before it is seen. It will form
scabs under the hair, against the skin.
It is most commonly on the top line and belly of a horse. Removing the scabs and exposing the infection
to air is the first step in treatment. How
early you discover the infection and remove the scabs will determine what you
will find under the scabs, and how long treatment will take. I usually
catch it early because I am always looking for it. More often than not,
I catch it before it spreads much and simply exposing it to air works. If you catch it early, you may remove the
scabs to find inflamed skin, but if you don’t catch it early, you will remove
the scabs and find pus trapped below them.
Early detection is the key to a shorter treatment time.
Prevention.
The best prevention that I have found is actually a good
grooming routine that is done daily. It
removes excess dirt from the horse’s coat, thus removing the fungus before
moisture can be added. This is not 100% effective
on every horse. I have one horse that no
matter how much I groom or how dry the weather gets during the summer, she
always gets Rain Rot during the summer months.
Why? She gets Rain Rot during the
summer because when she gets hot, she will go roll in the pond, then come back
to the barn and roll in the dirt under the run-in, and finally drip dry. That is the perfect combination for Rain Rot
to take hold in. The most that I can do
for her is to treat the spots where she gets it, and try to minimize it as much
as possible.
How to treat Rain
Rot.
There are numerous products on the market to treat Rain Rot,
or at least that are marketed for the treatment of Rain Rot. I’ve used exactly one of them! Shapley’s M-T-G (Mane-Tail-Growth) works
well, and the oil in it conditions the hair for regrowth. I’ve also heard that it really encourages
mane and tail growth. The sulfur powder
in it kills the fungus that causes Rain Rot.
If you look outside the products marketed specifically for
horses, there are some very good options.
I used to work with a lady that swore that a mixture of 50% Bleach/50%
hot water, and a good stiff brush would kill Rain Rot in one treatment. I never
could bring myself to use this method because it involved scrubbing all of the
scabby places with the stiff brush and the bleach/water mixture. That just sounded too painful. Have you ever gotten bleach into a cut or
scrape? It burns like crazy, and most people
are going to expect their horse to stand quietly to have this done. I really don’t see it happening, but there
will be people that expect it.
The original amber Listerine will also treat Rain Rot. If you’ve ever used it, you know it burns
like crazy, but it works. I’ve also heard
that Listerine will encourage mane and tail growth because it kills anything
that may impede growth.
Athlete’s Foot cream or powder will also treat Rain
Rot. I personally like using Apple Cider
Vinegar. It’s acidic enough to kill the fungus and it also repels flies and
mosquitoes.
Treatment often depends on the severity of the infection,
personal preference and time. Regardless
of the product that you choose to treat Rain Rot, the scabs that form at the
base of the hair need to be removed.
This process can be painful, so do not be surprised if your horse moves
around some trying to avoid the pain.
It’s necessary to expose the infected area to air and to get the
medication directly on the infected area.
Depending on the time of year, you can bathe the horse. The scabs
getting wet will often make them come off easier. If you take this route, be sure to get as
many of the scabs off as possible while the horse is still wet, and use a sweat
scraper to remove the excess water. If
it is too cold to bathe, you can use hot water and a wash cloth to soften the
scabs over a small area, then move on to the next area, as necessary. If the infection is caught early, before it
spreads, this is usually the simplest way to remove the scabs. If you don’t
have a hot water tank at the barn, you can simply bring a thermos of hot water
from home.
How to prevent
spreading Rain Rot to other Horses.
Rain Rot can be spread from horse to horse by brushes,
blankets, and anything that comes in contact with their skin. Those same items
can re-infect the same horse again without proper disinfection of those items. The wash cloths that I use at the barn are
just the cheapest ones that I can find, so if I need to throw them away, it’s
no big deal. To disinfect them, I fill
the kitchen sink with hot water, add 1 cup of bleach and let them soak, then
wash them with a regular load of towels.
To disinfect my brushes I fill the kitchen sink with hot
water, add ½ cup of Lysol or Bleach and let them soak for about 15 minutes,
then rinse them thoroughly. I like to
use Lysol because it suds up a little, so you can tell when it’s completely
rinsed out of your brushes. Air dry the
brushes outside in direct sun light. **Note: If any of your brushes have wooden
handles, do not soak them. Simply dip
the bristles of the brush in the sink repeatedly and rinse thoroughly trying to
keep the handle as dry as possible.
Soaking a wooden- handled brush can cause the handle to start losing the
bristles and ruin the brush.
If you blanket your horse while it has Rain Rot, which I
would not suggest, you will need to disinfect your blanket as well. I usually take blankets to the nearest
laundry mat, and wash them with hot water, and color safe bleach. Wash them again with just hot water, to make
sure all of the detergent and bleach are removed from the blanket. During the winter, I will dry them in the
dryer, but during the summer I will line-dry them in direct sunlight.
Conclusion.
While Rain Rot is a common fungus to deal with, especially
in humid climates, it is a simple one to prevent and treat. While prevention is key, treatment is usually
simple.
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