Help w/scunge....

[TB Dreamin']

Help-I have one group of 5 horses who all have what my husband calls "the scunge." I've never had it like this, and I'm wondering if some of you have and what you do about it.

The areas that are attacked are directly under their leather halters at the poll, and the skin is raw, pink, and either missing the hair or the hair is matted looking and just falls out by gently tugging on it.

The other areas are under their blankets (of course!) and tend to be near the withers, topline of the back all the way back to the tail.

One poor little man even has flaky, dry skin on his eyelids!!!

My question is, what can I put on this and can I still have their blankets on or is it better to leave them off? Also, could this be rain rot? And if you think it is, can rain rot spread under a blanket? Or is rain rot merely caused by the hair getting wet repeatedly from the rain? Is rain rot contagious to other horses?

These horses were turned out this late summer into early fall and were not blanketed then. We moved them to our place in Dec. and I felt some bumps on their skin before I put the blankets on them, but I just thought it was rain rot from not being blanketed this rainy fall, brushed out the bumps, and thot I was good.

I'm also curious if anyone gets these "cooties" on their blankets after they get them back from the horse laundry service?

Thoughts appreciated!

[LKR]

Your horses have what I call the race track VD, as the horses at the race track get it all the time. You need to scrup all the spots with providine or betadine, make sure you get all the scabs on their backs and other areas off. Then take TINACTIN Foot Fungus cream and apply it to the areas. If the area is large, use the TINACTIN FOOT POWDER. Wash all the blankets in a disinfectant and make sure they rinse well. Dry them. When the blankets are clean, sprinkle the TINACTIN FOOT POWDER all over them on the side that goes next to the horse. Apply the Tinactin every day, within 3 days, they will be well on the way to being healed. Clean the halters too with disinfectant. The powder is the easiest way to go and make sure you work it into the hair well. Good Luck! Kathie

[TB Dreamin']

Racetrack VD! That's us!!!

LKR-thanks!!! My husband suggested iodine (diluted) so it sounds like we are on the right track...is this VD contagious to my neighboring horses in ajoining paddocks? Or I should say, how does it spread-is it via contaminated equipment?

Thanks SO much, I'm calling him now to pick up the Foot powder.

[TB Dreamin']

LKR-

What do you suggest I wash the blankets with? How much per blanket?

Thanks!!!!!!!!

[WarHorse]

I used Lysol disinfecting cleaner on blankets to good effect. If they are color-fast, add some bleach.

[TB Dreamin']

War Horse-

Do you use it straight away on the blanket? Or pour it in the wash machine w/the blanket(s)?

Thanks,

[LKR]

Use a disinfectant like lysol or if you can get a hold of a product called NABC. It smell wonderful and kills every germ known to man. It can be spread from forse to horse via brushes, blankets, or tack. You need to disinfect all of the above before you use it on different horses. Put the disinfectant in the washing machine when you add soap and wash the blankets.

[WarHorse]

War Horse-

Do you use it straight away on the blanket? Or pour it in the wash machine w/the blanket(s)?

Thanks,

In the washing machine. It won't foam over.

[madelyn]

It can also be lice which are highly contagious. Pine Sol is great, because they can't stand the smell. It drove the lice off a mare I picked up awhile back.. it also drove the weevils out of my baking supplies and pasta cupboards. Ammonia is great in laundry as a whitener and disinfectant. White vinegar also removes some stains and whitens. Vinegar will kill just about any kind of fungus.

[Jessi P]

Ammonia is great in laundry as a whitener and disinfectant. White vinegar also removes some stains and whitens. Vinegar will kill just about any kind of fungus.

THanks for the tip on the ammonia, Madelyn, I hadnt heard that one before. Of course Martha is a huge fan of vinegar....

[TB Dreamin']

Madelyn,

Could you see the lice w/the naked eye? (like w/kids) How did you keep it from getting to other horses? (it just seems like it would go everywhere...bedding, stall, neighboring (no pun intended) stall, brushes, etc.)

Thanks,
A

[madelyn]

Actually, I only saw the lice on the end of the mare's hairs after we tried everything else. She had thick fur. But we had treated her for EVERYTHING else possible and she was still coming up itching like a SOB and we gave her a bath with Pine Sol and those white little massrats came climbin' down and into the open. Fumigated-like. Put a blanket over that and you get a massacre.

[Tiz]

Lice are so hard to adios, with winter hair. I've tried every product I've heard of, with so so success. Thanks for the Pine Sol idea, it's a new one for me. I'll try it.

[barnchick]

I call it track head. I see it a lot under well oiled or new halters, I try to avoid oiling halters and bridles on the inside. If you clean the area and remove halters overnight, and wrap with flannel 'till better, you should be OK. I use panalog for a few days to speed up the healing. Preparation H helps speed the hairgrowth. As for under blanket stuff, be careful to rinse the blankets well, and vinegar does help with ridding a wash of soap residue. Some barns have washers that no longer work well for "people" laundry, and it goes unnoticed that it isn't working well enough to wash a huge horseblanket properly. Horses can lose hair from a simple loss of circulation. The oils are plentiful,and they settle an choke the hair basically. Remove the blankets and curry the hell out of them often, and then replace the blankets. You often get the same dead hair thing inside the hocks and down he hind cannons, if you leave it alone, the hair dies and comes off like mini rain rot. If it's lice, aaargh be careful treating lice on preg and nursing mares.