Rain Rot

November

Rain Rot

What is rain rot?  Rain rot is a dermatitis, usually on the  topline of the horse, from withers to tail.  The cause is usually when the horse gets wet and stays wet in damp weather and bacteria/fungus gets a foothold.  High humidity and blankets that don’t let the skin breathe are not good combo.  It tends to happen more in the winter when the horses get a heavy coat and it is raining a lot or snow melts on their backs.  Healthy horses can get rain rot if they have a flat back or a spinal crease, fondly known as a gutter.  J  Rain rot presents itself above the knees and hocks for the most part, and is characterized by scab like things that pull off with a tuft of hair, looking like a tiny paintbrush.  

Prevention obviously is the best course of action.  Keeping the pH of the skin healthy and the diet clean so there is nothing to predispose to crud. (Like getting rid of legumes for most  horses((alalfa, clover)).  Vit A is also important for skin, as is copper.  Keeping your horse brushed daily or every  other day with a stiff dandy brush or rubber curry comb will also help.  Get all that mud and crud off on a regular basis. 

If your horse should happen to get a case of rain rot, here are a few ways to treat it.  Brush, scrub, pick, shave if needed, to get down to the skin.  Bathing with a tea tree oil based shampoo if it is warm enough, or if you can wash and dry the horse under heat lamps in a draft free area.  You can also do smaller areas over a couple of days if that works better.  Colloidal silver does a good job.  Pour or spray on full strength topically.  One treatment usually does it.  Tea tree oil/ olive oil mix, 1 part tea tree to 10 parts olive oil works awesome too.  This combo softens the scabs and helps them come off easily.  Put it in a spray bottle and spray on skin.  If you are in sunny area, don’t do this during the day, as with any oil,  the oil can cause sunburn, so do it in the evening, let it soak the scabs all night,  and wash off the following morning with a tea tree oil based shampoo, or a few drops of tea tree oil in your horse shampoo.   Rinse with warm water with some apple cider vinegar in it to balance the skin pH.  You should only have to do this once a week.  I have also heard that using very green tomatoes, cut in half, then rubbed on the affected area, also works most excellently.

If you don’t know where to purchase quality products, here ya go!  www.dynamitemarketing.com/jenniferodle 

·         All natural shampoo

·         Solace -  colloidial silver

·         Apple cider vinegar – super ACV

·         Copper supplement – SOD

·         Vit E supplement – OxE mega

·         Tea tree oil

Fall and colic

Fall and spring tend to be high colic times.  Why?

There are all sorts of causes for colic. Ulcers, kidney problems, pain,  spinal nerves being affected by subluxations, ivermectin wormer with ulcers, uneven hoof trims causing pressure on an area of the coronet band that affects the large or small intestine meridian ting points, stress and barometric changes are a few of the causes of colic. We just tend to assume it is intestinal and start pouring in the oil and giving pain killers. This blog is about empowerment.  Don't be a victim, you don't just have to walk your horse around while you stress waiting for the vet to arrive to save your horse.  You can do things to help.  Here are some things you can do while waiting for the vet.  Check for gut sounds.  A stethoscope is best, but your ear can do in a jiffy. Low on the left, high on the right side, put your ear right on the flank area, standing forward near the shoulder, so you don't get kicked, keep both hands on the horse. You should hear gurgling sounds if the gut is moving.  If it's quiet, you might have impaction colic. If you hear "pinging" sounds, it is gas colic.  For gas you can stand them head downhill or front feet in a hole, gas rises, and it will help them pass it. 12- 20 cc of Dynapro with some Relax every 20 minutes until improvement, then every hour usually has them ok in a short time. Nux Vomica 30c-200c can be very good also. You should keep all these things in your vet kit.  Instead of tubing oil, use 1 Tbsp NTM salt to a quart of distilled water.  Don't use Mortons salt, it has additives that cause it to NOT attract water, this defeats the purpose of the sodium.  Oil smothers all the good (and bad) bacteria in the gut.  Sea salt attracts water and water is lubrication.  You also can put tea tree oil in a shallow container like a jar lid and hold it up so it touches the belly button.  The belly button will absorb the tea tree oil and seems to stimulate the nerves and meridians to the gut.  The horse will usually poop within 20 minutes of doing this. Put them in a horse trailer, or by your trailer will also encourage them to go. (The stress of them thinking they are going somewhere)  Belly lifts contract the abs and will help the intestines move impactions through.  Work the bladder meridian and spray relax on the tail points to stimulate the gut. Use Ttouch on the tips of the ears and end of the tail.  If your horse wants to eat, let them, eating is relaxing for horses, it releases good endorphines in the brain.  If the horse wants to lay down and rest, it's ok.  (DO NOT let them roll. ) It's like when you get a bellyache, curling up in bed and resting can feel good. Check the heart rate.  A raised heart rate can show pain.  It's nice to have a baseline of what your horse normally is, anywhere from 30-40 bpm, although it can be higher.  Good to check before anything goes wrong.  Check the horses temp.  Normal is between 99.5 -101.5.  Higher can point towards infection.  Pigeon toed horses have impactions colic more often, horses that toe out are more prone to spasmodic colic, because of the different effects on the gut by ting points inside or outside on the coronet band.  Ting points are the beginning or ending of acupuncture meridians, that affect all the different organs and energy flow in the body.  If you can do alot of these things, it has been known that colic can clear up before the vet even arrives, if not, at least you have been with your horse with the intention of helping and your horse won't forget that.  None of these things will harm your horse, you can only improve his well being.  Miracle clay or kelp is great for ulcers.They both coat and soothe the stomach and intestines without blocking much digestion.  Of course you should always have 2-1 out free choice, so when the barometer is in flux, they can replace the calcium that the body is throwing off, and therefore balance themselves, lessening the chances of colic in the first place.  Keep the gut happy with a pro or prebiotic is the most important thing, if you do no other supplements, do a pro/prebiotic on a regular basis.  Any kind of stress, weather, riding, trailering, buddy moving away, etc. will cause the good bacteria in the gut to die off or go dormant.  Horses have a tendency to drink less water in the winter also, because of the water temp, you can give low doses of Dynaspark or another electrolyte to keep the horse drinking, or put a heater in your water trough.

Products suggested can be found at my website on the links page.  http://www.equinenharmony.com/ or at your local health store.