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[RC] Preventing scratches - DreamWeaverKaren, if you know how to PREVENT scratches (short of leaving my horse home), I would be interested in knowing how. I rubbed all the hair of her front pasterns the first part of the year, and so she's hairless. She can get scratches at the drop of a hat. I pulled her on the Oregon Outback because of them, cleared it up, and did a couple of days at Cold Springs XP, Got home a week later, and she was getting scratches again. Any help would be appreciated. Hi Sharon -- prevention is definitely the key. You need to start days in advance of the ride if you have a horse that is prone to scratches. Here is what I do. NO alfalfa or clover the week before the ride No grain or anything with a lot of protein in it either, the week before the ride Keep the heel bulbs and pastern area clean and dry Eqyss products: http://www.eqyss.com/equine_products.html Micro-tek medicated shampoo (shampoo week before the ride) Micro-tek spray - good for regular use for horses prone to scratches, but only if you use it well in advance (it won't clear up scratches once they start, at least it never did for my horse that got them from the mud in the winter) Trail Rite ointment (there are also other mixtures out there, you just have to find what works for your horse) http://www.trail-rite.com/ointment.html Once you get to the ride: Use plenty of desitin on your horse. It melts off fast in the summer. This means you may go thru a tube a day, or a tube every other day (per horse) if you are vigilant about keeping it on the pasterns. You can get it in one pound tubs from a pharmacy for use in camp. Keep the pasterns DRY and CLEAN. If you wash your horse down after riding, towel dry the lower legs and pasterns. Stay out of the sun as much as possible. Once dry and clean, keep desitin on. Be careful about using products that contain petroleum products. They tend to trap heat and not breath which can create a problem all by itself. Avoid letting the horse stand in soft deep alkaline soil at the ride. Put down hay or something. Park so your horse has shade in the late afternoon when you are finished. That's about all I can think of. I do the above and my horses never get scratches <knock on wood>. Oh yeah, and if you use the Trail Rite ointment and don't wrap, make sure you rub it all the way in so dirt and soil doesn't stick to it. Rub it in so it is clean, then glob on some desitin so the dirt and anything alkaline or irritating will then stick to the desitin. Karen in NV =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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