Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi Folks:

Two cup's of regular bleach is a 4 gallon bucket of warm water will remove the scratches and the scabbing by gently soaking the effected areas and the when softened, by using a small piece of terry cloth towel to gently debried/clean the impacted areas and then you can allow to dry if possible or use a lite wrap to protect.

 

The skin I agree will be tender, you can repeat this procedure as needed to remove and kill the critters that cause the scratches.

 

This treatment will not stop the conditions that are causing the scratches, except by possible mixing a bigger batch of  the bleach and warm water.

 

With out knowing the actual cause and conditions that the horses are placed in, in each situation/barn/paddock it will be most impossible to diagnose the cause.

 

You will also have the softes hands and may wish to use a Aloe additive to the wounds and your hands if you didn't wear gloves.

 

hth

steven

 

----- Original Message ----
From: "Sharon.Jordan@xxxxxxxxxxx" <Sharon.Jordan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, October 2, 2006 6:00:29 AM
Subject: [RC] scratches


I moved my Arabian to a new barn last fall and for the first time ever he got scratches - an awful case, still dealing with almost a year later.  I think it lives in the soil...We tried everything.  The first thing that worked at all was 4 weeks on Tucroprim, an oral antibiotic, combined with TrailRite cream or desitin.  I also slathered the scabs 2-3 times a week with icthythimol ointment, wrapped his heels in saran with a vetwrap and duct tape on that.  Lots of work as the whole thing is very messy and has to be removed and cleaned daily - it softens up the scabs so they can be removed, but it leaves the skin very tender.  That got most but not all of it.  This fall as soon as it got cool and wet again, six new scabs broke out at once.  What has gotten rid of those in 10 days is a topical application 2x day of LA200, generic is oxytetracycline (prescription from my vet).  Its a thick liquid and intended to be injectable but putting a couple of drops on each scab, AND keeping it moist all time with a mixture of desitin/lotrimin/triple-antibiotic and sublimed sulfur has worked very well.