Rain Rot

Archie came with spots. The vet who checked him out looked at them closely, peering at their bright red concentric circles on  his darker red summer coat and pronounced it Rain Rot. Rain Rot? Healed fungal spots had come back a brighter shade, giving him a curious counter- appaloosa shading. Fortunately all this evened out by mid July. Unfortunately, it came back.  By August, Archie had a sore bum and a cure was hard to find.

Home remedies suggested were vinegar and mineral oil but what I read on the internet said "let it dry" and mineral oil seemed counter productive. Plus, it was clear from the way stalwart Archie wiggled when I curried his sore bum, it hurt. A visit to Tractor Supply offered a confusing selection of miracle cures; Cowboy Magic, Cowboy Magic Krud Buster (I did like the sound of that--magnificent branding),  Muck Itch Skin Saver and some serious looking bottles identifying themselves as medical treatment of almost anything that appears on your horse's skin, besides eyeballs.  Treatment on each was a five day daily application, which generally used nearly a bottle of the stuff which came no cheaper than thirty bucks.

I bought the serious medical shampoo and spent five days applying it and picking gross scabs, watching in horror as they revealed oozing sores on my poor pony's back and boiling brushes, tack and my hands. I would have boiled Archie if I could have managed it.  Still, little progress and it spread to his forelegs (where apparently Rain Rot, becomes Mud Fever or Greasy Heel) in small hard little imbedded pellets, impossible to pick. Yuck.

Heather suggested a Betadine scrub and I used that for five days-twice. It did seem to slow things down but Archie's skin started to look like the before picture in a bad dandruff ad. I went back to a moisture shampoo to counteract the anti-moisture shampoo. Then I went to the vets-who sent me home with $60 worth of Uniprim which Archie gobbled up but quickly acted to gobble up his sores. One by one they flaked off (with some powerful currying from powerful me) and quickly healed over.  Yesterday Heather gave me a lovely Oster round brush that returned his pebbly legs to sleek. 

The thing about Rain Rot is--it comes back. Next year I am going to be ready. I have read everything I can on it and have a favorite page full of remedies which I look forward to trying--in order of appearance. I am particularly intrigued by the one suggesting you gargle with Listerine and then apply to horse. My English friend swears by a product enticingly called, Ranvet White Healer Cream (and if only available in the UK or Australia, which if you add in the plane fare, makes it rather more expensive than Cowboy Krudbuster) and suggests I also pick up a pot of Pottie's Green Ointment as chaser. There is the possibility that Archie's bout with malnourishment back in Kansas might be a contributer to his Rain Rot plight and I am also extremely attracted to the addition of some marvelous sounding "ration balancer" called "Buckeye's Gro N Win" on the logic of feeding my all-American quarter horse an all-American product to do battle with his all-American Rain Rot.

I think I'll buy the poor horse a rain sheet, too. Some cow pony.

Comments

[Deb Trudell]

You have found the topic for your novel. I loved reading all your entries - I want timely updates. I only wish I could smell the horse poop as I read. (I really do miss that stable smell.)

I can't wait to meet this new man in your life in person.

[Lois D]

Wonderful blog, very informative and I like your sense of humor! So glad my search for 'Rain Rot remedies' brought be here :) I've enjoyed reading about your equine adventures.

We've a new 'rescue' in our barn, a 3 year old gelding, emaciated yet beautiful, boy who has quite a case of rain rot along his back and over his hindquarters.

I've had good results using 20% Icthammol Drawing Salve on small areas of rain rot on other horses.

But, this time I thought I'd try a few other things. I ran across the remedies (many which were also listed at the link you provided) and settled on using mineral oil first, to soften up the scabs.
Then, on one side I'm working in Desitin (actually, the generic equivalent) diaper rash ointment; the other, I'm working in bag balm.
Under his mane, I've worked in a mixture of mineral oil and Providine iodine solution.
I'm not yet 'brave' enough to try the Listerine thing on him, though. It's bad enough that I'm too wimpy to gargle with it myself - I'm thinking the alcohol content might sting his sensitive skin, even if diluted with water.

I'm praying for one of those rare 50 degree December days we occasionally have here in Maine so that I can give him a sorely needed bath (but am not holding my breath for that!) I found a recipe for homemade Rain Rot shampoo:
6oz of Ivory dishwashing soap
3oz of Providine Iodine Solution
(This would be similar to your Betadine scrub).

I agree with you that Archie's bout with malnourishment probably helped set the stage, so to speak, for his case of Rain Rot.
We're pretty sure that's the case with our new guy, who is very underweight. He's survived the 'refeeding syndrome' stage; so far - so good. Better nutrition will help boost his immune system which in turn will help fight this creeping crud!