Tuesday, January 01, 2019

Can Diet Prevent Scratches in Horses?

Thehorse.com - Full Article

My horse is turned out to pasture for at least part of each day. Every winter he gets scratches. Is there anything I can do nutritionally that might help prevent them?

Posted by Clair Thunes, PhD | Dec 24, 2018

Q.My horse is turned out to pasture for at least part of each day. Every winter he gets scratches. Is there anything I can do nutritionally that might help prevent them?

A.Most of the time scratches aren’t too big of an issue. However, they can indeed become a big problem literally overnight. I personally had a mare who went from having a couple of tiny spots of scratches one evening to being nonweight-bearing lame and having full-on cellulitis in the leg the next morning. My advice is twofold: don’t ignore scratches if present, and prevention is ideal.

What is Scratches?
Scratches—sometimes referred to as grease heel, mud fever, or equine pastern dermatitis—is a skin infection on the back of the pastern and heel; sometimes scabs can extend as far as the fetlock area...

Read more here:
https://thehorse.com/164533/can-diet-prevent-scratches-in-horses/

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