November 2003

Start Simple With Scratches

You’ll want to work your way up from a sheath cleaner — yup, sheath cleaner — to the more hard-hitting microbial remedies.

Scratches hurt and will worsen quickly without treatment.

Scratches—or dew poisoning or greasy heel or mud fever—is one of the most common, and sometimes most frustrating, conditions to handle. Whatever you call it, the term refers to the area of irritated skin usually found over the bulbs of the heel and the back of the pastern. The sensitive skin in this area is easily injured and then further irritated by dirt and moisture, quickly becoming inflamed and sore.

Everyone seems to have a different suggestion for handling scratches and, indeed, what works for one horse might not work for the next. …