I have a 6 year old shire mare. When she returned from being bred, she is having touble with her legs. Under the feathers. They are bumpy as if she has allot of little scabs. And one has developed into a large sore. About the size of a egg. My vet looked at them and we tried a medicine for a fungus. Which did nothing. Now she stompd her feet as if they are bothering her allot. Is there possibly a type of mite or lice they get just in their feathers ? What should I try ? The farm where she was bred said they have never had such a problem with any of their horses. May be just a Shire Problem? It has not spread to or effected my Belgian or Friesian.
Thanks
Barbara

The general term for what you are describing is "scratches." This is also called "pastern dermatitis." There are a lot of causes of this type of skin inflammation in horses. Causes include mange mites (Chorioptes), various bacteria, immune-mediated (where the body attacks something it shouldn't), blood vessel injury, lymphatic vesseld disease, and fungi. Horses with heavy feathering are definitely predisposed. You will need to shave her feathers to allow the skin to "breathe" and to be better able to get medication to the site. The type of medication you need depends on the cause, of course, and you'll need a veterinarian's help here. Scraping the skin to look for mites is worthwhile, as if this is mites treating her with ivermectin dewormers and/or treating the site with antiparasitic solutions would be in order. If it is bacteria you'll need antibacterial therapy. While you are trying to figure this out it can't hurt and might help to shave her feathers and scrub the affected areas twice daily with betadine surgical scrub (the thick solution that bubbles when you scrub, not the thin solution) or chlorhexidine (Nolvasan) solution. If your veterinarian only tried a treatment for fungus you might want to look for a veterinarian with more experience with skin disease in horses. This may or may not be contagious - in most cases of "scratches" it is an individual horse problem, not a herd problem. Being off the farm and somewhere else being bred may have been just enough of a stress to her system to allow her immunity to drop a bit, so this isn't necessarily something she got at the other farm, either. Good luck and definitely let us know what works for you here.

Barbara... I have a Perch mare that had the same problem last summer. She had sores under both front legs under her feathers. They were pus filled and bumpy like your Shires. I shaved them all the way down and started searching this sight for anything to do with scratches. I decided she had a bad case of mites. I started cleansing with Malaseb shampoo (make sure they dry completely),then wormed with Ivermectin 3 times 2 weeks apart. I also went to the Herbalist here in the Mennonite community. He suggested a product called Antiphlogistine. It is made by Absorbine. He told me to wrap her legs overnight. I wondered why he said to do this if you are supposed to keep them dry?? But reading the ingredients, I saw it had a clay base with alot of herbal ingredients. Mainly used as a brace for sore muscles and legs. He assured me this would do it. Well...pleasantly surprised I was. After 2 times using this they were drying up. But i also continued the shampoo, added vit.c(4ooomg/day)to boost immune. To answer your question about mites...yes they are opportunistic. They will get into the sores and burrow and make the horse miserable. Make sure you stay on top of this at all times for it can come back with a vengenance. You can order the Antiphlogistine on the internet or sometimes tack stores will carry it. I now use it for everything...and on myself. But search here and get some other idea's. But this new product ,well new to me because it has been around for over 50 years, was a new one to me and it works!! becki

Barbara ; It sounds like "scratches" which is not a diagnosis but just a description of the lesion and it's location. You'll want to have a vet look and take a scraping to determine if it's fungi or bacteria. Most likely you'll use a product for both fungi and bacteria treatment . That and you may want to clip the feathers off till the lesions heal , keeping them dry and making it easier to apply the treatment. Horses with heavy feathering have trouble with these mostly in wet conditions , where the feathers never dry out to the skin. Good luck .

There are a lot of different "recipes" for scratches treatments. Sometimes you have to try a lot of different ones. But always, work with your veterinarian.