What does mud mean on the bump

The more severe cases will become very painful and hot and the whole lower limb may become swollen and the horse may become lame. Skin structure The skin is made up of an outer epidermis, a middle dermis and an inner subcutaneous layer.

The outer epidermal layer acts as a physical barrier to the environment. If it is damaged this allows bacteria to infiltrate the skin starting an infection and inflammatory reaction. The skin is also protected by hair follicles which grow from the dermis. They also have sebaceous glands which produce natural oils to help waterproof and protect the skin. It is normal for the skin of a healthy horse to have many commensal microorganisms bacteria, fungus living on its surface causing no harm.

Causes Traditionally mud fever was blamed on a bacteria called Dermatophilus congolensis; however it is now recognized that there are many factors that can contribute to the symptoms.

If the skin is damaged in any way microorganisms can take a hold, multiply and start to cause problems. Apart from Dermatophilis congolensis which is found in soil, other bacteria can also be cultured from mud fever lesions such as Staphylococcus and pseudomonas species as well as mites and fungi. Leg mites Chorioptic mange can create damage and cause thickening of the skin, predisposing to bacterial entry. They will irritate the skin and lead to self-trauma, allowing bacterial infection to take over.

Horses with leg mites are often very itchy, and stamp their feet. They may even bite and scratch their own limbs. Mites are common in breeds with feathered legs and a diagnosis of mite infestation can usually be suspected from the breed type and clinical signs but definitive diagnosis is made by taking deep dermal skin scrapes from the edges of lesions.

Wet conditions cause the skin to soften. Mud will rub against this softened skin causing abrasions to the surface. Certain soils and pastures appear to be more likely to cause skin damage than others. Lots of work in certain sandy arenas and schools can be quite traumatic to the skin.

Additionally, pastures with copious, rough vegetation or spiky weeds can cause trauma to the skin. Excessive leg washing will weaken the skin and remove the natural grease that acts as a barrier resulting in cracks which can allow the entry of bacteria. Certain equine bedding can act as an irritant both physically straw or chemically high ammonia from urine in deep litter.

Boots and bandages incorrectly placed or inappropriately used can also cause damage to the vital skin barrier.

Pastern and cannon leukocytoclastic vasculitis are immune-mediated conditions which can look very similar to mud fever and can predispose a horse to infection with bacteria. They cause reddening inflammation of the skin around the pastern above the heel bulbs and tend to be seen on white legs and causes oozing of serum and scabs which are often very painful to touch. Strong sunlight on white legs can cause sun burn particularly on certain horse pre-disposed to photosensitization.

A very rare condition called pemphigus foliaceous can also cause crusting and scabby legs with or without itching, often around junctions of skin and horn i. This is an auto-immune condition where the body attacks itself and can be diagnosed with a biopsy. It is very rare but has been mentioned for completeness. Diagnosis Your vet will want to examine the horse and will ask you lots of questions regarding its management and if there are other horses on the yard that are affected, or have mites.

Diagnosis can often be made on clinical signs alone with a detailed history. However it is deemed appropriate your vet may want to take acetate t-ape impressions or hair samples to look for fungal or bacterial infection. They may collect some of the scabs for examination or culture for bacteria, or want to take a skin scrape using a scalpel blade to look for mites which burrow through the skin.

If the problem is not responding or if the vet is suspicious of a neoplastic tumour or sarcoid lesion, or an immune mediated condition pastern and cannon leukocytoclastic vasculitis or pemphigus foliaceous they may decide to take a full thickness skin biopsy to send off for histopathology where the structure of the skin cells and layers will be examined under a microscope by a specialist. Treatment Treatment varies depending on the cause of the mud fever.

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