WHAT TO DO:

• Rinse your horse’s legs. Move your horse into a dry area, and hose off dirt, mud and other debris on his lower legs. You may want to carefully trim the longer hair on his pasterns to better expose the skin to the air.

• Cleanse the affected area with an antiseptic wash. Choose a product that contains 2 percent chlorhexidine or benzoyl

peroxide, and use it as directed. Avoid products with higher concentrations of these agents because they can further irritate the skin.

• Dry the skin thoroughly. You may want to use a hair dryer at a low setting.

• Apply an antibiotic ointment. This step isn’t strictly necessary, but in addition to helping to kill bacteria, a thicker ointment may form a protective barrier over the skin.

• Repeat as needed. Clean and treat the affected skin every two to three days until the infection clears. Most cases heal within two weeks.

• Address the cause. If your horse developed scratches after spending too much time in wet turnout areas, you may need to find him a drier paddock or pasture. Also consider longer term solutions, such as laying down gravel in chronically wet areas or taking other steps to improve drainage.

It may take some detective work to discover the cause. Scratches may develop when a horse’s skin is chronically irritated by bell boots that don’t fit or environmental conditions such as coarse arena footing. In other cases, the skin is irritated by chemically treated bedding materials.