Cobs Scabby Knees - salanders and malanders

[thelwall78]

My cob gets scabby patches behind her knees and in front of her hocks, which I understand are called salanders and malanders (or stalactite and stalagmites as I keep calling them )

Apparently it's like a horsey excema thing, it looks a bit like mud fever, sore and pink and sometimes with yellowy scabs and sometimes big red cracks that bleed.

Her legs are clipped out, she has dectomax jabs which has cleared up her mites on the lower legs so it is unrelated to the mites, and it is worse on the backs of her knees than the front of the hocks.

Any suggestions as to what I could do with it to clear it up?

I have tried various combinations of washing with hibiscrub, tea tree shampoo, lavender shampoo, net tex vet wash, witch hazel, aloe vera, sudocrem, msm ointment, purple spray, hoof and heel, savlon, leaving alone to see if it's made worse with interference, washing and creaming every day, just creaming every day, etc etc and it starts clearing up and then flares up again and I can't work out why.

It gets quite sore and she doesn't like having it touched when it is. Any ideas anyone?

[dreamchaser]

My coblet has this too so I can totally sympathise with the amount of effort and money you have spent trying to clear this up. My vet told me I would NEVER clear it only prevent it. So the best thing to do is once Ive found something that prevents it stick to it. Trouble is though it still flares up... I used to clip his feathers and the scabs and grease would dry up. But I longed for feathers again... Ive tried Pig Oil and Sulphur. By all means try it but make sure you PATCH TEST a small area first.

Like yourself Ive tried everything which has really not come to anything. The pig oil and sulphur I find it great for keeping the mud and bacteria out during the Winter. And it does tend to soften the scab and grease. However with feathers I dont seem to be getting anywhere fast, guess I will have to get the clippers out again.

[iceberg]

Archie gets patches of this and so did Toby. I dont wash the feather and never brush it when wet or muddy. I try to towel dry it and then I put udder cream on ( tried sudacreme, it was ok but very sticky). The udder cream being pink makes it an awful lot easier to find the scabby bits deep down in the feather as well.
One patch behind his knee was very stubborn to clear up - but the udder cream has done the trick!!
I do sympathise - i love seeing cobs all hairy but sometimes you just cant control the mites / sore patches and it has to come off.xxxx

[donnalex]

Get some Dermisol cream from your vets. It is a specialist debridement cream, gets rid of all the dead cells (scabs) without harming the healthy ones. It takes everything off right down to the healthy skin which is then soft and supple. I have had some success keeping them at bay with E45 cream which is cheap but if they are already a mess the Dermisol is best for clearing it up.
I wonder if the Stop-It-All stuff might help too?

[rosie]

My mare had mites last year and she had 1 patch like this, just behind one knee. It was weepy, yellow & crusty. I clipped it up . I used Stopitall, because was using it anyway. Did take a long while to clear up, but it did eventually.

[jennyf]

My ride and drive Shire X has them behind his knees, and my heavy cob mare has them in front of her hocks, so between them both I have the full set.
I find E45 cream good, and also the Aromesse Aromaheel. As already said, the best bet is to treat with Dermisol cream first, which I shall be getting as I've heard it's very good.