Wet & muddy legs & bellies :( anything i can do..

[calekio]

My shetlands live out and there field is muddy... even those who don't charge round the field playing have constantly got wet muddy legs and bellies... causing a problem for riding so going to clip out girth area so we can at least clean the easier to saddle them up! But is there anything else i can do.. worried about mud fever.... I don't want to hose them off as then they'll just have wet legs still and get muddy again... when it does dry i brush it off but currently that isn't very often!!

[diggydoggy]

My Shetland is just the same. Once the weather is dry, he dries off quite quickly, and I think they are designed to cope with this sort of weather.
I am only leading him, not riding, and I have left all the feather on his legs to help drain the rain off.
We are having to walk through massive puddles on our outings and these wash a lot of the mud off. He does seem to be quite keen to go walkies instead of sploshing about in the paddy field, but it might be the "catch 'im" apple core not the actual outing...

[KoLaTo]

Hose off thoroughly once and smother them from ribs down in pig oil or baby oil, it actually works better on wet hair I've found. Then they will still get muddy but it won't penetrate and you can hose as much as you like as the water doesn't go thru the oil so no worries about them catching a chill.

[calekio]

Would applying oil onto wet legs not just seal in the wet?? I can see the usefullness on dry legs... but that is almost impossible right now as i'd need to wash and stable them for at least overnight i think and i don't have that option (and my little arthritic who has demarded to come in i think because having constantly wet muddy legs isn't helping for pain issues... i'm not hosing his legs or anything but by morning.. the mud isn't compltely dry Think i might have to start washing his legs in warm water and then towel drying and then putting his wraps on