Articles

Pastern Dermatitus

First Published in

the North American Friesian Journal, March 2002

Tsjeard, a beautiful Friesian gelding, is waiting at the gate until he can come into his stall. He had a good time playing in the muddy pastures all day long. Today he seems in a bit of pain while walking to his stall and his left hind leg also seems a bit swollen. After rinsing the mud off his legs some crusts are visible on his leg. Could this be pastern dermatitis?

Wet weather is on the way for most of us and with it, dreaded skin problems, especially irritations in the pastern area of horses, known as pastern dermatitis, scratches, or grease. This article discusses what scratches is, what it looks like, and how you can treat it.

Scratches is a problem that is most common in the pastern area, and also known as (grease or pastern dermatitis). Many people believe that it is more common on white legs, but studies have shown this to be not true. Horses with long hair on their legs (feathers), like Friesians and Shires, are more likely to get in trouble.

Scratches start with small, moist, superficial skin lesions. The moisture comes from blood or serum (the watery part of blood) seeping through the initial wound and eventually dries into a resulting scab. Most horses don't like it when the scabs are pulled off and removing a scab will reveal a raw and painful spot. Scratches usually start at the back of the leg, in the pastern and can spread to the sides of the legs, the front, and higher up on the leg to cause swelling. A painful stretching of damaged skin will be evident in your horse's step and can also lead to lameness.

Dermatitis has many causes. It often cannot be attributed to one single cause, but rather a combination of contributing factors. Dermatitis can start because of trauma. For example, training on (sharp) sand, exercises like sliding stops, can chafe and irritate the skin.

Moisture is another big factor. Horses spending a lot of time in mud or in a wet stall are more likely to develop scratches. Wet skin provides a poor barrier to invaders like bacteria, yeast and other potential pathogens that can be found everywhere in the environment. Feathers can promote pastern dermatitis. When feathers get wet, they keep the underlying skin moist for a long time, and wet skin in itself is a risk factor. Bacteria are the most common pathogen of pastern dermatitis.

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