Treating Sunburn

tasha

tasha

i'd rather be riding.
Jul 10, 2001
4,088
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Petersfield, Hants., UK
Got back from a week's holiday today to find all the white on Tali's muzzle is sunburnt - including her lower lips. Its scabby and sore to touch. How should I treat it?

Also on her one white leg there is either sunburn or mud fever - is it possible to sunburn pink skin with hair on??
 
Sounds strange but I find sudocream or kids sun tan lotion works really well on sunburn.

Pink skin under hair can burn but sudo cream works on Mud fever too so either way you'll help it.
 
I'd suggest sudocrem which you can get from Wilkos really cheap and certainly does the job. Also i'd try and steer away from sun cream unless you know your neddy hasn't got allergies to it :) Sudocrem protects and heals which is even better than sun cream's protection anyway.
 
I use an equine tea tree cream when my horse has sunburn, usually clears it up in a day:)
 
If the muzzle is very sore use Aloe Vera Gel as it does not sting at all, has no smell and is very easy to apply, no need to rub it in as it is easily absorbed but do it at least twice a day.
 
use a full face mask to prevent sunburn on nose and aloe gel to sooth it now

on the legs yes they can get sunburn under hair but this could also be more an allergic reaction or photosensitisation, - reaction to St Johns Wort is what can cause it, but if she is getting problems on the pink skin, this could suggest that there is something wrong with the liver function - been through all this with Molly horse.

if it is sunburn you can get leggins for her to wear _crusader do them - but if she drops any weight then you might want to blood test to check the liver function.
 
Ive noticed she's lame on that leg today. No other problems apart from the sunburn-y bit. Havent had a chance to have a thorough look at it though, so Im still not sure about it.
 
hum, she shouldn't have got burnt on the lower lip!

It might be worth asking the vet - last pony I saw with their lower lip burnt had ragwart poisoning - it causes photosensitivity. Butter cups can also cause the same.
 
I was thinking the same as PL strage place to get sun burn the only place i have know was on their nose....but i am proberly worng.
If it is just sun burn i would put some aloe vere gel on to it, it will cool and sooth it and it should clear up (if it's sun burn)
 
Kelly suffers with sunburn on her nose. I find a full nose fly mask helps. And I also put on some camoline lotion which when dry forms a protective layer on her nose.

Ann
 
Sunburn has now all gone, thanks to Sudocrem. Farrier suggested that it wasnt sunburn, but a reaction to some plant, which is what could have caused the MF/SB on her leg too. But no ragwort or buttercups in their fields, so I have no idea what could have caused it. Discovered similar MF/SB on the heels of Kally's white legs.

Ive been treating all the legs (7 out of 8 aaarggh!!) with Malaseb, picking scabs off (which is not for the faint stomached) and slapping Sudocrem and...damn I cant remember what it is called. Blue tub, bright yellow cream, used for forming waterproof layer and is also antiseptic. Think it begins with a C or a D. I put Sudocrem on daily and use the Malaseb and other stuff twice a week.

Anyway, does this seem OK? Its still quite sore, and once the big thick scabs are off, a sort of film forms a couple of days later. But this could be the Sudocrem building up.

Bit worried about the ragwort thing, dispite their unlikely access to ragwort (there was a little in the last place, but they were turned out on 70 acres so are unlikely to have eaten much, if any). What could be other symptoms?
 
horses are unlikely to eat ragwort unless they have nothing else or it is dried (mown) or in their hay. i always use zinc and caster oil (baby bum cream) on sun burn but make sure they have high factor sun cream on if prone to burning, i learnt that after my pony lost the tips of his ears as a foal he is now always covered with a fly sheet or in when the sun is at its peak.
 
It could be a plant like cows parsley (don't know if it has a proper name) this can cause photosensitivity, but apart from that I don't think it does them much harm
 
We do have cow parsley (just did a google search to check what it looks like!) so it could be that. Im allergic to it as well :rolleyes: so will have to think carefully about getting rid of it!!

Holiday - thats what I figured, they were out on 70 acres of mixed grazing/marshland so were unlikely to go for the acre or so with ragwort on it. Def wasnt in their hay as the stuff they were on was award winning (and therefore v expensive!!) so any ragwort damage she has would have to be quite old (ie over 5 years ago).
 
Any area of the horse that has pink skin can be sunburnt, including the back. I have to clip one of mine all through the year and have to protect him from the sun when freshly clipped. He can also get sunburnt on his nose and lips, as some do around the eyes.For him sudocrem works better than sunblock and if he does get a little burnt, it heals overnight.
If its due to photosensitivity, clover is an another possible source.
 
Tali had a bout of dihorrea (sp?) last week so we got the vet out to have a look. He ran bloods to check her liver which came back absolutely fine, so has said that if her leg hasnt cleared up in 2 weeks, he'll come back to do a biopsy.

He also reckoned cow parsley was more of an issue with cattle than horses (although still a small issue), but as it is dying off not to worry too much. I shall be searching the field for other plants to look up in case they may have something to do with it - if anyone can think of any suspects please let me know!
 
Hogweed or giant hogweed which look like cow parsley but they are not the same plant. These are very nasty plants as the toxins that cause photo sensitivity build up in the horses system and can take two weeks to clear from their system but each time they are exposed to it their reaction is worse, it also can burn humans and was on Country file this week. Do a google search on Hogweed and photosensitivity it affects any pink skin ie white fetlocks, muzzles, bottoms if pink. Trust me I know as I have three horses that have suffered with this.
 
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