Summer Sores?

My horse recently started itching a spot on the inside of his front leg that has gotten bigger by the day. Of course, I started to worry when I was washing it daily and smeared EMT gel without any results. I switched to my old stand-by, Corona, and still nothing happened. The sore actually got bigger and apparently more itchy as the days went on. So I asked my trainer about it and she took a photo to send to her daughter (who is an equine vet). The result: a summer sore.

Just what are those mysterious things called “summer sores” anyway? How did Dancer get one? What can I do to help him? The answer might gross you out just a bit. Summer sores are caused by the horse’s #1 enemy the fly. These pests deposit their gross stomach worm larvae onto an existing abrasion which ultimately causes an infection. These infections make the skin very sensitive and itchy, which means that it’s almost impossible to get the horse to leave it alone so it will heal! Of course, Dancer refuses to stop itching so it’s taking forever for his to heal up.

The best treatment is ivermectin wormer. I already told you how wonderful the Tricky Treats are. Well, now I get to put them to good use! I had to worm Dancer again and now I’m washing the wound daily and putting iodine on it in order to dry the wound out. This seems to be working better than any other topical medication and it’s already starting to look better. I was told that I could worm Dancer again in a month if it doesn’t go away, but I think I’ll wait to see how it goes because I wormed him pretty recently before this incident.  The only other thing you can do is keep fly spray on your horse. I spray Dancer every other day or when he really seems to need it (sometimes it’s daily) and he wears a fly mask all day in the summer. I’m still slightly confused about how this could have happened, but I guess it has been a learning experience!

If you have any tips that I should know about, please post them below. I know Dancer will thank you!