Rain Rot -- how long do you treat?

It is absolutely caused by a deficiency in Vitamin A. So are lice, goopy runny eyes and a myriad of other skin, eye and reproductive problems.

Since I started supplementing Vitamin A some 40 - 45 years ago, I have not had one case of rain rot or lice(except in incoming horses).

I used to breed over 100 visiting broodmares every spring. I quit treating rain rot topically and treated it with Vitamin A and found it cleared up immediately. Mares also cycle earlier and breed better and I have not had a retained placenta on a single mare since I started supplementing Vitamin A.

You cannot give rain rot or lice to a horse with a healthy immune system and you cannot clear them up without enough Vitamin A and good immune system.

The fastest way to fix it is is to give a horse the injectable sold for cattle only give it ORALLY -- DO NOT INJECT IT. 5cc orally once a week until grass is green or a good Vitamin Supplement like Mare Plus made by Farnam will fix it.

Kewl. That's is really good to know! It is a reasonable explination on why some horses are more prone to it than others.

Should we get another case of it, (please no please no please no) I will give a dose or two of Vit A a try. I know that we have been in places where other horses got rain rot and mine didn't. I just assumed it was that mine had a stronger immune system to it... and here is the why.

Thanks, I love to learn new things!

Ditto Cherie and LHP. We have done experiments and so have others who also didnt believe. Vit A absolutely clears rain rot and lice etc right up with no topical treatment whatsoever. I never ever have skin issues now that I supplement and make sure my ration is high in Vit A as green grass is.

[QUOTE=Cherie;1390495]It is absolutely caused by a deficiency in Vitamin A. So are lice, goopy runny eyes and a myriad of other skin, eye and reproductive problems.
[\QUOTE] cite the evidence?
How are you checking the immune status and vitamin A levels for your horse?

They're telling me every time they have a symptom and the Vitamin A clears it up.

It should tell everyone else when it is almost entirely a problem that appears when grass disappears and hay gets old and miraculously disappears right after grass reappears in the spring.

Cattle do the same thing. They get fungus spots and lice and clear up as soon as the grass gets good. A good loose mineral with 150,000 to 200,000 units of Vitamin A per pound will also fix them (and make them breed back sooner, calve with fewer problems and make them drop their placenta hours earlier than when they are deficient.

By the way, we keep a loose mineral out year 'round that has that much Vitamin A in it.

The vitamin A made a believer out of me. I know I used nowhere near enough betadine to clear that much rain rot up. I couldn't. It was just too cold and she was covered in it.

It hasn't been back either and it's been a wet, icy winter. The horses have a run in and are out in all weather. No blankets. Most of the time they choose to back up under a pine tree.

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Agree on the causes of rain rot, but for helping the healing process this has been a great solution Tea-Clenz Equine Anti-Microbial Concentrate

It helps with other problems too

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Thank you so much everyone for the answers -- I am definitely going to try to find some Vitamin A -- as the older mare also has goopy eyes -- and the rain rot just showed up in January -- during the summer her coat was beautiful and healthy makes alot of sense that she may be deficient. As for the MTG -- I can't wait to stop using it -- it's so greasy and gross but works very well -- any suggestions of what to switch to now that she is on the mend?
Thanks Again

I too was amazed at what a difference Vit A makes. I recently put my guys on a vitamin/mineral suppliment with large doses of vit A (gauranteed analysis says 300,000 IU/lb) and all my guys goopy eyes and skin problems went away almost overnight. It is a loose mineral that I just sprinkle of their food or can leave out loose in a bucket.

Over the years of being with horses I have learned many different treatments out there and ways to cut costs. I believe in thr healthier the horse the better off they are to battle any infections etc. I had horses come in with such bad cases of rain rot and where Vitamin A and such is a good preventive it doesnt fix the already existing problem. Winter is hard time for treating such things as rain rot.
I have found that Listerine works extremely well against rain rot and can be used with a spray bottle or poured directly on the scabs. Listerine is inexspensive and very valuable in a barn. I use it for above matters as well as leg sweat body brace and bucket and grooming tools cleaner. Listerine also works great on horses who tend to rub tails.
Good luck love ya horses and have fun