Rainrot (dermatophilosis) is a bacterial skin condition affecting horses in wet conditions. Understanding prevention and treatment protects horses from a common and painful welfare problem.
Rainrot causes painful skin lesions that make grooming and handling painful and can spread across significant body areas without treatment. Horses with extensive rainrot have raw, inflamed skin under the crusts that causes discomfort with touch, contact with rugs or tack, and exposure to rain. The condition reflects inadequate access to shelter or prolonged exposure to wet conditions — both management failures that welfare monitoring should identify. Treatment requires careful, gentle removal of dried crusts (softened with warm water or dilute antiseptic wash), which is inherently uncomfortable for affected animals. Prevention through provision of adequate shelter and attention to skin condition during wet seasons is far more humane than allowing the condition to develop and requiring treatment.