Mud fever (pastern dermatitis) causes painful skin infection in horses kept in wet conditions. Prevention through pasture management is more effective than treating established disease.
Mud fever causes genuine, significant pain in affected horses — the infected and inflamed pastern skin causes lameness, heat, and swelling that impairs movement and welfare. Chronic mud fever that recurs every wet season accumulates substantial welfare burden over years. Prevention is dramatically more effective than treatment: horses that spend extended time standing in deep mud develop the softened, compromised skin that allows bacterial infection. Practical prevention measures including provision of dry standing areas within paddocks, shelter from rain, and regular inspection of legs during wet weather can eliminate most mud fever episodes. For feathered breeds where thick leg hair traps moisture, careful drying and monitoring during wet periods is especially important.