Can a horse acquire precipitation scald/rot whether it have a cover on?
Just wondering if it was possible. a horse i knew be mistreated and got terrible rainscald, but supposedly had a cover on adjectives throughout winter.. is it possible?
Well it may have had a skin problem from not having the rug removed & coat brushed regularly. But rainfall scald normally happen when they are left next to no covering or protection from the weather.
Yes...the bacteria is anaerobic...
meaning it survives near no oxygen. If the horse is not brushed clean adn the dirt and oils completely cover the skin...then the curls lays on top of it...they get rain scald.
That's what blankets do. They flatten the tresses that would normally be 'puffed up' with little air pockets to hold on to the horse warm.
So it can definitely happen underneath a blanket. especially if the horse has be mistreated or neglected. Not brushed and never having the blanket taken off for grooming or just airing out the horse's body. I don't know what compassionate of mistreatment...
Answers: The organism that causes rain scald lives on the skin of the horse. Any damp conditions may allow the organisms to start to proliferate. The environment beneath a horse blanket is dark and often damp, and as a consequence a perfect environment for the infection to take hold. The organism is neither a fungus, nor a bacterium, but rather a microbe near properties of both. If a horse sweats under a blanket, that is enough to bring roughly an active infection.
