# Ringworm home treatment



## Olliepoppy (13 August 2014)

Hi, my boy has what looks like one patch of ringworm on his neck.  Can anyone recommend any home treatment other than apple cider vinegar? Thanks


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## HaffiesRock (13 August 2014)

Tea tree is quite good or human antifungal cream. I would patch test both first though.


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## Moomin1 (13 August 2014)

Please do not try and treat ringworm with home or alternative remedies.  It is highly contagious and needs to be stopped by proper anti fungal treatment.


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## minesadouble (13 August 2014)

Canesten cream works on human ringworm so may be worth a try?


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## Olliepoppy (13 August 2014)

Thanks for all the comments, I was also told athletes foot cream worked


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## twiggy2 (13 August 2014)

Moomin1 said:



			Please do not try and treat ringworm with home or alternative remedies.  It is highly contagious and needs to be stopped by proper anti fungal treatment.
		
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this.
it may not be ringworm at all


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## Tnavas (13 August 2014)

If just one spot use Canestan Cremello, rub in well beyond the area.

Ringworm though it can be transferred to humans is not a mega problem to deal with.

Wash whole horse, grooming kit, tack, inside of covers, you and your clothes with Nizoral Shampoo. You can buy Nizoral from the chemist. It is an anti fungal shampoo containing Ketaconisol and really works well, far better than Iodine.

It's important to wash well beyond the visibly affected area as being a fungus it ejects spores outwards producing the familiar circle. 

Any horses that have been in close contact or share grooming kit will also need to be washed with Nizoral .


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## MotherOfChickens (14 August 2014)

Moomin1 said:



			Please do not try and treat ringworm with home or alternative remedies.  It is highly contagious and needs to be stopped by proper anti fungal treatment.
		
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for heavens sake ^^^ this. Ringworm can also become (albeit rarely) systemic and then much more difficult to treat.

oh, and ACV 'treat's' nothing and does nothing-I have this argument with chicken people all the time, if ACV could treat worms/bacterial and fungal infections then we wouldn't be so frantically worried about antibiotic resistance -we would just 'treat' everything with apple juice.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

I wonder if I'm the only person reading this and laughing about the panic ringworm causes. In a healthy horse, it will sort itself. I have a headcollor with it on and I deliberately infect every horse who arrives here. It gives them some immunity. I didn't have to do it with the last one, he was covered in ringworm circles. It grew out, just like it always has before. Only horses with compromised immune systems have any problem resolving a bit of ringworm.


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## Tnavas (14 August 2014)

MotherOfChickens said:



			for heavens sake ^^^ this. Ringworm can also become (albeit rarely) systemic and then much more difficult to treat.

oh, and ACV 'treat's' nothing and does nothing-I have this argument with chicken people all the time, if ACV could treat worms/bacterial and fungal infections then we wouldn't be so frantically worried about antibiotic resistance -we would just 'treat' everything with apple juice. 

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Vinegar is actually very good at treating fungal problems.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

MotherOfChickens said:
			
		


			if ACV could treat worms/bacterial and fungal infections then we wouldn't be so frantically worried about antibiotic resistance -we would just 'treat' everything with apple juice. 

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Mmmmmmmm, I'm sure I saw the other day research sayng we could resolve a lot of problems if we all ate willow bark ......  now where was that ......  

(I think some people call it aspirin?)


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## Moomin1 (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			I wonder if I'm the only person reading this and laughing about the panic ringworm causes. In a healthy horse, it will sort itself. I have a headcollor with it on and I deliberately infect every horse who arrives here. It gives them some immunity. I didn't have to do it with the last one, he was covered in ringworm circles. It grew out, just like it always has before. Only horses with compromised immune systems have any problem resolving a bit of ringworm.
		
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That's great if you don't mind taking the risk of contracting it yourself, and any visitors to your yard don't mind that risk either. It also sticks about in the surrounding fences etc for years on end.  I personally can't understand why on earth anyone would want to allow ringworm to 'treat itself'.  Apart from the fact that it's irresponsible if people take that stance on livery yards, where other people may not wish their horse to be contracting it simply because someone doesn't want to treat it, it's not particularly pleasant for the horse to be riddled with an itchy fungal disease when it can be simply and quickly resolved with treatment.


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## MotherOfChickens (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			Mmmmmmmm, I'm sure I saw the other day research sayng we could resolve a lot of problems if we all ate willow bark ......  now where was that ......  

(I think some people call it aspirin?)
		
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really? thanks for that-I had no clue, the BSc and PhD in microbiology and none ever mentioned it! 


I simply can't be bothered to discuss the benefits of taking aspirin in pill form and chewing on random willow trees-if people are too stupid to work out the difference, well thats Darwinism.


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## Moomin1 (14 August 2014)

MotherOfChickens said:



			really? thanks for that-I had no clue, the BSc and PhD in microbiology and none ever mentioned it! 


I simply can't be bothered to discuss the benefits of taking aspirin in pill form and chewing on random willow trees-if people are too stupid to work out the difference, well thats Darwinism.
		
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I think CPT was meaning that tongue in cheek! 

Speaking of things like chewing on willow bark etc - a midwife suggested to me the other day that I try to drink plenty of water during labour to help relieve the pain.  I stared at her blankly and promptly requested I be given diamorphine when the time comes.....lol.


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## Olliepoppy (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			I wonder if I'm the only person reading this and laughing about the panic ringworm causes. In a healthy horse, it will sort itself. I have a headcollor with it on and I deliberately infect every horse who arrives here. It gives them some immunity. I didn't have to do it with the last one, he was covered in ringworm circles. It grew out, just like it always has before. Only horses with compromised immune systems have any problem resolving a bit of ringworm.
		
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I'm not sure panic is the right word but in my humble opinion the majority of animal owners would not want to see their animals with an itchy fungal infection and certainly would not want to deliberately spread it to others.


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## Olliepoppy (14 August 2014)

Tnavas - thanks for the helpful post. My vet concurs that Canesten and Nizoral are both good to treat the lesion.  She also recommened Coatex shampoo that you can buy without prescription.


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## Tnavas (14 August 2014)

Olliepoppy said:



			Tnavas - thanks for the helpful post. My vet concurs that Canesten and Nizoral are both good to treat the lesion.  She also recommened Coatex shampoo that you can buy without prescription.
		
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You're welcome, Nizoral is also over the counter but generally is only found at a chemists. It's a human anti dandruff shampoo containing Ketaconisol which knocks the stuffing out of ringworm really fast. 

Some years ago a rescue kitten gave me ringworm and when I mentioned to the doctor that I had treated it by using the Nizoral as an all over shower soap he was most impressed.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

Olliepoppy said:



			I'm not sure panic is the right word but in my humble opinion the majority of animal owners would not want to see their animals with an itchy fungal infection and certainly would not want to deliberately spread it to others.
		
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None of my horses have ever appeared itchy with it. It's better for me that they get it when I don't care, than that they get it mid hunting season when I'd be thrown out of the field if I turn out on a horse with circles in its coat. Loads of old schoolers like me are reading this thread laughing like drains at how upset people get about a disease that's easier to cure than athletes foot in humans, and just as common.


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## Moomin1 (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			None of my horses have ever appeared itchy with it. It's better for me that they get it when I don't care, than that they get it mid hunting season when I'd be thrown out of the field if I turn out on a horse with circles in its coat. Loads of old schoolers like me are reading this thread laughing like drains at how upset people get about a disease that's easier to cure than athletes foot in humans, and just as common.
		
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And that's exactly the point - it's as easy to cure as athlete's foot in humans. So why not just treat it?  It goes very quickly when you do, so I'm not sure what the point is waiting for it to self limit, risk yourself and other people getting it, and potentially causing your horse to be uncomfortable.  Doesn't seem to be any point in it whatsoever.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

Moomin1 said:



			That's great if you don't mind taking the risk of contracting it yourself, and any visitors to your yard don't mind that risk either. It also sticks about in the surrounding fences etc for years on end.  I personally can't understand why on earth anyone would want to allow ringworm to 'treat itself'.  Apart from the fact that it's irresponsible if people take that stance on livery yards, where other people may not wish their horse to be contracting it simply because someone doesn't want to treat it, it's not particularly pleasant for the horse to be riddled with an itchy fungal disease when it can be simply and quickly resolved with treatment.
		
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I've had at least twenty horses with it in the last thirty years and I have never caught it myself and never taken any precautions not to. But if I did catch it, I'd put canestan or an athlete's foot treatment on it and it would cause no trouble. It's an insignificant disease whose only problem in healthy horses is that it makes a mark in the coat for a while.

Thankfully, I am no longer on a livery yard where people panic about it.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

Moomin1 said:



			And that's exactly the point - it's as easy to cure as athlete's foot in humans. So why not just treat it?  It goes very quickly when you do, so I'm not sure what the point is waiting for it to self limit, risk yourself and other people getting it, and potentially causing your horse to be uncomfortable.  Doesn't seem to be any point in it whatsoever.
		
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In healthy horses it also goes very quickly when you DON'T treat it    I have never seen a horse uncomfortable with it, never mind left a horse uncomfortable with it.


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## Moomin1 (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			In healthy horses it also goes very quickly when you DON'T treat it    I have never seen a horse uncomfortable with it, never mind left a horse uncomfortable with it.
		
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But what is the point not treating it?  Some horses will and DO get itchy with it, and you aren't always going to have a healthy horse, so if an unhealthy one contracts it through it being harboured in the surrounding wood etc then you are just subjecting them to unnecessary discomfort.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

Moomin1 said:



			But what is the point not treating it?  Some horses will and DO get itchy with it, and you aren't always going to have a healthy horse, so if an unhealthy one contracts it through it being harboured in the surrounding wood etc then you are just subjecting them to unnecessary discomfort.
		
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Oh please Moomin, you are better at arguing than this.

What is the point of treating something that in every case I have had has resolved itself with a very small number of lesions, usually only one. By treating it, you are possibly preventing the immune system from developing immunity.

If they are uncomfortable, treat it, if they aren't, don't. It's perfectly simple, none of mine have ever appeared uncomfortable.


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## Moomin1 (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			Oh please Moomin, you are better at arguing than this.

What is the point of treating something that in every case I have had has resolved itself with a very small number of lesions, usually only one. By treating it, you are possibly preventing the immune system from developing immunity.

If they are uncomfortable, treat it, if they aren't, don't. It's perfectly simple, none of mine have ever appeared uncomfortable.
		
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We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.  It's like saying don't bother treating verrucas, they are self limiting. They may or may not cause discomfort, but the fact that they can spread to other people is the crux of the matter for me, and stick about in fencing etc for years and years, long after you may have left the property.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

Moomin1 said:



			We'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.  It's like saying don't bother treating verrucas, they are self limiting. They may or may not cause discomfort, but the fact that they can spread to other people is the crux of the matter for me, and stick about in fencing etc for years and years, long after you may have left the property.
		
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Well since ringworm causes so little problem for horses and is endemic in cows and sheep,  I'm not going to worry myself that someone else's horse might get it from a fence post in twenty years time after I've left here    I would not visit a swimming baths if I knew I had a verrucca, though, so your comparison isn't valid, for me


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## Moomin1 (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			Well since ringworm causes so little problem for horses and is endemic in cows and sheep,  I'm not going to worry myself that someone else's horse might get it from a fence post in twenty years time after I've left here    I would not visit a swimming baths if I knew I had a verrucca, though, so your comparison isn't valid, for me 

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Some people prefer not to get ringworm. For me, it would mean time enforced time off work, therefore I would be pretty narked if anyone on my yard didn't treat their horse simply because they don't think it necessary because they don't mind catching it.  Cats also get it, and can be a pain in the backside to treat if they are highly strung.  Kids get it, and can get it in their scalp, resulting in hair loss. Not very pleasant for them, and meaning time off school also.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

Moomin1 said:



			Some people prefer not to get ringworm. For me, it would mean time enforced time off work, therefore I would be pretty narked if anyone on my yard didn't treat their horse simply because they don't think it necessary because they don't mind catching it.  Cats also get it, and can be a pain in the backside to treat if they are highly strung.  Kids get it, and can get it in their scalp, resulting in hair loss. Not very pleasant for them, and meaning time off school also.
		
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I'm not on a yard Moomin, I have no one to please but myself and my horses. My comments were in relation to the people calling for the OP to get a vet out immediately, when any anti fungal human treatment will do fine as a first resort. And those giving the impression that it was some horrific disease, potentially making more novice owners panic,  when it's not.


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## Moomin1 (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			I'm not on a yard Moomin, I have no one to please but myself and my horses. My comments were in relation to the people calling for the OP to get a vet out immediately, when any anti fungal human treatment will do fine as a first resort. And those giving the impression that it was some horrific disease, potentially making more novice owners panic,  when it's not.
		
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I don't think anyone has given the impression it's a horrific disease at all.  They have just pointed out exactly what it is - zoonotic, and highly contagious. And suggested that it's not treated with the likes of ACV or other such rubbish.


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## cptrayes (14 August 2014)

Even if the rubbish works


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## Olliepoppy (14 August 2014)

Goodness me guys! I never though my innocent question would turn out to be so controversial..!  

Tnavas - canesten and nizoral were purchased yesterday, canesten applied last night and this morning, a shampoo and set is booked for after work  The lesion is on his neck under his mane so he has also got pretty braids to allow the sunlight (if we get any) to help heal it.  The biggest problem it causes my boy is it means separation from his buddies the cows..


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## Moomin1 (14 August 2014)

Olliepoppy said:



			Goodness me guys! I never though my innocent question would turn out to be so controversial..!  

Tnavas - canesten and nizoral were purchased yesterday, canesten applied last night and this morning, a shampoo and set is booked for after work  The lesion is on his neck under his mane so he has also got pretty braids to allow the sunlight (if we get any) to help heal it.  The biggest problem it causes my boy is it means separation from his buddies the cows..
		
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That's more than likely where he's had it from in the first place.


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## Goldenstar (14 August 2014)

Yes the cows will be the culprits .
I can't bear ringworm I have had it once here a horse brought it home from hunting I hit it with everything modern veterinary medicine could provide  no other horse caught it .


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## Tnavas (14 August 2014)

cptrayes said:



			I've had at least twenty horses with it in the last thirty years and I have never caught it myself and never taken any precautions not to. But if I did catch it, I'd put canestan or an athlete's foot treatment on it and it would cause no trouble. It's an insignificant disease whose only problem in healthy horses is that it makes a mark in the coat for a while.
Thankfully, I am no longer on a livery yard where people panic about it.
		
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I remember my mum telling me the treatment for ringworm when she worked as a nursery nurse during the war years was coating the rings with tar. 

Until modern treatment came into existence the only treatment was tar or eventually Iodine. 

Ringworm can be self limiting if conditions are unfavourable to it but it can and does attack the whole horse including developing inside eyelids. 

Anyone with the yellow/gold covered 'Veterinary Notes for Horse Owners' book has only to look through it and see the picture of the horse with a bad case of ringworm.

cptrayes you are lucky you've not caught it, I have a few times now and the itching is horrible and the red welts it causes look pretty gross too, especially if on your face.

I'ts irresponsible to not treat something that can be so uncomfortable to the horse and these days can so easily be treated.

We are lucky now that we have several means of treating it. I remember the time when horses had to have a course of tablets called Grisovin, ingredient Grisiofulvin.

To be honest cptrayes I have really lost respect for your knowledge with your attitude of chucking things out to sort themselves out, eg, abscesses and now ringworm.

And as an old schooler myself I remember ringworm being taken most seriously certainly not a laughable matter.

Maybe you need a dose of ringworm to find out how miserable it can make you feel.


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## CorvusCorax (14 August 2014)

Athlete's foot spray is great as you don't have to touch the area, which can of course help spread it further.
I'm another one who has had ringworm a couple of times and it is horrible. 
My father used 1/1 white spirit/creosote which was what he used to use on the cows.


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## Goldenstar (15 August 2014)

CorvusCorax said:



			Athlete's foot spray is great as you don't have to touch the area, which can of course help spread it further.
I'm another one who has had ringworm a couple of times and it is horrible. 
My father used 1/1 white spirit/creosote which was what he used to use on the cows.
		
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Ekkk don't do this at home folks creosote is a carcinogen .


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## cptrayes (15 August 2014)

Tnavas said:



			I remember my mum telling me the treatment for ringworm when she worked as a nursery nurse during the war years was coating the rings with tar. 

Until modern treatment came into existence the only treatment was tar or eventually Iodine. 

Ringworm can be self limiting if conditions are unfavourable to it but it can and does attack the whole horse including developing inside eyelids. 

Anyone with the yellow/gold covered 'Veterinary Notes for Horse Owners' book has only to look through it and see the picture of the horse with a bad case of ringworm.

cptrayes you are lucky you've not caught it, I have a few times now and the itching is horrible and the red welts it causes look pretty gross too, especially if on your face.

I'ts irresponsible to not treat something that can be so uncomfortable to the horse and these days can so easily be treated.

We are lucky now that we have several means of treating it. I remember the time when horses had to have a course of tablets called Grisovin, ingredient Grisiofulvin.

To be honest cptrayes I have really lost respect for your knowledge with your attitude of chucking things out to sort themselves out, eg, abscesses and now ringworm.

And as an old schooler myself I remember ringworm being taken most seriously certainly not a laughable matter.

Maybe you need a dose of ringworm to find out how miserable it can make you feel.
		
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I don't really mind what your opinion of me is Tnavas, I don't know you from Adam and you don't know me. My vet supports the way I treat abscesses (a fact you persistently refuse to acknowledge)  and ringworm.

What I do know is that none of my horses have shown the slightest irritation with ringworm (but if they had I would treat it) nor have they had the slightest problem self limiting it to a maximum of two lesions.

I think you might read too many vet books Tnavas, you appear to make a habit of scaring less knowledgeable horses owners with 'might be' scenarios (ringworm inside the eyes, bone necrosis caused by abscesses) which are in fact extremely rare.

The fact is that very few horses ever needed oral griseofulvin, but vets prescribed it anyway. I wonder why? More people these days have, thanks to the internet, realised that ringworm is a very minor disease, does not normally need a vet, and can be treated by a number of freely available topical anti fungal agents.


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## Orangehorse (15 August 2014)

My horse got ringworm very badly when he was 4 or 5.  He either caught it from cattle or from a little pony I had borrowed as a companion, on inspection he had one lesion under his jaw.  My horse was plastered from the tip of ear all down one side, neck, shoulder, body, rump.  I had 2 pots of the Griseofulvin and had to shampoo him.  I discovered one or two lesions that I hadn't treated, under his belly, and they cleared up exactly the same as the ones that had been treated with washing.  It started off in June and it was quite a long time before it cleared up.  Despite my fears, all his hair grew back fine, the correct colour!

However, he was very lethargic, although he was still growing of course.  Someone who had worked in a dealer's yard said that if they get it badly it can make them ill.  In the end I gave him a course of Global Herbs Restore (? I think that is what it was called) which seemed to make him better.

I got it too and was showing off my unattractive red sore on my stomach in the chemist's shop!  Luckily they didn't all run away and there was a lady there who had horses and she gave me some cream, which cleared it up straight away.
Too long ago now to remember what it was.

But the ringworm meant that my horse lost most of a summer's work.


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## Cheshire Chestnut (15 August 2014)

Athletes foot cream - works a treat. Get an extra strength one though, cleared my boy's ringworm up last year a treat!


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## Olliepoppy (16 August 2014)

The canesten cream works really well, the lesion has gone already!


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