A Remedy for Scratches

No, not the kind of scratch that breaks the skin--though I have a remedy for that too.

I mentioned a month or so ago that my horse has scratches--a fungal infection on the lower legs that is exacerbated by wet conditions. If left unchecked, it can develop into a secondary bacterial infection.

My mare has a pretty mild case that only affects her right rear fetlock (right under the ankle). I wish I'd taken a before picture, because hers was much milder than most pictures I've seen. But since I didn't, here's a random picture off the internet to give an idea of what scratches looks like:

Basically it's a black scabby thing that looks really nasty. XD

Today I took a picture of what her leg looks like now.

The little fuzzy area is where it used to be--I soaked her foot in Epsom salts, scraped the gunk off, and started applying a black walnut spray. Black walnut is antifungal--it was made in a base of rubbing alcohol, and later I put goldenseal power and tea tree oil in the spray for even more antifungal-ness. 

Since I'm almost out of the spray, I have more steeping in the pantry:

This is walnut, comfrey, and mullein instead of plain walnut--the comfrey is excellent for healing skin conditions (especially cuts, bruises, etc), and the mullein is in there because I had just picked some and didn't feel like wasting it. Heh.

In about 2-3 weeks I'll strain off the leaves and bottle the spray--at that point it'll be nearly black in color and have that weird walnut/alcohol smell. I'll add some tea tree and goldenseal, and be set for weeks.

This could be used on human fungal infections too: ringworm and athlete's foot come to mind. Since it's in rubbing alcohol it's for external use only--but if a person wanted to attack a fungal infection from the inside and outside, I could make a walnut tincture with vodka for internal use. I don't know what that would taste like, though, and have yet to make or experiment with it. Consider that put on the list of things to try out. XD