Barefoot taliban - frog help

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zoon

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Can anyone tell me if there is anything wrong with these frogs? My farrier just says they have grown too big so are exfoliating - doesnt sound right to me. Rear of frogs seems to have just come away so now nothing in contact with ground at the back. Farrier never trims sole or frogs. Horse is a rising 3 year old, out 24/7 and always has been. Fed ad lib hay and mag ox, recently started on equimins metabalance.

near fore

nearfore_zps242a902b.jpg


near hind

nearhind_zpsf5a429fa.jpg


off fore

offfore_zps560ec53d.jpg


off hind

offhind_zps44f2ffc9.jpg


(think I've got those feet the right way around - photobucket removed my titles and rotated my pics - so got confused!)
 
Farrier says there is no thrush, but I'm not so sure. No nooks and crannys for thrush to hide in as frogs has come apart!
 
No flaps to treat under - the dark areas are just the rough edges where the old fog has come away.

What is the best thing to treat thrush with then? Bare in mind he is our 24/7
 
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Sudocrem

Drives out the water too. They look thrushy to me.

This is an exfoliating frog:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rjJUDZm1WpE/UOL9c-FI51I/AAAAAAAAA8Y/VplwJSfZVw0/s400/PICT0061.JPG


They tend to start at the heel and peel off as a complete flap bit by bit. Unless he has cut the flap off the back, it's not that usual for the back half to exfoliate and the front half not, in my experience. And it is normal for the frog underneath to have less of a central sulcus, not more.


Photos 3 and 4 look like the heel bulbs are skinned as well??? Very abnormal looking to me.
 
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Sudocrem is sort of waterproof and sticky and soaks in to the rough stuff.. It works well, though mine are admittedly only out in the day at the moment.
 
zoon said:
Have loads, so will give it a go.

What will have caused the heel bulbs to go funny?
Click to expand...

My guess is that she does have a thrush infection and it's got under the skin of the heel bulb - the join between the frog and the heel is usually about half way up the bald bit, if you see what I mean, so a frog infection that's taken out the back of the frog can easily carry on up the bulb.

Then I suspect that the weakened skin on the bulb has been taken off by the frozen ground, because it looks like they've been rubbing on something.

Of course we could all just as easily be misinterpreting the photos :) !
 
cptrayes said:
Photos 3 and 4 look like the heel bulbs are skinned as well??? Very abnormal looking to me.
Click to expand...
Me too I'm afraid especially pic 3. I would normally suggest possible deep sulcus infection involving the bulbs but tbh I don't know. Is he sore when you poke (gently) the sulcus and surrounding areas? I might try a soak of perhaps apple cider vinegar solution on one hoof and see if there is a response. I like soaks initially for deep infections but might be worried to use a stronger solution looking at the photos.
If he is sore I might be tempted to ask the vet to look at the hoof in pic 3 especially but they might be tempted to get a knife out to have a poke about.:(
 
Not sore at all - happy to be vigorously poked and prodded, still rock crunching (very stony track leading down to yard).

Nothing his heels can rub on - he's out 24/7, doesn't do any work and isn't booted?

Not sure he'd let me soak his feet - has a bit of a water issue and we can just about manage the hose with a little dancing about, doubt a soak would be effective!
 
cptrayes said:
Photos 3 and 4 look like the heel bulbs are skinned as well??? Very abnormal looking to me.
Click to expand...

Not abnormal for a horse living out in snow and the wet we've had this year. The wet probably weakened the skin a bit to start with and then standing on snow/ice all the time just just rubbed it off.

Ive noticed this with BF horses in snow several years on the trot now, and my two for e.g. one did have a bit of thrush in fronts before the snow but the other didnt and both frogs look v similar to the OPs now post weeks of snow :mad:

OP ideally you need some matting so that you could tie him up and feed him on it and dry his feet out for an hr or two - that really helps. I dont give field paste much hope of staying in unless you can put it on a pretty dry hoof, adn its hard to paper towel it dry and get the FP in before the horse wants its foot back!
 
He can come down to the yard and be tied up for an hour or so with a net to keep him busy, just no stable to go in over night
 
If you're looking for thrush treatment that won't need him to stand in/ have dry feet I'd look at the purple spray they use for sheep / cattle foot rot - it soaks in in seconds and I have real sucess with it - nice and cheap from the local agricultural shop so I use a good spray every day when I pick them out.
 
Yes, I've noticed lots of exposure to snow seems to sort of "burn" the frog/heel junction?

I would say any black areas are the start of thrush. The whole frog should be that nice pale colour.

I have tried sudocreme, and find it is too moisturising :D When horse lives out, I want frogs to be drier/tougher rather than moisturised/softer? So I have been spraying/scrubbing frogs and heels with a strong salt solution (just added table salt to water in a spray bottle, spray on and scrub with a little brush until the black comes off). I do this every day, and the feet do seem to have become more resistant to the wet. I add a few drops of tea tree oil to the spray as well. Concentrate on any cracks or splits :)

If you absolutely have to soak at any point, I have had success putting the hoof in a dry bucket, then offering tasty hay or other distractor (low sugar Lickit type stuff) and when horse distracted, gradually adding the water.
 
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