Bedding options for horse with severe thrush.

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Aishdav

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Hi I'm hoping I might get some suggestions on here with regards to bedding options for my extremely dirty horse as he is suffering badly with his feet!

My horse has been suffering with foot problems for years now we have used all the common treatments - hydrogen peroxide, purple spray, sheep foot spray (purple one) also tried some random powders I found on the internet (can't remember the name but it dries the frog up?) tried iodene and also honey (both recommended by a vet I was with for a short amount of time) my farrier cuts his frogs back every time he's up and the vet has also prescribed different treatments - I've now been using formaldehyde (from the vet) for over a year..

He was originally bedded on straw however on the vets recommendation we swapped to shavings which worked during summer but when he was staying in over winter he was just stood in wet bedding constantly and they got really bad again. (I was getting through 5 bales a week easily he's extremely dirty) anyway with the prices of them hitting £9.50 a bale I decided my only option was to go back to straw (yard owner only offers the two options) so I could give him a deeper bed and hopefully keep him from standing in wet bedding... it hasn't helped.. and he has a very deep bed!
I have managed to keep his feet sort of under control by keeping him out as much as possible - but if he's been stood in for a few hours they set off again and end up with white discharge (puss) coming from the split in his heels.

As I'm on a livery yard with strict rules which I've been bending slightly to keep his feet under control (the yard owners are being very good about it) keeping him out 24/7 isn't an option - especially with winter coming when grazing gets reduced to 4 hours only and only when weather is good. - I'm now in desperate search to try to find a bedding that will hopefully stay as dry as possible on the top.... Then to try and convince my yard owners to let us buy it in!

I have looked at easybed and believe the wee tends to drain to the bottom of the bedding. Has anybody used this?
He does have a really bad habit of dragging his feet about and churning up his bed too does the fact its heavier stop this happening to an extent?
or do any of you know of any other options available.. we have tried a shavings base and straw top too but it drove me up the wall (and didn't help too much!)

My next option is strapping poultice boots to all 4 feet (if I can get them big enough!) - But don't think that will help either as it will just provide a warm place for it to thrive more :(

Thanks in advance - Any suggestions will be considered!
 
Have you spoken to the yard about whether you would be allowed to use wood pellets? i find them incredibly good regarding messy horses - my gelding is very wet (sounds similar to yours) but the pellets are amazing. And if you have the bed deep enough all the urine soaks down to the bottom and the top dries out. Nice and easy for a daily muck out too - you will be surprised how little you actually turf out aside from the wet. It also stops the wet from seeping all over the floor - which was a constant problem for me on shavings. I found shavings to be absolutely hopeless for my boy. HTH. xx
 
Have to agree about wood pellets, I think they'd be your best bet.
Also look at how your stable is set out; where the manger, water and hay is in relation to each other and where your horse prefers to stand, whether it's nose over the door watching it all or he does a bit of box walking from one to the other. If you put the feed and hay close together he won't have to move so much so stirring up the bedding. If he stands at the front of the box looking out, think about having everything on the front wall, put his bed down from the door backwards and leave a gap behind where he should do most of his droppings which will hopefully keep it out of the bedding. It is a case of trial and error but half the battle will be keeping his feet drier than is happening at present.
 
I would try cheap and easy Cavallo boots with a drying powder liberally sprinkled in the bottom, if you can get them in the right size. Even for a dirty horse, he's extreme, isn't he? Do you have him on a good low iron balancer and a low sugar diet?
 
Thank you for all the replies.
I will see if they will allow me to try Wood Pellets as it sounds like they are the best option!

He does have his water feeder at the back so does have to walk to and from that - I have used buckets in the past but he tends to use them as toys (they have to be big as he drinks a lot) so he loves to splash about.. I find there's a bit less mess with his feeder. other than that his net is at the front and his feed is none existent.. (handful of hifi-light with his joint supplement in it.) His main problem is that if he is eating his net he wee's where he stands - then ends up standing in it all night!
He is nosey so tends to have his head over the door once his hay has been devoured - I tend to leave that free from bedding hoping that his front feet will to dry out a bit whilst hes stood there.

He did used to be on red cell as he was slightly anemic but I did stop giving him that as I had him on a competition mix last year but everything feed wise has cut back as his workload dropped drastically this time last year as I was pregnant and found schooling got too much. so that might be an option to look into again but if I'm honest it didn't make a difference when he was on it.
-We have considered coronary distrophy as my instructor had a horse who's feet were being attacked by its immune system he has shown a few symptoms as at one point his chestnuts fell off and were bleeding but luckily a steriod and antibiotic cream seemed to fix that - and it's not happened since - luckily!

If all else fails or the yard owner isn't happy about wood pellets I will have to invest in boots!

Thanks again x
 
joycec said:
Can I suggest that you look at the diet advice on this site, and also consider putting him on a barefoot diet, with a barefoot balancer?

http://www.farrierspages.com/nutrition_prevent_control_thrush.htm
Click to expand...

I might be being thick but I can't see much on there. The only thing I can think of is the msm and selenium which I think are both in his joint supplement - but he can't come off that without going stiff behind as he had surgery on his stifles when he was younger.

He has had oats in the past but I've always supplemented him with limestone flour for calcium - and then switched to a competition mix as its balanced and provided everything he needed while I was working him - but he's not had anything other than hay, grass and a small handful of low sugar chaff since around October last year.

Is a barefoot diet basically a low sugar/starch/carb - and high fibre diet? As that's basically what he's on at the moment. (I have soaked his hay in the past too to leach out sugars but tend to only do that if he's getting a bit chubby as it makes his stable wet too!)
I will look into other supplements but I'm always wary about giving any more than one type at a time as the last thing I want to do is give him 2 things with similar ingredients.

x
 
Is his blood work normal ?
Because I think it's likely something else is driving the thrush .
Thinking about it I think paper is worth a try as well .
Usually straw is the best option for horses like this .
Could you try some pellets below for absorption with straw on top .
The problem you might get with pellets is they will pack the feet and that won't help.
 
I use easibed and if you keep the bed thick enough then it is quite absorbent BUT I have been putting a layer of megazorb (wood pulp pellets) underneath Easibed as I am semi deep littering (lifting bed every 2 weeks) to try and save some ££ and this so far is working well.

My friend uses Auboise (more expensive but similar to Easibed) and she seems to use 1 bale to every 2 bales I use. Auboise seems even more absorbent than easibed so may be worth a look ? We are going to keep a note on useage over winter and see which one works out the most cost effective (yes we need a life :) )
 
Hi OP - I agree that wood pellets would be your best option. In fact I find they work really well under a straw bed and just dug out once a week.


However, may I suggest you put a new post up in the vet and hoof care section regarding the thrush. To have thrush for that long just isn't usual, there must be something going on and I don't think addressing bedding is going to be your answer. As someone has already suggested a diet change should make a difference, as should feeding a high quality mineral supplement (look at forageplus).
 
My horse is dirty in his stable, but not as bad as yours by the sound of it. I know it's not for everyone but the farm where he was at livery a couple of years ago ran out of ordinary straw and provided rape straw. I was a bit dubious about it, but the bits that gathered at the bottom of the bed were very absorbent and acted a bit like a nappy - drawing the wet down and leaving the stalks themselves pretty dry. I found all I had to do was fork back the straw every day and scoop out the wet. As soon as we went back on to normal straw it seemed like the whole bed was a lot wetter......
 
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