I dilute some hibiscrub and put it in an old fairy liquid bottle. Pick out the feet and brush the sole, so it's as clean as poss and give the sole a good squirt with the disinfectant.
I think you will find that you can buy stuff similar to hoof oil, for thrush. Farriers Formula do something you can paint on, but its expensive and also the Cornucresine people sell one you can paint on.
thrush likes wet and warm conditions
when i did my ai training the ponies were kept in stalls on
ball and ropes so were always standing in wet muck
we used limestone flour in a sock and banged the sole with it
to dry it out
worked for them !!!!!!!!
i do use hyrogen peroxide to clear it up if it is too far gone
i use a syringe so you can squirt right down the sides of the frog
Thanks guys.
did have hydrogen peroxide but run out and the chemist had none, so think thats why they got worse again.
Dingle the sheep stuff is called formulin and that was our 'last resort' as it is mega strong and it'll sting like crazy!!!
He is bein kept as dry as possible. He doesn't go out field at the mo and is only ridden on the roads (or if he is taken in a field his feet are washed and dried). He is on straw beddin with rubber mats, but all we have is straw so it'll have to do (live on farm and dad makes it!!!)
So am defo of to find some more hydrogen peroxide again!!!
Hydrogen Peroxide is good, plus for prevention use borax, which is a natural mineral, a white powder that you can buy from the household section of Boots. It is also very cheap, compared to lots of other remedies.
Take a 5 litre container and fill with warm water. Add 2 good tablespoons of borax powder and shake well. Put some of this solution into a spray bottle and spray over the feet, into the groves and around the frog, shake first.
This will get rid of thrush, but it will take a few days, but it should go eventually. To prevent thrush spray every 2-3 days.
Don't keep on using powerful disinfectants as they kill off the tissues and give the thrush something to feed on. So if the pony has bad thrush use the disinfectant for a short time and then go onto something less agressive.
In the past I always used hydrogen peroxide but with a mare I had it didn't respond so my old YO told me an old technique which was clean with warm salt water solution, dry thoroughly with a towel and smoother with smooth honey. The frog absorbed the honey v quickly and the thrush cleared up. Have used it ever since.
I also use hydrogen peroxide or if I don't have any I use terymycin (purple spray) that my dad has for the sheep. That seems to be very effective but is a last resort for me as it is an aerosol and my horse objects to it being sprayed on her feet!
I have also found that my mare has been much much better this winter despite having more turnout than previous years and this is her first winter without shoes on, which may be a coincidence but it definitely seems to have helped her.
MillienJet, we have used purple spray, but didn't seem to do anything.
Leo 04, will def try honey, just didn't think of using it!!! use it on cuts to help them heal already!!!
i was told to try washing daily with hibbi scrub and then paint tar into the foot when dried out as this keeps out the wet and muck, it worked really well
mix up some pefadine (sp?) and scrub feet out (better than hibiscrub. and if really bad use the foot rot spray that they use on sheep and cattle - worked fab on my old horse who suffered all year round with this.
I agree with horsenut - get a syringe so you can squirt fluid into any flaps in the frog where thrush will hide.
Many barefoot people use cleantrax which is non nectrotising (so does not kill healthy tissue). However that would be for more severe cases as you need soaking boots. Other barefoot people reccommend a soluton of 50% milton and 50% water used for a few days but be careful as it will bleach clothes. As also suggested a quick way to blast it is the foot rot stuff for sheep from the vet which is very effective very quickly