Hooves and thrush, advice please

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cyberhorse

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My horse is a little tender around his heels when picking his feet out and I think this is thrush as the hoof pick is slightly smelly after cleaning out the heel cleft area. The rest of the frog looks fine and there is no odor from anywhere else in his foot. Obviously this is the hardest place to get to. I tried hibiscrub for a few days before chatting to my vet and being prescribed an iodine spray. It is not getting any worse but I do not feel it is vastly improving either. He is due for trimming next week so I guess his feet are probably going to look better after trimming, but it is a bit frustrating with the lack of progress.

Other experienced horse owners are advising me that iodine is ineffective and I should be using hydrogen peroxide. However from research other opinions are that it is too damaging to the healthy tissue and thus can create an environment for the thrush to come back worse and inhibit healing also sending the horse "footy". I would be grateful for opinions on this either way and any other suggestions. Another treatment I came across is Keratex foot disinfectant this loos like the nozzle would fit in the cleft at the heel OK. Or should I be soaking the feet in something instead of spraying into the cleft? I could get the vet out but she seemed to think that nothing much works except keeping him in and his feet dry which will resolve it over time - so possibly I am impatient but I do not want it doing any damage.

BTW his feet are picked out and cleaned including the clefts where the "issue" is. He has always had slightly more deep of a heel cleft than my other horses but it has never had an odor/softness in it before so I assume this is just his normal conformation. He is now in for winter (this started when the livery field became boggy and he can be a gate stander which is how I think he initially got it in his heels). He is on shavings and his bed is kept clean and dry. He is exercised regularly and has turnout on a timeshare in the indoor school during the day. I am not sure he has wonderful circulation in his legs as his previous owner advised he can get filled legs when in in winter. However he has not had this since I put him on garlic and I generally ride/get him out more so not sure how much emphasis to place on this anyhow.

Sorry to ramble but I am covering all the points that my reading has pointed to regarding aetiology/treatment protocols.
 
Scrub with water with epsom salts, dry thoroughly and then hydrogen peroxide is how i have always cleared it up and never had any problems with any side affects and is quick and effective.
 
Personally I wouldn't worry to much as I would wait and see what the Farrier says. I thought mine had thrush recently, for the same reasons it was smelly when picking out and soft, also looked slightly whitish. I tried lots of different lotions, but when the farrier came he said it was not thrush and no need to worry. He trimmed it all down and hey presto perfect hooves again!!

Thats just my opinion after what happened to mine.
 
We have a horse with terrible thrush in one of his feet that he's had since we got him three years ago. We've tried everything - iodine spray, keratex, fresh frog - you name it! and nothing seems to work for long - we can get rid of the smell, but the thrush itself is still there and it keeps coming back. We found reference to curing it on an American farriery site http://www.farrierart.com/thrush_solution.html by using copper sulphate held in place by a dental impression material, then a hoof pad and shod over it. My boy is unshod, but this foot is very boxy, which is why we can't shift the thrush. We are going to try the copper sulphate but use a hoof boot with a pad inside it over the impression material. We are waiting for the copper sulphate and impression material to arrive - I'll let you know how it progresses.
 
My filly had thrush last autumn,tried all the above.then i came across a spray called frog health its about £12 but works! As soon as feet start to smell a bit thrushy,i spray that on to keep on top of it.my vet said she has incredibly deep clefts so i'll always have to problem.
 
I'd be really interested to hear how you get on. We are not at that stage yet but it is becoming a recurrent theme with a lot of my friends round here as it has been so wet for our horses.

Quartz: I am hoping that once he is trimmed it will be back to normal. He is very stoical so if he is reacting it must be sore in there whatever is going on. Possibly need to warn his farrier that he may not be so cool about being shod this time...

Natalie_1: My vet said he will always be prone in wet weather as he is a typical KWPN with deep clefts combined with being chestnut with white socks which = soft feet (had not heard this one before?). Where did you get the spray from? sounds good as a maintenance thing.
 
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cyberhorse said:
Thanks, can I ask what % of peroxide you have used please? I have been told anything from 3-30% depending who I spoke to.
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Its what they sell at the pharmacy about 60p a bottle, think it was about 9% the last time. Try and see if you can get a syringe (without the needle of course!) to really flush it through any cracks etc.
 
The Red Horse products are excellent and are all natural products. The Frog Health another poster mentioned is good as well.
 
If it got really bad, then I would also use Hydrogen Peroxide after nicking a syringe off any of the visiting vets. Obviously pick out and try to scrub the foot as clean as possible, then flush with hydrogen peroxide BUT the caveat is do NOT get it on your skin or any open wounds as it stings a lot!. I have always just sprayed with good old cheapo purple spray after scrubbing if the foot starts to get smelly and that has always stopped it.

Re: the soft feet. White socks and therefore white hooves are supposed to be softer and obviously white socks = pink skin so a greater tendency to mud fever etc. In my personal experience, that has always been the case but would never put me off buying a horse with white socks/hooves.

Also if your horses legs fill, might be worth investing in some stable wraps (not bandages - purely cos the novelty wears off really really quickly). Just remember to compensate with your rugging as a full set of wraps roughly equates to 1 decent underrug.
 
Markie has very deep clefts. The first time I had him shod, my farrier said his backs were starting to get a bit soft, so, I scrubbed them with a very stiff brush, dried them and sprayed in hydrogen peroxide. Bought the peroxide in the chemist and diluted one part to 3 parts water. Second time farrier came, all was well and he's just been for the 3rd time and his frogs etc are rock solid.
Farrier recommended to always brush out the clefts with the stiffest brush you can manage, rather than the little ones that come on the back of the hoofpick, to help prevent reoccurances.
 
I look after a horse who suffered from Thrush when he first arrived with us. I treated it by picking out his feet regularly and making sure I kept the clefts either side of the foot as clean and dry as possible. I also kept his bed as clean as possible. I washed his feet out with warm water with diluted Hibiscrub in it and then sprayed the clefts of the frog with normal Iodine spray (purple spray) that is used to treat wounds. This was very effective and the Thrush had completely cleared up within a couple of weeks!
 
Copper Sulphate crystals, very cheap off ebay. Put them in a spray bottle then add warm water and give it a good shake. Spray every other day afetr picking out. Don't worry about the solution being too strong, in extreme cases, you can use the crystals directly on the hoof and pack with cotton wool
 
Clippy said:
Copper Sulphate crystals, very cheap off ebay. Put them in a spray bottle then add warm water and give it a good shake. Spray every other day afetr picking out. Don't worry about the solution being too strong, in extreme cases, you can use the crystals directly on the hoof and pack with cotton wool
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I've heard this works, how much copper sulphate to water ratio?
Ta.x
 
White socks and therefore white hooves are supposed to be softer
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*snort" what bloody nonsense. tell that to my ISH who did 20 miles over rough tracks today barefoot, and a lot at canter! That's an urban myth - they are all the same after the first couple of mm when you get past the water line!

My favourite Thush cure is simply a soak in Milton, or Tesco 54p equivalent, at 1:10. Always worked for my lads .
 
Yup, I've heard of using eucalyptus. You are only supposed to apply it once or twice a week and have to make sure the feet are completely dry beforehand. Bit of a pain, to be honest and I didn't really find it worked. Back to plain old peroxide for me!
 
Mine has had thrush once Farrier diagnosed and I syringed hydrogen peroxide for a few days religiously keeping the feet well picked and it worked. He never objected and just be careful not to get it on your clothes or anywhere else. I think I did put some canesten cream on as well? Syringe worked well so it got right in upside down!
 
@cyberhorse,i got the frog health from my local tack shop,but if u google it you can buy it online.
My filly had to so bad in one foot,she was lame ang had to stay in for 3 days while i poulticed,and ive managed to keep her on straw as long as i muck out thorouly every day through winter when in.i also moved her haynet into front corner over the concrete floor so she wouldnt be standing on her bed (if wet/soiled)
 
Hydrogen Peroxide solution, syringe, squirt, where it fizzes it is working, it is satisfying to watch. Any farrier I have ever had has recommended HP for thrush. Its cheap and simple to use too.
 
hydrogen peroxide is awful stuff!!!!

1:1 clotrimazole and antibacterial cream. Check Pete Rameys website.

However... WHY has your horse got thrush... that is the question.
 
OP, I have experienced this recently with my 18 year old Sammi. Like you, I read up on here various threads, and it became apparent that the majority of opinions were that although peroxide was effective against thrush, it killed off the good tissue too which was a huge invite for thrush to thrive once again.

Thrush is a fungal issue which needs addressing, so any treatments that you use will need to have anti-fungal properties (try not to confuse anti-fungal with anti-bacterial). A handy tip, first aid spray wise - the Mark Todd one, and the Barrier one are anti-fungal AND anti-bacterial. Purple spray and the Green Oil are JUST anti-bacterial.

I managed to clear up Sammi's thrush reasonably quickly. Initially I scrubbed his feet clean with plain water, and once clean and mud free, I applied salt water to all four frogs using cotton wool. I bunged the clefts and grooves with the cotton wool and poured the remainder of the salt water on them to soak. I left them for 5 minutes, removed the cotton wool, and left him to stand on dry clean concrete to allow his feet to air and dry out. Once dry, I sprayed terramycin spray (prescription only from vets) onto the frogs. 48 hours later, I repeated the same regime. Straight away I saw an improvement.

After that, I stirred clear of repeatedly unnecessarily 'wetting' his feet with the salt water. Instead, I picked his feet out, brushed excess mud off with the hoof pick brush, and sprayed with a first aid spray. I left him standing on concrete to air and dry off, before I sprayed a layer of 'Net-tex Hoofmaster with violet' on. I did this every few days, and dackered it off gradually.

Weeks later, my farrier came out to trim his feet, and parred his frog back which got rid of all of the dead tissue. Within an instant I could see that the regime I had been following had been effective, yey! :)

Now, once a week, I put Net-tex Hoofmaster spray on as a preventative measure, and also, I use the 'Barrier Fungicidal Hoof Oil' every few days. All of the products I used were effective, readily available and extremely cost effective.

Sorry for the essay, I hope it helps! Good luck! xx

ETA: My horse is barefoot, and he is turned out 24/7. Whilst I treated him, I still left him out 24/7. Be careful not to 'seal' thrush in, you need to let the air get to it to get it to clear up and dry out. I read that you should avoid hoof oils, vaseline, sudocrem, stock holme tar, as they all act as a barrier which does not breathe.
 
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My friend had been struggling with thrush in her horses hooves for a couple of months. She had tried everything and was becoming desperate as her horse was becoming difficult when picking out feet and was obviously uncomfortable. She is kept on a chippings which are mucked out daily so always has a clean dry bed.
Another friend told me she had used athletes foot powder/spray with good results on her horse. I shared this tip and hey presto it was like magic - thrush gone. frogs healthy and no more problems picking out feet - all within 5 days. I now keep a can of the athletes foot spray in the first aid kit just in case. It really works!
 
I had never encountered thrush so I thought, as farrier always said I would know when horse had it as the smell was dreadful. Horse has al ways had what I would describe as cheesey feet but not that bad. However new farrier said this was thrush so now I feel awful that Ive not done anything about itl
 
Triskar said:
We have a horse with terrible thrush in one of his feet that he's had since we got him three years ago. We've tried everything - iodine spray, keratex, fresh frog - you name it! and nothing seems to work for long - we can get rid of the smell, but the thrush itself is still there and it keeps coming back. We found reference to curing it on an American farriery site http://www.farrierart.com/thrush_solution.html by using copper sulphate held in place by a dental impression material, then a hoof pad and shod over it. My boy is unshod, but this foot is very boxy, which is why we can't shift the thrush. We are going to try the copper sulphate but use a hoof boot with a pad inside it over the impression material. We are waiting for the copper sulphate and impression material to arrive - I'll let you know how it progresses.
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My lad is a farrier and has used this on my horse it worked a treat
 
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