How good is blue spray (Terramycin) for thrush?

[Christmas Crumpet]

Horse has had a deep central sulcus on one hind foot for a while - I thought I was on top of it by using sole cleanse and blue spray and so stopped using blue spray after Christmas. I scrub feet clean every other day and spray with sole cleanse but since horse has been out in a field grazed by sheep, it has got much bigger and looks black and a bit nasty inside. I've tried using hoof stuff in the past but it doesn't stay in no matter how hard I try. There is no way I can soak his foot as he has a breakdown every time I try!!

So is using blue spray the right stuff? I think it worked well last time but I'm sure I've read it's not good somewhere or was that purple spray which isn't so effective. Horse has to go out every day as he tied up when he stayed in the yard for a cut foot so I won't keep him in again. Fields are very wet but his other feet seem OK.

 

[shortstuff99]

Is that the stuff they use for foot rot in sheep? If so yes it does work well and I used it on mine once cleared it up very nicely!

 

[HashRouge]

I have been using it for a horse who had quite bad thrush at Christmas, and hers has cleared up very nicely but I also started feeding a balancer designed for hoof health at the same time, so I'm not sure which has had the most impact.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

Great - will carry on using it. How often do you guys put it on?

I have just realised that I stopped feeding Pro Hoof about 3 weeks ago as horse is now on an anti tie up diet and I wasn't sure he'd eat all his new supplements as well as that so that may well have had an effect too. Will start feeding it again in the morning.

 

[HashRouge]

Yes I don't know how quick supplements take effect/ stop taking effect which is why I'm not sure what has caused my mare's thrush to improve. However, we haven't been using the spray that often (max twice a week) so maybe it's the supplement, I'm not sure! She has to have Formula4Feet as she won't eat any of the ones that usually get recommended on here - too fussy!

 

[shortstuff99]

I used to hibiscrub the foot and then spray it every day. Also iodine works really well too.

 

[MDB]

I find Field paste then cotton wool stuffed down the sulcus works a treat. Could not get Hoof Stuff to stay in either.

 

[Micropony]

I also used to hibiscrub daily and then apply blue spray - the proper sheep foot rot stuff you get from the vet, not the stuff you buy in tack shops, which isn't the same at all. Once it was under control, reduced to every other day, then every third day, then stopped altogether and just kept a close eye.

Have also successfully used hydrogen peroxide as a one-off treatment too in different circumstances, but I know that's considered very old fashioned these days and a bit harsh.

 

[debsflo]

Mine has a very deep cleft and the best thing to work is red horse field paste push right in to the cleft..in a matter of weeks looks great.

 

[Wagtail]

I always us it for thrush as it works much faster than other treatments I've used.

 

[Nudibranch]

In 25 years we never had a case of thrush until we started sharing grazing with sheep. Is there a proven link?
Anyway the sheep are still here but no more thrush... Pro Balance, plus the odd rinse in iodine or blast with decent purple spray keep it away effectively. When we had a case I would spray or iodine wash daily until it was gone, so might be the same for the terramycin.

 

[JanetGeorge]

I used to hibiscrub the foot and then spray it every day. Also iodine works really well too.

Ditto! The only thing I'd add is if it's extensive (which in this weather is likely) get the farrier to trim away the rubbish so you get at the problem.

And ideally stand them on concrete for 10 minutes while it soaks in.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

He lives in a clean concrete yard at night with access to his stable which has equinola bedding in but spends 99% of his time outside as his hay is out there so feet do get a chance to dry out and get some air whilst he's in. Will keep scrubbing clean when he comes in and use the blue spray. I got it from the vet so it should be the right stuff.

Thanks for all responses.

 

[nato]

If very bad then I use hydrogen peroxide but have only used it perhaps twice in a horse who is prone to thrush.

I maintain it by picking feet out every day, disinfecting once a week (drop of bleach mixed with lots of water in a spray bottle), clean and spray with stock tar.

Also get her seen to by farrier every 6 weeks religiously. He commented recently she has the best feet he has ever seen. And she is a grey

She was on biotin but it didn't really make a difference.

 

[laura_nash]

The blue spray does work very well, I've not heard any negatives about it. For infection in a deep groove / sulcus I use red horse artimud (can't get on with hoof stuff or field paste, but artimud is amazing stuff!).

I used to have masses of different lotions and potions for their hooves but basically just have these two (plus cleantrax for anything really bad) now.

 

[Gloi]

Works better than anything else I have ever used. I've used it for a long time but last year got a pony with horrendous thrush in one back foot and it cleared it up. It was also good because pony hadn't had a lot of handling did not want foot touching so it was easy to apply without a lot of faffing about. (Just grab leg, stick to and squirt!)

 

[paddy555]

I wonder if some of these problems are brought about by too much cleaning, washing and treating with products? I would just brush the foot out and then brush on iodine a couple of times daily for around 4 days and then stop.
Mine have the same wet muddy conditions on acidic ground as everyone else, some are ridden barefoot, some are pasture pets. I don't clean the feet out, I just let them pack with mud. Some feet don't get picked up even for a month or more and then only to trim.

When I finally clean one to trim and dig out the compacted mud after a couple of months the frogs are fine.
With this method so far this wet winter I have had 2 feet that I have used the iodine treatment on when there was one bad place on each. That is 2 out of 44 feet. The rest have been fine. I have tried the endlessly daily scrubbing/cleaning and treating but didn't find any advantage in it.

 

[Mike007]

I have yet to see anything that works better than stockholm tar

 

[wingedhorse]

I wonder if some of these problems are brought about by too much cleaning, washing and treating with products? I would just brush the foot out and then brush on iodine a couple of times daily for around 4 days and then stop.
Mine have the same wet muddy conditions on acidic ground as everyone else, some are ridden barefoot, some are pasture pets. I don't clean the feet out, I just let them pack with mud. Some feet don't get picked up even for a month or more and then only to trim.

When I finally clean one to trim and dig out the compacted mud after a couple of months the frogs are fine.
With this method so far this wet winter I have had 2 feet that I have used the iodine treatment on when there was one bad place on each. That is 2 out of 44 feet. The rest have been fine. I have tried the endlessly daily scrubbing/cleaning and treating but didn't find any advantage in it.

It is an interesting balance.

I’m turning out on wet clay, daytime.

I’ve found that spraying feet 4-5 times a week with 1:7 diluted iodine in a plant sprayer seems to make a big difference. Is relatively cheap, and easy.

I stop when ground is drier, and restart if feet smell.

I’d prefer benign neglect, but experience says that I need to manage wet feet on wet sodden clay.

And there are stones, and my horses are shod, so need feet picking out daily when come in, and in morning, not to take bedding across yard.

 

[nato]

I wonder if some of these problems are brought about by too much cleaning, washing and treating with products? I would just brush the foot out and then brush on iodine a couple of times daily for around 4 days and then stop.
Mine have the same wet muddy conditions on acidic ground as everyone else, some are ridden barefoot, some are pasture pets. I don't clean the feet out, I just let them pack with mud. Some feet don't get picked up even for a month or more and then only to trim.

When I finally clean one to trim and dig out the compacted mud after a couple of months the frogs are fine.
With this method so far this wet winter I have had 2 feet that I have used the iodine treatment on when there was one bad place on each. That is 2 out of 44 feet. The rest have been fine. I have tried the endlessly daily scrubbing/cleaning and treating but didn't find any advantage in it.

I think it's a bit different with barefoot vs shod horses when you talk about letting mud pack in. As my horse is prone to deep sulci I have to be careful to get the mud out of the areas around shoe in particular as they get stuck there and smell pretty bad. Having had horses who were shod in front but not behind, I find the mud packs a lot easier with a shoe than barefoot, so I have to manage more carefully.

 

[laura_nash]

I wonder if some of these problems are brought about by too much cleaning, washing and treating with products? I would just brush the foot out and then brush on iodine a couple of times daily for around 4 days and then stop. [...] I have tried the endlessly daily scrubbing/cleaning and treating but didn't find any advantage in it.

I think it is possible to clean and treat too much, but also I suspect the success of your method for you is down to a lot of other variables. IMO it depends so much on whether the horse is shod, whether they are stabled, what the turnout is like and whether they are a "rehab" (i.e. have poor feet, history of bad diet etc). I do the same now, I only pick their feet out to check them or trim them or after riding to check for foreign objects - often less than once a fortnight with the current weather. If I find a smelly bit (which is rare) then I clean it properly and spray with blue spray or pack with artimud and that's it. Very occasionally I do a cleantrax soak (when I first got pony, after horse was transported from England to Ireland). It works very well for my two now.

I don't think it would have been a successful strategy when I first got my boy and he was overweight, shod, stabled at night, fed mollassed chaff, and turned out on heavy clay in a relatively small individual paddock where he spent a fair amount of time stood at the gate or pacing in one corner waiting to come back in and get his dinner (so feet were not necessarily packed with mud so much as poo, even with poo-picking). Or later when I first took his shoes off and he was booted a lot of the time. He needed his feet picking out at least twice a day and thoroughly cleaning on an almost daily basis to keep on top of it then.

 

[paddy555]

And there are stones, and my horses are shod, so need feet picking out daily when come in, and in morning, not to take bedding across yard.

the thing about this is you clean the mud out in the evening, the mud generally does a lot less harm. Then the horse is stabled overnight and fills his feet up with dung however clean the bed is kept so he spends his night with mucky dung compacted in his feet.

Mine are stabled at night on rubber mats with small yards and out in a very muddy field (acidic river meadow which is not coping too well in this weather) in the daytime. All are unshod.
It seems to me to be a little like children. In the old days we all crawled around in the mud, ate anything and built up resistance and survived very healthily. Now it is anti bac at the ready. Do feet has less resistance to bugs if they are constantly cleaned on a daily basis?

 

[Magister]

Antibac or Eucalyptus oil work brilliantly and you only need a few drops

 

[cobgoblin]

I haven't found anything better than the Stockholm tar spray.

 

[Mike007]

I haven't found anything better than the Stockholm tar spray.

What?and miss out on the fun of all that black goop in a tub!

 

[cobgoblin]

What?and miss out on the fun of all that black goop in a tub!

Absolutely! Been covered it that stinky stuff too many times.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

Absolutely! Been covered it that stinky stuff too many times.

Am I the only person who likes the smell of it? :biggrin3:

Having been on many yards I think it often depends on the land. My horse who is prone to mud fever and thrush on some yards its worse than others. One place the dried mud that was brushed off daily took the hair and a layer of skin off too. He didn't go out much due to this but I struggled far more with thrush when he went out for a few days than when he was in. Other yards I've had no real problem with mud fever or thrush. I swear some land is just toxic.

I disagree with the leaving mud in to stop hoofs packed with poo theory, but accept it may depend on the bedding type. A huge shavings bed and the poo is burried before its trodden on, so not much goes in the hoofs and aubiose packs into the hoofs itself so no room for poo to be packed in there. Straw I find is not so good for thrush.

 

[Nudibranch]

I guess there are a lot of variables, but in my experience (over 30 years or so), getting the diet right seems to have been the number one factor in having non-thrushy horses. As a kid mine often had it, whether they were cleaned daily or left to pack mud. However 20-odd years later those same ponies were diagnosed with PPID/EMS and back in lush, green Wales they were probably a bit porky some of the time.

Now we know a lot more about the equine metabolism and have a wide choice of minerals and supplements. Coincidentally perhaps - but none of mine get thrush. The grazing here is "poor" in farming terms but rich in range of plant species. They all live out 24/7 and have low sugar, high fibre diets with appropriate minerals. Today was the first day I picked out hooves for a while as the farrier was here - not from laziness I add, more the bump getting in the way - and lovely healthy feet. Remember also that unshod horses will continually drop mud packs and replace it with fresh material whereas shod horses tend to retain the same muck for longer.

 

[khalino]

Someone used it once with good effects. I've got it t the moment, I'm just a little worried where to spray it...

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Horse has had a deep central sulcus on one hind foot for a while - I thought I was on top of it by using sole cleanse and blue spray and so stopped using blue spray after Christmas. I scrub feet clean every other day and spray with sole cleanse but since horse has been out in a field grazed by sheep, it has got much bigger and looks black and a bit nasty inside. I've tried using hoof stuff in the past but it doesn't stay in no matter how hard I try. There is no way I can soak his foot as he has a breakdown every time I try!!

So is using blue spray the right stuff? I think it worked well last time but I'm sure I've read it's not good somewhere or was that purple spray which isn't so effective. Horse has to go out every day as he tied up when he stayed in the yard for a cut foot so I won't keep him in again. Fields are very wet but his other feet seem OK.

Very good though I get http://www.msd-animal-health.co.uk/products_public/engemycin_spray/010_overview.aspx worked wonders on my horses