Products for smelly frogs/hooves

fredflop

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 August 2014
Messages
963
Visit site
My horse is barefoot and out 24/7. Obviously this time of year there is going to be mud etc collecting in the soles.

I pick her feet out every day, but they do seem to be a bit smelly.

Looking for advice on what sort of products I could use to help sort this.

I’ve tried hoof clay before, and I won’t use it again, it was far too messy and didn’t stick
 

JillA

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 May 2007
Messages
8,166
Location
Shropshire
Visit site
When Pete Ramey did his clinic in August he said every horse whose feet he looked at had thrush oor similar fungal infection - so I would be getting a fungicide and applying it regularly
 

paddy555

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 December 2010
Messages
12,538
Visit site
a vote for iodine but I think success probably comes more from the scrubbing rather than just painting on any product.. I use old toothbrushes which are the perfect shape to scrub iodine into the central sulchus. I am looking for a better brush so a washing up brush may be better.
 

hopscotch bandit

Well-Known Member
Joined
2 February 2017
Messages
2,872
Visit site
a vote for iodine but I think success probably comes more from the scrubbing rather than just painting on any product.. I use old toothbrushes which are the perfect shape to scrub iodine into the central sulchus. I am looking for a better brush so a washing up brush may be better.
Iodine is very good. So too is alcohol mouthwash. Litsterine has high concentrate of alcohol but you can buy mouthwash for less that a pound that has alcohol in it, just read the label. I just pour over the frog and sole. This was recommended to me by a very good farrier.
 

paddy555

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 December 2010
Messages
12,538
Visit site
Iodine used very regularly will destroy the tissues. Red Horse products are very good, particularly the sole cleanse which has eucalyptus oil in it - does a better job and doesn't eat away at the soft tissue.

i have used iodine for years and never had a problem however I am only using it to solve a problem not forever. I have had no success with most red horse products. They achieved nothing in resolving infection or preventing it. The only one I found effective was hoof stuff but you do need a deep enough hole to stuff it into.
 

holeymoley

Well-Known Member
Joined
18 November 2012
Messages
4,325
Visit site
Dettol neat.

I’ve used backtakil(not a fan feel it kills good tissue too) and red horse products. They were good but just didn’t curb it completely. Mine had central sulcus thrush in one frog and I was advised iodine by farrier. I couldn’t get hold of any at the time so decided just to try neat dettol(better than nothing?) and it’s doing the trick really nicely. Farrier is happy to continue with it.
 

laura_nash

Well-Known Member
Joined
17 July 2008
Messages
2,364
Location
Ireland
towercottage.weebly.com
I like the sheep foot rot spray from the farm stores. Cheap and effective.

Same here, basic "hoof spray" from the farm store. They call it sheep foot rot spray, but it is actually for sheep, cows and horses on the packaging. I use that as my "maintenance" spray every fortnight or so.

I also use Artimud from Red Horse for central sulcus etc if anything has got a bit smelly as I find that really stays put and does the job even in mud and bog.
 

Casey76

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 July 2011
Messages
3,651
Location
North East, UK
Visit site
If you have chronic thrush, then it is often a dietary issue, as thrush will only get a deep hold on unhealthy tissue.

Sudocrem mixed with athletes foot cream applied with a dental irrigation syringe, then overpacked with cotton gauze (helps to keep the cream in place and mud out) helps, but it needs to be done regularly (daily) and for a few days after the infection has apparently disappeared.

For regular maintenance, RH sole cleanse is great.
 

MotherOfChickens

MotherDucker
Joined
3 May 2007
Messages
16,641
Location
Weathertop
Visit site
Iodine will not destroy the tissues. That's straight from the mouth of my OH, who is a surgeon and uses the exact same stuff I do to swab human skin. Myth I'm afraid.

agreed. actually the zinc oxide present in so many topical solutions may have more of an effect on tissues if I remember the research correctly-not that I think its much more a cause for concern than the iodine.
 

Cortez

Tough but Fair
Joined
17 January 2009
Messages
15,148
Location
Ireland
Visit site
Iodine will not destroy the tissues. That's straight from the mouth of my OH, who is a surgeon and uses the exact same stuff I do to swab human skin. Myth I'm afraid.

It won't do any harm if used once or twice, but strong iodine (not the dilute stuff used for swabbing), used daily for several weeks, has removed most of the skin from my hands, and from the heels of the horse that I was tasked with treating. This was many years ago, and I haven't used it in the concentration recommended then since. It also didn't work on the thrush.
 

MotherOfChickens

MotherDucker
Joined
3 May 2007
Messages
16,641
Location
Weathertop
Visit site
It won't do any harm if used once or twice, but strong iodine (not the dilute stuff used for swabbing), used daily for several weeks, has removed most of the skin from my hands, and from the heels of the horse that I was tasked with treating. This was many years ago, and I haven't used it in the concentration recommended then since. It also didn't work on the thrush.

it shouldnt be used neat and certainly I'd not personally use it at 10% either. Povidine-iodine is used for preparing sterile surgical sites so used appropriately (ie over a period of a 5+ minute scrub) it will work and does work on thrush. Individuals may of course react to it-as some will react to hibiscrub etc. My luso came over with bad thrush, he was footy with it, nothing touched it from RH, NT Dry, sudocreme etc until I started the iodine scrub routine followed by foot rot spray-it was done daily for a week, then weekly as a preventative as I share grazing with sheep. I still use it on different ponies as a precaution-with horses that mostly live out 24/7 its always going to be an issue in this climate.
 
Top