Seedy Toe

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loisb501

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Needing some help/ recomendations.

My mare has a bit of seedy toe in her hind hoof, she is only shod in front.

farrier was up today and dug it out for me, gave it a spray and packed it with cotton wool.

What do i do now?! I have looked through the previous threads on this and the red horse products seem to be highly reccomended, went onto the website but what products are best for seedy toe?

Any help would be appreciated
:)
 
loisb501 said:
Needing some help/ recomendations.

My mare has a bit of seedy toe in her hind hoof, she is only shod in front.

farrier was up today and dug it out for me, gave it a spray and packed it with cotton wool.

What do i do now?! I have looked through the previous threads on this and the red horse products seem to be highly reccomended, went onto the website but what products are best for seedy toe?

Any help would be appreciated
:)
Click to expand...

You need a two pronged approach to seedy toe.

Seedy toe is basically an infection to the white line (which is the visible end of the epidermal laminae)

SolarConcavity.jpg


A healthy white line (as seen above) is tight and so resistant to stones or pathogens. The laminae is healthy, so must the white line be.

If the white line is infected, it is usually because it is stretched and weak and open to pathogens. So in turn - the laminae is stretched.

lamellarwedge.jpg


It is advisable (especially coming into the spring) to view seedy toe as a warning and take the opportunity to review the diet and consider if there is anything else at play (obesity/metabolic disease/gastric ulcers/lush grass sneaking up/dodgy mineral balance in the forage).

Cutting away tissue to expose the pathogens to the air and using topical treatments is damage limitation for an existing infection - but it wont prevent it coming back if the hoof is not healthy overall.

Treating topically - you want something that is anti bacterial AND anti fungal but that doesn't harm living tissue.

You can use Red Horse's Field paste or smother into any cracks the ArtiMud.

I have used Sudocrem both smothered and packing for stubborn thrush in the past.

If you have seedy toe that is difficult to get to via creams, you can soak the hoof with 50/50 apple cider vinegar and water, hydrogen peroxide (diluted according to strength), Cleantrax, Milton, White Lightening
http://www.equinepodiatrysupplies.co.uk/Hoof-Treatments

There isn't one magical treatment - they're all pretty much as good as each other :)
 
Thanks for all the great advice :)

Oberon- re her diet ATM she gets a handful of speedibeet soaked, a large scoop of the molasses free Alfa Alfa and half a scoop of pony nuts. In with that she gets half a cup of micronised linseed and a little bit of magox? Could have it been brought on by the fields being so wet and upping her roadwork?

Off work today so off to the tack shop to buy supplies!
 
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Did you just put it on after cleaning the area?

Or did you cover it once you had applied it? I can't keep her in so need to keep her out during the day then she is in overnight?

Ordering some now

:)
 
loisb501 said:
Thanks for all the great advice :)

Oberon- re her diet ATM she gets a handful of speedibeet soaked, a large scoop of the molasses free Alfa Alfa and half a scoop of pony nuts. In with that she gets half a cup of micronised linseed and a little bit of magox? Could have it been brought on by the fields being so wet and upping her roadwork?

Off work today so off to the tack shop to buy supplies!
Click to expand...

That certainly seems a sensible diet. I wonder if she is overweight at all?

I can only suggest that some horses don't gel well with alfalfa, especially if there is something metabolic going on.

For the white line to be infected, it needs to be stretched from the top. The wet conditions will breed infection but the original problem didn't start at the bottom - it started at the laminae at the top.

There are some schools of thought that suggest movement and work can lever a stretched laminae even further away - but I don't believe that is likely.

In your case, I would work her like a dog :o You never find an endurance horse with seedy toe ;).
 
Yip another vote for Milton. I tubbed my horses feet with it, diluted but stronger than a baby and then sprayed Bactakill 55, recommended by farier cleared it up in a couple of weeks. To prevent it from coming back I just clean feet with Milton once a week and spray the bactakill over the nail holes 3 times a week after hosing from the field.
 
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