Smelly Feet - not mine (horsey)

[FoxhillBelle]

My mare seems to have smelly feet, i pick her feet out every day, sometimes twice a day if riding etc.

Her field is very muddy/boggy due to the amount of rain we have had recently, could it be down to this?

She does suffer from Thrush every now & again.

My farrier is due on Weds (02/12) will ask him when he visits also, any ideas? She is not lame/no heat etc & seems fine in herself.

 

[Troylimbo1]

Sounds like thrush to me.
Do you have any purple spray?
If so get her out of the mud. Wash and dry her feet thoroughly then put the spray on and let it dry

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

Smelly feet generally = thrush!

Sorry, sucks, but thats the most common diagnosis. If you have purple spray, or whatever treatment you normally do, might be worth having a word with the vet to see how you can prevent it in this current muddy nasty situation!

 

[Cahill]

i have successfully treated mine with hydrogen peroxide from the chemist a couple of times a week(give a good scrub out with a washing-up brush) and am now using stockholm tar as a preventive.
have also used domestos too.dont trap the bacteria in with the tar,make sure it is all cleared up 1st., my boy is prone to thrush cos he has deep frogs.

 

[Mike007]

You wont trap bacteria in with stockholm tar. It is an amazingly powerful bactericide. In my opinion and experience, it leaves purple sprays standing.

 

[TheFarrier]

Antibac from Cecil Swan is a great product for clearing up and preventing thrush. Its very concentrated so use sparingly according to the lables and it costs around £15. You may need more than purple spray if the horse already has thrush.

 

[Theresa_F]

Salt water and Eucalyptus oil is great for scrubbing the feet - make sure you get the clefts really clean.

You can also use this product which is very good

http://www.red-horse.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=53&Itemid=70

I also use stockholm tar in winter or in summer the tar spray but only once I have cleaned the area up as it does really cover things up. It is great as a prevention but can be very messy - horrible if you get it in your hair.

If she has thrush the blue foot rot spray is excellent - far more effective than purple spray which is not that good for clearing thrush.

Finally some horses have smelly feet like people. My heavy horses do tend to be a bit horrible down there, and they don't have thrush, hence the oil and salt water or red horse stuff to keep them sweet. Cairo used to be sprayed with athletes foot spray as recommended by my vet to keep his feet from going like a ripe cheese.

 

[saalsk]

Both of mine are prone to thrush (they are barefoot). I pick their feet out twice daily, and scrub them daily with antibacterial stuff (sometimes iodine based, sometimes dettol etc) and then once they are clean and dry I spray them with Athletes Foot spray (Boots own brand - cheaper). This settles it down within a few days as the spray deals with the fungal infection itself. I then continue with the hoof picking and scrubing daily, and just use the spray if it comes back.

 

[fitzaud2]

Also, cider apple vinegar is good for it. I put it in their feed now, and spray it into their feet too.

I always assumed that smelly feet = thrush, but i had one horse in particular that always had smelly feet, and it wasn't thrush, turned out he had degenerative pedal bone disease, and his pedal bone had rotted in both front feet. He was lame most of the time, (just incase i'm scaring you). Not always worst case senario.

 

[FoxhillBelle]

Thanks everyone one for all your help, my farrier explained that my mare also has deep "clefts" (think this is what he said) at each side of the frog, which makes it harder to thoroughly clean the hoof when picking it out. Will see how we get on with your suggestions.

Thanks again