Smelly feet

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Chestnut mare

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My mare is suffering from thrush she is out 24/7 at the moment. I was wondering what owners have found the most effective treatment? I've used hydrogen peroxide in the past but someone else suggested Stockholm tar.
 
Was chatting to my farrier about it today and he said HP is good but only use it every so often and not as regular treatment as it flushes everything out but if used too often it can erode into healthy tissue. So he said to use Extra strong Iodine (agricultural strength), normal strength no good!
 
Scrub them out well with some hibiscrub and make sure they are nice and clean then put some purple spray on :) And if possible keep them dry for a couple of days to help, but if that isn't possible it isn't essential :p
 
My experience is there is no single answer that suits every horse and, just as importantly, the horses 'living' conditions. There's always an element of trial and error until you learn a regime that works for you and your animal and which controls both bacterial infection and fungicidal. You can increase one by treating the other incorrectly. To start with you need to get rid of dirt traps e.g. bits of frog that's doing nothing but trapping in dirt. Then clean thoroughly with e.g. Hydrogen Peroxide but personally I wouldn't use that every time as it simply kills things including new tissue so once you've gotten rid of the immediate gungy stuff then you need something that won't harm the new tissue and accelerate fungus growth. Bacteria is smelly but fungus growth is the one that slews the rear of the frog and bites into the central sulcus creating a tender area which is very difficult to get rid of. Personally, again, I'm not keen on oils or tars as they are a barrier so one needs to remember they trap the bad in as well as keep things out. But if you’ve' cleaned the hoof thoroughly and damp pasture is your problem for exacerbating the infection/fungus then oils may well be very good providing you only apply them once the hoof has been cleaned and treated with anti bacterial/fungicide stuff. Tar easily separates from the surface and lets in moisture which then breeds in the small gaps. Please remember that dirt/bacteria etc. sticks to oily stuff so if you do use oil then you need to clean and disinfect even more regularly. Use a variety of treatments - smelly and gungy then heavier on the anti bacterial - not smelly but wasting away then heavier on the anti fungicidal. Salt water is great, vinegar, milton sterilising fluid for a good scrub, hibiscrub, ant fungicidal hoof oil, sudo cream in cracks, etc. Just keep in mind what you are treating on any given day given the land conditions (dry, wet, muddy etc.) at the time and keep your armoury varied and flexible. Lastly I’d say don’t oil/treat the outer hoof walls (other than cracks) – the hoof is designed to breathe and if nature isn’t taking its course there then look to the diet and if you treat the top of the hoof then think of it as what happens to your hands when you wash up too often (flaky, scaly, dry, cracked nails?)
 
What Nala said!

Couldn't agree more. Been battling the horrid thing for nearly a year now, and am only just (fingers crossed, touch wood etc etc) getting on top of it.

Had fantastic results recently using a product called Clean Trax and have followed this up by hibiscrubbing every day and applying a product called Antibac twice a week.

It can be a long haul to get completely rid of the infection. :(
 
We've been fighting thrush as well. The best treatment I've come across is Life Data hoof disinfectant scrubbed well into a cleaned hoof. This sorted the thrush and now when a black patch starts to appear, a good spray with Nettex hoof master sorts it out.
 
Really glad you aksed this as i am battling with smelly feet at the mo too (i mean my mares smelly feet....not mine!! (they are another story lol) )
She is not out on muddy/wet ground but has really smelly feet at the mo so i have been purple spraying them.....but it doesnt seem to be making alot of difference.
Had mixed opinions on hydrogen peroxide so was thinking about hibiscrubbing and then purple spraying.


On that note........does anyone have any tips for getting purple spray stains off of skin......my arms are covered in purple splodges and its sister in laws wedding tomorrow morning :-O
still at least my dress is purple so it matches!
 
Sorry I can't remember what it's called but it's the stuff you spray on cattle/sheep's feet, no idea how we got onto the subject my my vet was on about it, says it's cheaper and does the job the best, although vets will try to sell the more expensive product which is meant for horses.
 
Baileyhoss said:
Hi Nikki, it would help rinse off the mud on the outside of the hoof and soften the muck that's in it, but it won't do instead of getting in and scrubbing and picking out the little bits of dirt and gravel, especially if you have a shoe on, you are going to have to scrape out any muck deep in the hole or caught between the shoe and the affected area.

F
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Yes. My horse had thrush quite badly earlier in the year when it was very wet/muddy and there was a fair amount of damage to the frog.

My farrier recommended picking the feet out very thoroughly twice a day before treating. I did this with a regular hoof pick to get most of the dirt out and then did fine picking using a farriers nail by dragging it carefully at a 45 degree angle around the frog. (Farriers recommendation). The feet need to be as clean as possible before applying any treatment.

I had been using over the counter purple spray but this was not enough on this occasion and I used an oxytetracycline (antibiotic) spray from vet. This soon knocked it on the head.

I've used dilute hydrogen peroxide to treat mild thrush but I would not recommend using it too frequently as it can damage healthy tissue.

There is a product called Cut Hoof Hoof Heal which I've found very good for a variety of hoof problems including thrush. It seems to have good staying power, is deodourizing and does seem to knock minor thrush on the head very quickly.

Some people use sugardine to treat thrush which is Betadine (povidone-iodine) surgical scrub and white sugar mixed to form a paste. Personally I've not tried this but when my horse had bad thrush I did scrub the hoof with Betadine, allow to dry and then apply spray. If thrush is quite bad it might be beneficial to stable for a time to give treatment a chance to work but I didn't in my case.
 
My farrier cleans the hoof with hibiscrub then gets cotton wool soaked in eucalyptus and tea tree oil then packs it down the side of the frog with an instrument similar to a human metal nail file (i.e. thin and pointy!). It stays in for a couple of days by which time its cleared up.
Worked for my boy.
 
Kenzo said:
Sorry I can't remember what it's called but it's the stuff you spray on cattle/sheep's feet, no idea how we got onto the subject my my vet was on about it, says it's cheaper and does the job the best, although vets will try to sell the more expensive product which is meant for horses.
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Footmaster it's called :)
 
I scrub with Milton. Allow to dry then apply Red Horse Sole cleanse. It's quite thick so you can paint it on and it hangs around for a while. I use this approx once a week now as a preventative.
 
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