Super-hairy cob and thrush - advice?

[kathantoinette]

A couple of posts here mention hydrogen peroxide, where can I buy this from? And do I spray it, or brush it on?

You can get Hydrogen Peroxide from most (large) chemists. It comes in a bottle and is about £1.60 per bottle for about 100ml I think.

Wear gloves - pick your hoof out and then tip or syringe a tiny amount onto the foot. You'll hear a fizzing noise. When the thrush was bad I did it a couple of times a week. I have thought about slightly diluting it and putting in a spray bottle, for easier application, but not tried that yet.

I've done it for years on my cob and mentioned to the vet thats what I do and have had no negative comments from them.

 

[coloured_c0b]

My cob had bad thrush when I first bought him. And the advice from my farrier was to just pick his feet twice a day and scrub with a hard brush to get all the muck out. Do not use purple spray as its keeps the feet moist Allowing the bacteria to thrive. Best thing you can do is keep them clean and dry. Myself personally would not use hydrogen peroxide, it's a very harsh chemical and could do more harm to the hoof than good. I know people who do use it but it wouldn't be my first choice. I'd chat to your farrier if your really worried but the bacteria hate clean and dry environment, love wet and moist!!! Using the advice of my farrier it cleared within a month.

 

[jennyf]

I keep my two hairy cobs out 24/7 and the thrush has been worse this year. I think it's because we haven't had the hard dry frosty weather, it's just been wet and mild. The frost hardens the ground and keeps the mud at bay for a few days - the frost also zaps the thrush and cleans the feet - snow is even better! When we had days of snow last year my horses never had such good clean frogs.

I use the Red Horse products as recommended by my EP and I use Pig oil and Sulphur mix on the feathers - cleans the feathers and keeps the mud at bay.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Here she is in all her feathered glory...

And this one prompted my friend to describe her as "a bit emo"

We have her twin!

Actually ours is 30 now, so doesn't look quite like that but she certainly did in her prime and her markings are very similar, as is her expression.

We use tea-tree oil for thrush. It dries up anything it comes into contact with and is anti-bacterial.

We keep our feather intact, as we find that it protects the legs/heels.

 

[dogcalleddill]

Thanks again all for your advice! I like the idea of picking out in short bursts - this is what I've been doing and she's definitely happier if I pick out, then dry, then spray in separate rounds. Current treatment is Frog Health, but only been using it a few days. If this doesn't work I then have the Silverfeet, then I'll move on to hydrogen peroxide!

I also had a chat with a farrier last week and when I told him about the deep clefts in her frogs he suggested syringing with warm salt water then applying wound powder as it's dry. Anyone tried that?

As an aside, yesterday at lunch I wondered why a neighbouring table were listening with such horrified and attentive silence to my conversation. I then realised I'd been discussing the dreaded thrush with my friend. How have you been treating it, she asked. "Picking, scraping, washing, drying and spraying with antibacterial spray" I replied. "If that doesn't work I'm going to try hydrogen peroxide"

 

[Sparkles]

She looks very similar to our girly too!