Talk to me about thrush please!

[Jo1987]

So friends horse has always suffered with thrush, she picks his feet and sprays with iodine every day on vets advice but there is no improvement.
It doesn't seem particularly worse when it's wet, in fact I've been looking after him this week, fields are totally dry but it seems worse than ever, I actually thought I'd found an abcess when I picked them out today as one hind was so wet. Central sulcus is VERY deep, I was quite shocked.
If my horse has a touch of thrush I put a little field paste in and it's fine in a couple of days, and he never has it when the weather is dry like this.

Could this be a symptom of something else or are there any other treatments that are tried and tested by you lovely lot?
Thanks for reading, I hope someone can help!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I don't bother with iodine, but the trusty Terramycin.
Farrier could poss well help out in rebalancing foot to encourage frog to grow. Get farrier to really examine feet.

I too would be baffled as ground round here is rocklike and dry.

 

[ester]

How long has she been actively trying to treat it? I would steer anyone in red horse direction, alternatively white lightening and cleantrax seem to get a good rep. Of course it is one of those things that you will get any number of suggestions for!

Is it definitely only thrush? there are some that seem to go with that diagnosis for ages then end up actually being canker, though your description of the sulcus suggests thrush only.
Shod? If not obviously not using the back of the hoof at all? any chance of other heel pain issues?

I would cleantrax soak, then sole cleanse and pack with hoof stuff daily and assess after a week.

It does depend a bit if it is bacterial or fungal (terramycin will work if the former). She might be able to make pete's goo if vet on side (antibiotic and antifungal cream essentially).

But I do think it depends if anything else is going on and how long she has been trying to improve it for.

 

[Cortez]

How old is the horse? Persistent infections are one of the symptoms of Cushing's disease.

 

[Jo1987]

Thanks for the replies, to my eye his feet look a little flat and 'under run'. Not drastically but not ideal - could this be contributing?
He always seems to have a little bit of thrush, she will spray with iodine when it gets bad but I'm not sure if it ever really clears it up?
She'd been spraying iodine for approx 10 days this time before she went away and I've had him since Monday - it hasn't improved in that time and I was really quite shocked at how deep the sulci are and how wet and black his hind feet are in particular. He has very deep grooves either side of his frog as well.
I have suggested the red horse field paste as that's what I use for mine to great effect but mine never has it so severely.
He is shod all round.
I know diet can be a factor but he only gets grass and hay - could he be deficient in something or other to be causing this?
It's very odd as my horse lives in the same environment, same diet, even has the same farrier and very rarely has any thrush, and certainly not at this time of year!
Cortez - he's 12

 

[ester]

some do seem to get it in reaction to too much grass. you can poke the hoof stuff in better than you probably can the field paste. It does sound like it might be a general hoof confo issue currently as much as a current infection. It also no good her never really clearing it/him always having a little bit. Given the sound of his feet it sounds like she needs to be treating regularly as a preventative measure anyway.

I'd stand by the cleantrax one off then sole cleanse and hoof stuff once a day for a week and review.

 

[Jo1987]

Thanks ester, yes that sounds a good plan of action, hopefully that will get on top of it then it will just be a case of preventative measures!
She is going to have a chat with farrier as well to see if anything can be done to help in that respect.
Thanks all 😊

 

[MotherOfChickens]

if its persistent than personally I found that the red horse stuff didn't totally deal with it. 1% povidine iodine scrub for 5mins (I use a small washing up brush), then terramycin spray. 2 or 3 times a week initially then once a week. I faffed around with all sorts as my horse came over with terrible thrush-it did improve a lot but would reoccur in wet weather or good grass-this finally seemed to knock it on the head.

 

[Jo1987]

Thanks MOC - is Terramycin available over the counter or only from the vet?

 

[ester]

vet only as it is antibiotic.

 

[MissTyc]

I'm another Cleantrax fan, but you really do need to do it properly, which means a full 45 minute soak per foot!

Thereafter, the terramycin spray to keep it at bay.

 

[Micropony]

I am guessing there is a reason nobody seems to use hydrogen peroxide any more? I don't have much experience with thrush but my last horse once got a bout after a period of cold hosing and box rest in hot weather. My YO, who is a very experienced horseman if a bit old school in some respects, advised a single application of hydrogen peroxide, and that did the trick. I do know it's quite harsh and I guess you wouldn't want to be using it often if the thrush was going to keep recurring due to an ongoing foot conformation issue, just curious why nobody has suggested it?

 

[ester]

Mostly because it can damage the tissue too, something which cleantrax avoids.

 

[Micropony]

Ah thank you Ester, I knew someone would be along with an answer!

 

[WelshD]

Its worth looking at the feed as one particular type of feed (specific brand and variant) gave my ponies really awful thrush - not something I expected given the cost of that brand

I'm of the mentality that with any sort of first aid 'if its damp keep it dry if its dry keep it damp' and that seems to steer me ok therefore I treated the last outbreak of thrush with diatom powder which did a good job

 

[Nudibranch]

10% povidine iodine works a treat but I don't know if it's available in shops. Your vet will have it. If it's an iodine spray it probably isn't strong enough. Otherwise Cleantrax, as it sounds quite a bad case. Reduce sugars and up the minerals, and as mentioned already consider metabolic issues.