thrush?

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exracer superstar

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My horse is currently on box rest due to a tendon injury, she gets x2 15min walks a day and I've started noticing she's became footsore on some of the stony ground on our driveway. Due to this I have been checking for stones etc and noticed a smell in her feet so started treating for thrush just by regularly picking out and spraying hypocare onto the sole. Today I decided to scrub her hooves out let them dry and then put some hypocare on just as I wasn't noticing an improvement, when I scrubbed the top a sort of flap of frog came off to reveal a smelly white mushy hole in her frog so I disinfected it and went to the other side to find a smaller one one the other foot same place again. Am I right in thinking its thrush or should I be getting a farrier/brr involved. She isn't lame just clearly if a stone is touching this area it's uncomfortable. I've never experienced this problem with her before she normally has turnout but currently she's in bedded down other than for these two walks per day. Will head to the laptop to post a pic to see if anyone has any idea. Thanks :)
 
hopefully it will work for you to see, sorry if its huge



ETA: this isthe larger one of the two holes (one on each front frog) it goes down approximatly 0.3cm (3mm) and was like a chalky/cheesy smelly substance inside until cleaned out. The smaller one if not as deep maybe 1mm and she is not as sore. i have noticed the footsore episodes on the leg i haveposted the pic of. Like previously said never had a horse with thrush but no the basics to treating it. I have never seen anything like this so any advice is greatly appreciated, regarding treatment or ideas of what it may be if not thrush :o:o
 
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Can't see clearly but it doesn't look like a hole (as in deep) to me, more like the frog is shedding the outer layer. Thrush can be white...mycellia of fungus(?), the black goo is generally a mixture of dead fungus, bugs and tissue I think and what is seen on the surface. I have seen creamy/whiteish cotton wool like stuff deep in the cleft of a frog. Fungus and bacteria love it warm and dark it seems so it may have been under the frog shell growing away happily. I would treat anyway but the new frog (grey tissue) looks healthy underneath. Cleaning up a thrushy frog is sometimes helpful but generally routine cutting and shaping frogs stops the outer layers compacting and forming a protective barrier.

Mineral status has been anecdotally implicated in thrush(zinc and copper deficiency in particular) and I have definitely noticed a resistance to thrush in my lot after a period of feeding a good balancer, especially my laminitic pony.

I understand Red horse products are effective. Or, scrubbing with a weak milton solution or saline daily may well help as well. If no improvement try canestan cream and many find applying sudocrem after scrubbing when dry helps as well.
 
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I've been dealing with a severe and chronic case of thrush. Fortunately,for you, your horse is not so bad.

However, I must have tried virtually everything on the market including iodine, sugardene, saline, sudocrem, hypocare, honey, white vinegar etc, etc,. All were good but not good enough.

Finally, used Cleantrax to soak the feet which was brilliant. Now use Stockholm tar either painted on (in wet conditions) or sprayed on (dry conditions) and the frogs are now rock crunchingly healthy. The liquid or spray gets into all the cervices that thicker lotions can't easily reach.
 
Yes, imho a soak in cleantrax or similar is the best first line treatment for severe thrush. I don't believe this horse needs it though. If it's a recurrent problem then maybe along with addressing possible dietary imbalances.
Just my thoughts.
 
amandap said:
Yes, imho a soak in cleantrax or similar is the best first line treatment for severe thrush. I don't believe this horse needs it though. If it's a recurrent problem then maybe along with addressing possible dietary imbalances.
Just my thoughts.
Click to expand...

Agree with you there on both counts.
 
Amandap can u reccomend any supplements/ products to try regarding dietry requirements I know u said zinc and copper but is there a combined product I can buy? Thanks again
 
I feed the hoof health balancer from forage plus but many have good success with Pro hoof (progressive earth ebay) It also depends what you feed now. If you feed a balancer just switch over as you use it up. Forage plus ones have good levels of minerals and generally you wont need extra in feeds etc.
The best way is to have grass and hays tested and feed appropriately but often this isn't practical. The two I've mentioned are based on common deficiencies in UK forages. Perhaps start with the Pro hoof and see if it helps, it is cheaper than FP. These balancers are also iron free. Iron is generally widely available in forages and water and excess interferes with other mineral uptake. Most other balancers are based on a 'balance' of what horses are deemed to need not on common forage deficiencies and excesses.
The usual horse friendly low sugar, high fibre, avoid concentrates as far as possible diet also helps.
 
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I get on really well with NT dry powder. It's quite expensive when you realise that lots of it goes on the floor when you squirt it on, but its really effective and works very quickly.
 
Sallyfinn said:
I get on really well with NT dry powder. It's quite expensive when you realise that lots of it goes on the floor when you squirt it on, but its really effective and works very quickly.
Click to expand...

Tip it out into an air tight container and use a brush to apply it. If you need to get it into tight pockets you can use a cotton bud to push it in. This way you waste very little :)
 
Agree with Amandap, you will also find due to the box rest the frogs will have lost there use, subsequently any callusing that had managed to build up will be shed quite quickly thus the problem, You could talk to your vet about having the shoes off while the horse is resting as it will keep the frogs working better and help with circulation
 
I have tried taking the shoes off, she's now bare behind but had to reapply the shoes in front for some reason she just could not cope she wouldn't move off her bed I kept them off for two weeks and it was torture watching her. She's fed a fairly barefoot friendly diet from what I've read on here; fibrebeet, chaff, sugerbeet (switched to unmollased) micronized linseed and all cereals have been cut to prevent her tying up however when in work she recieves oats for energy and weight gain. N e way to cut a long story short the vet decided that although he's all for bare foot in this case it was detremental to her as she needed to begin walking out in order to help align the tendon fibres? Correct me there if im wrong but something along them lines n e way and as she was unable to walk ten feet we put the fronts back on for now. After my little ramble lol I have started to notice an improvement in the thrush and I have also ordered a supplement which should be with me friday so fingers crossed. Thanks again for everyone's help
 
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