atha16
New User
Does thrush hurt the horse and how do you know if it does?
Thrush
- Thread starter atha16
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Beausmate
Well-Known Member
It certainly can hurt. With some horses it is just shorter striding, being more careful over stones and a tendency to land toe first. Some can be very lame with it indeed.
unicornystar
Well-Known Member
It can be very sore yes. I tend to find my chap gets very fidgety and not as keen to assist on me picking his hooves when he has thrush. I have found the best product by far is the hoof spray that Red Horse Products do which is not as "caustic" as bleach and doesn't damage the good tissue.
atha16
New User
Ok. I have some trouble getting him to lift his feet and doesnt like me picking his hooves either. Perhaps he is afraid that I touch his frog where the thrush is.
So it could very likely be that he has sore hooves. Damb! Wish I could do something about it in the near future.
So it could very likely be that he has sore hooves. Damb! Wish I could do something about it in the near future.
Damnation
Well-Known Member
Yes thrush can cause a horse to be very sore indeed, especially untreated. I suppose it would be like having athletes foot but you can't scratch it.
I knew one lady who swore by Canistern Duo for thrush, just the cream though. Her attitude was "Thrush is thrush!" and it seemed to work quite well. The vet can usually give you some good advice and some good spray to use to help.
Ensuring that your horse's bedding is clean and dry, and feet are picked out daily is usually a good starting point to treat it.
I knew one lady who swore by Canistern Duo for thrush, just the cream though. Her attitude was "Thrush is thrush!" and it seemed to work quite well. The vet can usually give you some good advice and some good spray to use to help.
Ensuring that your horse's bedding is clean and dry, and feet are picked out daily is usually a good starting point to treat it.
atha16
New User
That is the big problem. It is impossible to keep the bedding clean where he is now.
Becks01
Well-Known Member
Hi there - it can make them so very sore yes...and lame. My horse got progressively more sore and very pronounced toe landing...It turned out that him being shod had masked the worst of the thrush...so we started our barefoot journey! The thrust improved very quickly after removing the shoes and treating (though I'd say he is 'prone') but the effects of the change of gait etc... and the toe landing meant he needed physio, as his shoulder had got so stiff from compensating. I also recommend the red horse products. I follow some of the barefoot pages on Facebook and one recently showed a photo from a cadaver foot where the horse had suffered with bad thrush - it was absolutely shocking how deep it went and what affect it had on the foot overall.
Damnation
Well-Known Member
May I ask why OP? Unless your horse has somewhere he can go where his feet can dry out in a clean environment, you will struggle to remove thrush and keep it at bay.