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Trush

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I know a horse that has chronic thrush, her stable is kept clean, the field is ok, little muddy round the gate but otherwise dry. She has her feet picked out every day, scrubbed with saline and iodine sprayed, why wont it go away? When I say chronic I mean on and off for the last two years. Her frogs are disintegrating and horrible and gooey. The vet doesnt seem to know what to do they just keep saying clean them.

critterkeeper Sun, 05/17/2009 - 13:53

Has the hoof been cultured to ensure that it is thrush and not something else going on? Other than that, I don't know what to tell you. :-??

accphotography Sun, 05/17/2009 - 14:12

One of the biggest culprits of chronic thrush is an improper trim. It would be a good idea to talk to the current hoof care provider, or possibly consider using another.

lillith Mon, 05/18/2009 - 03:58

I was worried that would be the answer, farrier is a friend of the family who own her and his wife keeps a horse on the same yard but I am very unimpressed.

I'm not quite completely convinced by the barefoot concept for ALL horses but even a shod horse should not have enough heel between the sole and the shoe that I can get two fingers in. Her sole is so thick with dead stuff I managed to accidentaly flake off a chunk about 1/2 a cm thick when I was picking out her feet and it still didnt look like it had gone all the way down. I'm wondering how I can get through that the shoeing might be the issue.

The mare is somewhat contacted behind so she tends to walk a little on her toe but thats no reason for all her heels to be that long.

lipigirl Mon, 05/18/2009 - 05:27

I had some amazing stuff for my Lipi will try and see what he had and post back.

Morgan Mon, 05/18/2009 - 11:50

2 fingers is rather high, if it was barefoot I would suspect the thrush may actually be a culprit in the contraction and the toe walking (and hence the high heels). but with shod there is also chance that the high heels are causing the thrush (which would cause the toe walking and that will cause contraction). You could try at least to manage the infection itself with somthing that will kill the thrush but not live tissue (no bleach!!). Also since you could flake dead sole out go ahead and do that. Scrape it with a screwdriver, you cant penetrate live sole, you may be able to scrape off the looser of the frog gunk as well and scrub it fiercely with a stiff brush (even wire) soap and water. Live horn is very tough, you wont hurt it, it's designed for much worse abuse. The dead stuff however will come off.
I have had a cow mastitis medication recommended to me for deep thrush between the bulbs, its called Tomorrow, perhaps you can find something similar. You can also soak regularly in vinegar to change the PH. If you can also try to make the main loafing area with something loose and dry and loose like coarse sand, to suport the foot and help keep the frog clean and dry. The shoes will be a bit of an obsacle, mud packs tend to stay in quite well unless they are jarred out or picked, where in barefoot they pop out more frequently and replace with clean dirt. So you will need to pick the feet frequently.

accphotography Mon, 05/18/2009 - 14:39

[quote="lillith"]I was worried that would be the answer, farrier is a friend of the family who own her and his wife keeps a horse on the same yard but I am very unimpressed.

I'm not quite completely convinced by the barefoot concept for ALL horses but even a shod horse should not have enough heel between the sole and the shoe that I can get two fingers in. Her sole is so thick with dead stuff I managed to accidentaly flake off a chunk about 1/2 a cm thick when I was picking out her feet and it still didnt look like it had gone all the way down. I'm wondering how I can get through that the shoeing might be the issue.

The mare is somewhat contacted behind so she tends to walk a little on her toe but thats no reason for all her heels to be that long.[/quote]

Yikes. I understand your feeling about "shoeing is not always bad". In most cases I disagree with that (except in extremes), however I understand. However... BAD shoeing is far worse than... well, anything.

Is it possible, you think, to just talk to the farrier and discuss the concerns? Sadly, I find most often that does not work, but since there isn't much other option in this, I'd try it. Maybe they could talk to him about going barefoot for a while. I bet her contracted heels would relax alot (and solve alot of problems) if she did go barefoot. I also suspect he'd trim her a bit differently if he weren't putting a shoe on her after. Just a thought.

lillith Tue, 05/19/2009 - 07:24

Im at uni and its a friends horse kept at her home a fair way away. I dont want to upset her by saying that the farrier is frankly poo and the other two may not have thrush but look pretty poor to me. I obviously cant be picking out her feet from here, I visited them for a week and helped out with her. The friends mum looks after the horses and she is very gently gently because the mare flinches when you dig too deep with the pick but it doesnt get the gunk out properly. The frog is ending up gooey-stringy and white in places. Dont realy know how else to describe it and it smells thrushy and that was the vets diagnosis. Unfortunately i suggested barefoot and the mum passed the idea on but the farrier vetoed saying the mare was sure to step on a nail if she had no shoes because she was clumsy. He seems quite overbearing from what I've heared and has them convinced she 'just has bad feet' which i dont agree with, the minimal flaring with walls that long says she has d*mn tough feet to me.

I was just wondering if anyone had any advice as to how to say 'your farrier's poo change and the hooves will improve' without being nasty about a family friend. The vet and the farriers down there are very my bit your bit rather than communicating so the vet wont criticize the trim.

Dilutes Tue, 05/19/2009 - 09:06

Could you google to find any information backing your idea to try barefoot for awhile? Try some barefoot trimming sites, copy the relevant links and send them on as information they may find interesting.

When I trim my horses (I have my horses barefoot as it's my preference)I brush around Listerine mouth wash when I finish triming to prevent fungal conditions. Even in the extreme wet, (Lots of rain for months) when we lived up north, my horses never got any thrush.

lillith Wed, 05/20/2009 - 05:54

I'll pass that one on, thanks. I'm kinds venting a bit cos it irritates me that the mare was allowed to get in that condition, the owners are well meaning but very 'farrier knows best' so they wont questioln him.

The links are a good idea, i'll see what I can do with that, i just really dont want to come the 'you are cruel' on them because they really do care about their horses this one just needs more that their farrier can do.