Smelly feet...

[HAYLEY GITTOES]

Please help...

My mares feet smell if I dont wash them every other night.

She lives out all Winter and has the mud washed of every night, in the summer they are hosed evert other night and there is a ford which i ride through wuite regulary, i never use hoof oil as the blacksmith told me not to, but they are a bit smelly.

She is not in the stable and i she does it is clean.

Is it Thrush that she has?

I did put some ointment on (stockhome tar) and that worked, for the few days i was using it, but someone told me not to always use it as it has the oposite effect.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thank you

[CarolineR]

My Charlie also has smelly front feet when the ground is wet, and yes it is thrush, I use watered down iodine (on wet cotton wool pads) and push into the crevices between the frog and foot leave for a few moments and remove.

I repeat a couple of times a week and this seems to prevent the problem.

Hope this helps, it would appear that some horses are more prone than others, as our TB who is on the same routine and paddock has no problems at all.

[cvb]

maybe the bacteria are up in the nooks and crannies and not getting killed by the stockholm tar and washing that you currently do.

I seem to remember you can treat with a mild acid (hydrogen peroxide ? ike you bleach hair with ?) but check a textbook or with vet/farrier to make sure !! Then you can hold the foot and pour it so it flows into all the gaps, hopefully getting those nasty little bacteria.

[cvb]

also Epsom salts or just a concentrated salt solution ?

Most people do a little salt to a lot of water. But for it really to disinfect you need a lot of salt, so that no more will dissolve.

[HAYLEY GITTOES]

I will give the salts ago, it sounds like a good idea,I will get some and give it a go.

Thanks

[Mehitabel]

hydrogen peroxide works because it foams up, and takes oxygen with the foam into all the little nooks and crannies of the hoof, and the thrush bacteria can't live in oxygenated areas, which is why they get thrush in the bits of the hoof that don't get any air to them.

[floppy]

can anyone explain what thrush smells like? silly question i know but ...

[Mehitabel]

it just STINKS! it'll make you gag and want to be sick. it's kind of rotten smelling.

[floppy]

ok thankyou :)

[maverick927]

Be careful about washing you horse feet so much, esp. when you also go in a ford. My farrier says that too much water softens the feet, (like it does to your hands in the bath) and this makes them more vunerable to infections, cuts etc. I find hoof oil excellent and use it everyday with no problems and i also feed biotin plus which has helped keep my pony's feet in shape.

[virtuallyhorses]

as a preventative measure - you can get hoof oils and preparations that include anti-fungal components, iodine is fairly common, but lavender\manuka in natural products etc.

Straight iodine from a squirter is very good, as you can hold the hooof for a few moments and ensure the solution seeps into all the crevices and a bleach mix makes a good 'scrubber' solution - but the time taken for the treatment to be effective is usually dependent upon the area that is affected and how often you can clean it out.

[Wally]

50/50 toilet bleach & water, iodine solution, purple sheep footrot spray. Anything like this will sort it.

Just make sure the farrier cuts away any feathery frog so the nnoks and crannies are fewer for the rot to set in.

Don't worry too much about too much water. it's better than not enough. Our horses live in really boggy wet ground and have feet like concrete. Dry fet are far more of a problem.

[HAYLEY GITTOES]

Thanks Wally,

I am going to get some Epson salts Thursday and wash her feet in that, I clean and srub her feet about 3 times a week and go through a ford about twice a week, her field is dry through out the Summer and Winter (as dry as it can be!).

Tonight I plastered her feet in hoof oil (although I never normally use this as the blacksmith said not to use it as it keeps the moisture out).

[mikka]

Hydrogen peroxide, or diluted bleach, or vinegar all should help. The first two oxidize the area making it aerobic (where fungi can't grow) and the latter acidifies (creates hostile environment but for different reason).

You might want to check out the overall health of your horse.

[K&K]

What about products like Kopertox and Kopper Kare?

http://www.pbshorsehealth.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/horsehealth/kopertox.html?E+scstore

[doris]

Tea Trea oil is a good antifungal treatment, a few drops in a bit of water used for washing the soles of feet is good.

[HAYLEY GITTOES]

Hi Doris,

Yes I have found that Tea Tree is good, I have some wash stuff from avon and I have washed her feet in that and it is really good.

Thank you for your reply.

[jUmPingIsLifE]

it may be thrush, you can try bleach, or thrush buster on them

[nmwunduke]

My mare currently has thrush, too. Not sure how it happened as she is very particular about never, ever messing in her stall, only in her paddock. Her stall bedding is constantly changed and kept clean and dry, too. I'm guessing maybe the tropical climate we have here in Central Florida has something to do with it.

Anyhow, I'm having really good luck with the treatment I'm giving her which is basically; 1. thoroughly picking then washing her feet with an epsom salt solution. 2. cutting away any dead, feathery bits off the frog. 3. painting on Kopertox and making sure it gets into all the nooks and crannies. (Kopertox is such a bright green you know EXACTLY where it's going)

Her feet are already TONS better after just two days and that gross smell is gone.

[stormy]

When I first bought my mare she had thrush so bad the she bled.
By cleaning out her feet twice a day (MAIN Ingrediant!) and putting Koppertox and Thrush Buster I have finally gotten it to where she is no longer lame from it.
However
My mare gets thrush everytime it gets muddy.
I use Koppertox when it's wet because Koppertox is water proof and will stay on longer than any other product. Koppertox is easy to see (bright green) so you know where you are putting it on.

When it's dry I use Thrush Buster. It comes in a small bottel and it does a GREAT job. It's a little more expensive than koppertox but it kills the bateria alot faster. Thrush Buster is also easy to see as it is a bright purple.


I've tried espom (sp) salts and they didn't work to good. I've also tried sugardine (half iodine $ half sugar~the iodine is supposed to kill the baterial while the sugar helps the regrowth...not sure if it actually works) but it's messy. I've also heard of the mixture of water and bleach, again I'm not sure if that works..it would be cheaper.

I'm going to stick with what works for my horse (Koppertox and Thrush Buster) :)