What is this on my horses feet??????

[AppleJacks1988]

Ok so his feet smell bad what horses dont tho? I was thinking it was thrush but it doesnt make sense if it was. its like black but it comes out but it always take away the hoof too. He has bar shoes which make it harder to clean and soft white hooves. Ive never had this before its like black and smells bad and i always end up taking off parts of the hoove not in big chucks or anything just enough to scrape into it which i know isnt normal. Ive cleaned his feet 2 daily clean his stall 2 daily and for 3 days used a 50/50 bleach and water. But im really confused on this. help? hes not limping and its not painful for him ither.

[Katie_85]

Sounds like thrush. Clean the hoof out throughly, into the commisures and between the heel bulbs, etc. and then apply either thrush buster (bright purple, comes in a small bottle) or Kopertox (bright green, big white bottle.) Should take care of the problem.

[Bay Mare]

Please don't use bleach!! Purple spray is the best stuff to use and, of course, keeping the feet clean.

White hooves aren't, in general, any softer than coloured hooves. The fallacy only came about because you can see the bruises easier on white hooves.

[eeyore]

yeah purple spray is a good disinfectant.

also, Kevin Bacon's hoof care stuff is very good.
it makes the foot waterproof but makes sure it doesnt dry out, and it cures and prevents thrush.

you can only buy it through farriers or off the internet though, but it's worth it!

[Standerdbred]

it has to be thrush when my horse got it I used koppertox and was told to keep her stall as clean and dry as possible I hope it helps :)

[chev]

Get your farrier to cut away the diseased tissue round the frog too - don't try this yourself!

Healthy feet shouldn't smell by the way - if your horse's feet smell, it's an indication that something's wrong.

[The Original Crazywoman]

I had lots of problems with thrush at one point. Tried all sorts, from scrubbing out with dilute Hibiscrub, to spraying with a tea tree oil solution. Farrier recommended pouring on hydrogen peroxide solution (obtainable from chemist) and this fizzed up nicely and killed all the bacteria. Don't use more than a couple of times a week, as it actually eats in to the tissue and my farrier once saw a horse that was overtreated and hardly had any frogs left. :eek: OUCH!!

[The Original Crazywoman]

:o Should have said Thrush, NOT Thrust!!! And also should have made it clear I was talking about my horse's hooves and not .... err ... um ... women's version of thrush! Do not recommend hydrogen peroxide or scrubbing out with Hibiscrub for THAT! :D

[StephA]

Hee hee!!!! :D

[MeMe]

Def sounds like Thrush, my big horse is prone to it, a tub in Copper Sulphate once a week and regular applications of Naff Hoof Moist keep it at bay though, alough CS is hard to get hold of and you have to be careful on the dilutions.

But if your not 100% on this purple spray is good to.

Kevin Bacon is freely available at tackshops.

[intouch]

That sounds more like canker, way more serious than thrush, get the vet to check it out. (Job's comforter - sorry)

[casey]

:o Should have said Thrush, NOT Thrust!!! And also should have made it clear I was talking about my horse's hooves and not .... err ... um ... women's version of thrush! Do not recommend hydrogen peroxide or scrubbing out with Hibiscrub for THAT! :D

Lol :D

[Tiber]

Definitely sounds like thrush to me. When Honey gets it I scrub her feet out with salty water then spray them with purple spray. She hasn't had it so much since her shoes came off though.

One pony I used to look after got it really badly and they had to treat her with hydrogen peroxide, which worked, but was a bit scary 'cos it made the floor fizz...

[Chip]

Sounds like thrush to me too. Try good old-fashioned traditional treatment - Stockholm Tar, now comes in a spray.