I’ve got an OTTB who is now on his 2nd hoof abscess in a month, on the same hoof. Additionally, he has Thrush that we are trying to treat with Thrush Buster, but in Stephenville, Texas, we have had non stop rain for about a week now. My guy is on stall rest due to a hoof laceration, and his stall is run that is covered about halfway. Because he absolutely loves the rain, he goes out and just stands in the mud with all of his filth and glory. Are there any tips you can offer to help until this bad weather blows over? He is totally unshod at the moment, is usually shod on the front but we pulled both shoes after we pulled one for the first abscess. His laceration is on the back left hoof, so we are getting him fully shod when his hoof heals in a bout a week or two. I did some research and discovered hoof boots, would these be a good idea? What do you recommend? Thank you!
I feel you, we’ve had something like 25 inches more rain in the last couple of months than is typical for the north side of San Antonio, and my guy is out 24/7 with natural shelter. Fortunately, he seems to be holding up OK so far, but he had great feet going in and having a large area to move around and pick and choose where he stands helps. The barn has been trying to move horses around and move feeding/water stations to try to avoid developing focal areas that are just churned up and full of poop and pee. Last year his feet weren’t so great after two years in the BLM holding pens and we had some thrush issues. We had better luck with the No Thrush powder than Thrush Buster, and I think using that proactively this time around has helped him a lot. I think in your situation, you may have to block your guy off so he doesn’t have access to the uncovered part (assuming the covered part is dry footing/bedding). Make sure manure is picked up regularly, unfortunately not a lot you can do about urine with an outside dirt-floor run. It’s rotting organic material in the mud that’s the problem, more than just plain dirt-based mud. In theory, you could put down a thick layer of dry bedding and clean it out as soon as it starts rotting, but I imagine that would get mighty expensive mighty fast in an open run in a rainy spell.
Boots are a hard NO, I would think. As far as I know they are not in any way water-tight and all they will do is trap the same wet and muck against the foot constantly and accelerate the rot. That’s how “trench foot” happens in people. At least without boots, the mud gets a chance to drop out and some air get to it every now and then, and he swaps out old muck for new muck that may have less (or at least different) bacteria and fungi before they get a chance to get a real toehold. If there’s some kind of injury or problem that really needs to be kept clean, you could TRY a bandage that makes things really water-tight, but that isn’t easy to accomplish And keep water tight on most body parts, takes a fair amount of relatively expensive materials, and would need to be changed really frequently.
Because of the abscess, he does have a diaper bandage wrapped with vet wrap and duct tape. I didn’t know if once cleaned out lightly wrapped, a boot would be an option if I kept him strictly in the dry area and fenced him in there. He is on full stall care so his pen is always very clean thankfully. I am hoping once this rain goes away we can get him a good farrier visit and the problems will go away once I get rid of this thrush. About how long did it take you to beat thrush?
Thrush will be around until the hoof completely dries up and the infected tissue grows out. If it’s gotten tender, it will take a few weeks to clear. If it’s just an off odor, that will clear pretty quick. Just remember it’s what lives in the mud, not the mud itself that allows thrush to move in and thrive.
Sometimes there are underlying health issues that allow the thrush to get a foothold…no pun intended. You can have 6 horses living in the exact same conditions, two get deep seated thrush, the other four get nothing worse then an off odor that’s gone in a couple of days. Worth thinking about.
Back in tne day, we didn’t have all these products and I wasn’t keeping in fancy barns. We used to squirt the hose into the hoof to flush the cleft out, tie them someplace to dry then use a 4:1 water/ bleach mixture in a spray or squeeze bottle aimed right into it. Kept it dry for another little bit then put them back out. Worked fine. But we also tried to keep the pens clean in the dry season to prevent manure build up.
I am having problems too with my Thoroughbred in this horrible Texas rain. Abscesses and soft feet for the past 4 weeks. Soft ride boots are good if the are sore and in a dry stall or pen. Keeping the foot wrapped with diaper, vet wrap, and duct tape is cheaper. You can spray bleach water in frogs to help dry out thrush. I have been packing hooves with Icthamol and Magic Cushion under a wrap. Durasole is good for hardening up thin sensitive soles, but hooves have to be dry. Best thing is to keep hooves dry and protected from mud. Going back and forth from wet mud to dry stall is not good for hooves due to expanding and contracting. Hope this rain doesn’t last all winter.
I have heard this, too, but I still feel like letting the feet dry out for a few hours a day is better than them being wet all the time.
I have a 10 year old Thoroughbred gelding- and he has the infamous feet that go along with his breed. When I got him he had the remains of a hoof wall crack straight up the middle of one of the front hoofs and was slightly lame. We had to pull his shoes and put him in Soft Rides and stall rest for 2-3 months, which was not ideal but did the trick. We put shoes back on him and also started him on Farriers Formula Plus, which I feel helped quite a bit --the crack grew out in about 6-9 months.
Due to rainy and dry weather here in the Atlanta area, he was having trouble keeping shoes on - so we made the painful decision to keep him barefoot. I ended up getting him Scoot Boots(these are great!) for the front during work outs and riding competitions and he has been fine. We do not jump. I have found that scrubbing his feet 3 times a week with Sudsing Betadine scrub (mixed with water per directions), drying with towels and applying Keratex on sole and hoof wall --have kept him free of thrush or white line issues. We have decided to keep him shoeless as he seems to be doing fine – and as I said we do not jump. His frogs are looking a lot healthier.
Our fields are not that good and have lots of mud when it rains… as well as some rocky areas. He is stalled at night. The farrier sees him every 5 weeks even without shoes. He is now on Platinum CJ and doing well. I think you just have to keep up the fight and be sure his feet are picked every day. Hope the rain ends for you guys and the weather pattern gets back to normal for you. I have found that hoof care really is the most contentious subject – everyone has an opinion. :).
We had “monsoon season” in N AZ where it didn’t stop raining for 2 months at least. My mare had a box stall with an in and out, but the barn OF COURSE fed in her outdoor feeder so she stood in mud all day.
Everyone at our barn used this and it keep her from developing any nasties.
