Friday, December 13, 2019

Thrush

I'd never seen thrush bleed until yesterday when the farrier was trimming Mag. Suddenly his hoof jack was bright red and there were patches of red on the ground where Mag had his hoof. I was freaking out, not at the sight of blood, but at the fact that his hoof was in such bad shape without me having a clue. Sure I'd seen some deepening of the sulcus but I didn't poke around the heel area, where the farrier could stick his entire knife into. Ugh.

He told me it's no big deal and he put some medicine in (some Keralit product, a brown cream). Then he used my cotton gauze to keep the medicine there and wrapped the hoof in duct tape. I told him the story of Mag's first hoof wrap, how he freaked out when he saw his hoof and the vet cracked up laughing.

The heel part of Mag's hoof looked like raw hamburger, with blood filling in all the little pock marks from constantly wet feet. The red cotton sticking out added to the deli meat illusion.

I'm ashamed this snuck up on me, but I have the skills to deal with it thanks to years of owning Baasha in Seattle, where he regularly had scratches, thrush, and even rain rot that wiped out all the hair on his back one year. (The year I started blanketing!)

I believe it's a bacteria that lives in the ground or not, and we must have very little of it because it's just as muddy as Seattle and yet we get by without hoof and skin failure. Usually.

So today and yesterday I'm torturing them by keeping them enclosed in the paddock so I can work on the thrush throughout the day. The farrier said the mud is no problem but why not treat it aggressively so Mag can walk without opening it up again and leaving bloody hoofprints on the street?

In the pouring rain and today, sleet/snow/rain, I clean the hooves and poke qtips into the cracks until they come out clean. Then I squirt Neosporin inside and quickly push a wad of cotton as far as possible into the crack. As you probably know, it's easy to get cotton to stay in when you have a crevice this deep *sigh*.  If my sister is reading this I have to say THANK YOU for the Neosporin. There is no such thing here.

So although the horse was standing on snow today, at least the trouble spots were clean and medicated. Every few hours I can go out there and check the cotton and if it has fallen out, replace with new.

I'm confident that in a couple days he'll have new growth and the bacteria will have given up eating his feet. If it's fungal, I also have a hygiene spray that I mix with water that kills fungus and bacteria.

***

I baked Christmas cookies until my Spritz gun finally gave up the ghost. Plastic parts on a Spritz gun are never good, there's just too much pressure. I love making Spritz cookies - it reminds me of my mom and grandmother doing it with me when I was little. Just gotta get an all-metal tool.


     




Then I got inspired to make homemade horse treats so copied the idea from Irish Horse and the Internet. Carrots, applesauce, oats, a banana, flour, salt, and maple syrup are what I used. They're kind of bread-like rather than crunchy, but since this is Germany and all German horses eat bread, Bellis and Mag are enjoying them.


     


5 comments:

AareneX said...

Thrush is a PITA. Sn*w is better than mud for that, though?

Cookies! I just got some new cookie cutters, I'll make gingerbread cookies this weekend, especially if the rain continues (it will). It's too wet to ride right now, even for me!

Horse cookies FOR HORSES, Hmmmmm. ;-)

TeresaA said...

I’ve never seen a hoof bleed either but you will get under control. I made gingerbread ponies today.

Nat D said...

Oh I feel for you! I have spent many hours dealing with thrush on my tight hooved, deep clefted gelding. My farrier reminds me that regular care is much more important than intensive sprints. I use “parisenne” (not javel bleach) in a ketchup squeeze bottle and stuff the cotton balls wet with parisienne as deep as I can go. When he goes through this period, I try to change the cotton once a day for several weeks until the thrush is eradicated.

Lately its been a non issue, and we havent had a thrush episode in 2 years. But last summer my farrier had me stuffing dry cotton balls into the clefts of his front feet to encourage a broader spread. Part of the issue for my horse is that his natural deep cleft in this front frogs really harbour the bacteria.

I know some people soak, but Ive found the parisienned cotton balls stuffed deep are quite effective and provide medicine for hours. That said Ive never had to deal with bleeding, so I think I would wait until it stopped bleeding before I parisienned. Maybe I worry too much.

EvenSong said...

Don’t know if you can get this, but it’s closer to you (England) than me! My hoof trimmer really likes it, for hoof cracks, thrush, even scratches.We used it for my boarder Charlie, when he had an abscess blow at the coronet band, to protect the hole as it grew down his hoof wall.
https://redhorseproducts.com/shop/hoof-care/artimud/

HHmplace said...

Cookies are Beautiful! Sorry to hear about the thrush... Mud sucks...