Today I want to talk about Thrush. At one point or another I think most horse people have dealt with thrush. Thrush is a gross beast that when left untreated or unnoticed can get very gross very fast and end up very deep in the frog.
Houston got a gross case when he was on stall rest a few years back and Thrush Buster and other remedies just weren’t touching it. If you have ever used Thrush Buster than you know that it isn’t a pleasant experience. Blue/purple stuff gets all over everything. Luckily at the time I had a trainer that had all sorts of tips and she recommended this stuff called Tomorrow that is used on cows.
Luna had her feet done a few weeks ago and when the farrier was trimming her she noticed that she had some pretty deep thrush. I feel relatively certain that my horses are trying to make me feel like a cruddy mom lately. In my defense this thrush wasn’t developed in the short time I had her until that point. Nonetheless I am glad that the farrier reminded me about this awesome secretish weapon as slowly but surely her thrush is going away. Naturally it’s gotten super wet and gross just as I am starting to keep it at bay.
Check out Equinpilot’s 500th post giveaway for your chance to win a RidingWarehouse giveaway!
Have you guys used any non traditional methods to treat thrush? Favorite products?
Tomorrow is definitely great, I usually alternate it with thrush buster just because Tomorrow is not as easy to store (I always have it in a bag since you can’t reseal it). If you have deep enough crevices to put the pads into Veterinary preference thrush pads (smartpak has them) work very well since the treatment sticks around.
Tomorrow is awesome! Woodrow uses it fairly often. He put it down in Siggy’s laceration when he cut his leg last summer, and I’ve seen him use it for a variety of wounds. Really nice to have on hand.
Any liquid thrush medicines I use immediately get poured into one of those travel size hairspray bottles — spraying hooves is so much easier that trying to squirt/pour it out of the bottle and ending up with half of it on me!
Cosmo battles thrush every year. He has deep deep cracks in his heals that he’s had his whole life, so I don’t know if they will ever close up. They make him super susceptible to thrush. I use ToMorrow when it rains and he is likely got some gunk in his cracks, butI have also been managing it with No Thrush that has set us up for a better winter this year, I hope. I posted a review about it earlier this year, it’s nice because it is a dry product. https://jumppretty.wordpress.com/2016/08/02/product-review-no-thrush/
I use Koppertox, I needed it for some suspicious looking hoof stuff a few years ago and break it out when needed. It is even worse than Thrush Buster for staining but does an excellent job with my two.
I am the still-evil horse owner who uses hydrogen peroxide every so often on extremely mild thrush that Eli only very occasionally gets. I know that’s not really recommended these days, but it works. I also periodically paint his soles with Hooflex, and I think that actually goes a long way to prevent it. If I had a thrushier horse, I would go back to Thrushbuster or try Tomorrow in an instant.
That dry cow treatment is the best! And it’s so easy to apply and get right up in those cracks.
I should buy stock in Thrush Buster. I have never heard of the Tomorrow. Definitely going to give that a try. Thanks for sharing!
Because of his fetlock arthritis, Pig gets chronic thrush in his fronts. I’ve found tomorrow not to be effective in wet environments. However, silver disinfectant sprays usually do the trick.
I had never heard of arthritis affecting the likelyhood of thrush? Can his feet not be picked? I don’t use Silver spray much but I will keep that in my back pocket.
Have you tried Sav-a-Hoof?
Hmm no. Thanks for the suggestion.
I’m also a huge fan of Tomorrow, nothing seems to work as quickly on a raging case of thrush than this stuff!
It is good stuff!
I like the dry powder No Thrush. RW sells it though I’ve bought it at feed stores in the past. Lasts a long time and works pretty well.
We use Koppertox. Violet’s feet are pretty much permanently teal. It makes a mess, but we never have thrush issues. Of course, we also are mostly on sand that doesn’t hold too much water, but we’re covered just in case.