Thrush Treatments

Horse Filled Days has brought a good question to my attention and I thought I would share my recipe for thrush treatment with you guys.

First, I don't believe in bleach treatments as it can damage healthy tissue in the frog and actually prolong healing times. The first thing I do when I want to treat thrush in my horses' hooves is wait... wait until the ground they walk on is dry and that you have cleaned the pasture from any manure. I usually keep a manure pile somewhere in the field, horses never play in their own manure for fun!

Then, you can treat your horses. I start by mixing my medicine. All you need, you can buy in any drug store. What I use is: Athletes Foot powder or cream (I like Dr. Scholls) AND Antibiotic cream (I use Polysporin Plus, the orange and red tube, there is a pain killer in there, but any antibacterial ointment will do) and you can dilute with an athletes foot liquid, but I like to keep my paste pretty thick. Mix a lot of product so you don't run out half way through treatment.

Then, get your horse in a clean barn or clean flooring. I like to clean their feet really well, so I use my hoof pick and I finish off with a wire brush or hard brush. Don't press too hard on the frog if you use the wire brush, thrush can make horses' feet a little ouchy and sensitive. After cleaning the feet, try not to let the foot down until you are completely done. I use a hoof knife to remove any loose, hanging or dead pieces of frog. I prefer not to allow any creases or flaps. Cut all the flaps you can. Then, take a good amount of the foot medecine and apply to you horses' frogs. You might want to wear surgeon gloves. Don't skip on the goo and really rub it in. Make sure you get the collateral sulcus on each sides and the central sulcus of the frog. I usually fill the gaps with goo and massage it in. Don't forget the back part of the hoof.

I usually don't wipe anything off, leave it in and repeat treatment as much as needed. I used it on Pearl last year and it worked wonderfully, I didn't need to reapply twice! For bad thrush infections like Peg, I would probably do it for a week or so, until I would notice an improvement.

Thrush is not dangerous, although it can make your horse's feet sensitive. In Peg's case, there is no way that she is uncomfortable, even if her frogs look awful! The treatment is quite inexpensive and very efficient. Before you go out and buy expensive treatments, try this one. I hear that Sugardine is quite effective too and only costs about $0.32 per ounce. Here's the recipe: You mix a providone-iodine product with white table sugar... You can find Providone-iodine in Betadine solutions, scrubs or ointments. Mix with white table sugar (I think you know where to find that!) until you obtain a thin paste, apply on frog after having trimmed loose, dead flaps and voilà! If you are interested in this remedy, try looking for generic providone-iodine, it is much cheaper and essentially the same as Betadine.

My recipes will not stain closes or skin or hair and are completely safe if it ever goes on your skin. Do not use bleach, at least try all of these inexpensive methods before you do.

If you have an interesting (and tested) thrush recipe, you can share it with us in the comments!