I picked his feet out today and around the frog and heels was spongy and white flakes were coming off around the frog, hoof smelled but idk if that was just the mud/manure it stormed bad pat two days and his pasture is muddy I hadn ' t picked his feet out in a week but they were just fine and then today I found them like this. what is it and what do i do to treat it?
Thrush is an infection, and if your horse has it, you will smell a very strong odor. The sponginess of the frog and heels is from oversaturation, and if you get the horse to a dry area it will disappear within hours. If there is still an odor after the hooves dry out and you clean and pick them well, and if the sulci of the frogs appear wet and black, then you probably have a case of thrush. You can buy povidone iodine solution and dilute it with half water to sponge into the sulci with cotton balls. I use long tweezers to get the cotton well into the grooves. This, along with getting the horse out of the wet conditions will treat the infection. Keep the hooves picked and cleaned regularly, and be sure the horse has sufficient exercise to maintain good circulation within the hooves. Thrush is actually as much about maintaining blood circulation and immune function of hooves tissues as it is about wet or unhygienic conditions.
I don't think it's thrush as it's not black and thrush is black in color and is oozy. His feet are probably just soft and that is the soft part of the frog and hoof scraping away. And if the horses are standing in mud and their feet are packed with dirt and stuff they are going to smell bad. For now I would put him in a dry area and see what happens.
thrush is caused by moisture so if its been storming that's probably why. if he had thrush bad and you smelled his feet, you would know. it is a HORRIBLE smell! pick out his feet well and make a bleach and water solution and put it in a spray bottle and spray a few sprays into his feet. this is an antibacterial solution that should cure up an mild to moderate case of thrush. if its really bad you may need to do that more often and/or see a vet
answer to your question pretty much says it all here:
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com
http://www.ehow.com/how_4474008_treat-th ... make sure its thrush first otherwise you will be doing this for no reason lol!
but actually all my horses and donkeys have had bad smelling hooves after rain and white flakes come off
doesnt always mean that
usually if you can see the horse is in pain then you will know
i agree with everything madeline said but i just want to add that if u stick them in a ring with sand and just leave them (it has to be dry) because the sand is good for their feet and helps with the thrush
