I’ve owned two horses that were prone to thrush. Both had good stable management regimes.
Rosie – Over her life Rosie had two outbreaks of thrush. Both cases were very mild and caught very early on. The second outbreak happened when Rosie had reached 25 years of age. Laurence my Farrier, his apprentice Owen and myself entered into discussion and all agreed on the best treatment.
Lexington – Lexington arrived in the yard with deep thrush in the clefts of his front frogs. Even with good stable management thrush persisted. Lexington did not have smelly frogs and apart from these deep fissures his frogs and his foot capsules were well-made.
Lexington doing what he liked best after the removal of thrush.
What is thrush, and how can you effectively remove it?
Thrush is an anaerobic fungal infection in the frog. This fungus likes deep areas of the frog. Some horses are more prone to thrush than others kept under the same management programme.
Thrush smells cheesy
Thrush smells cheesy and you will identifying this infection by smelling the frog. If in doubt lift the foot and get closer. You will easily smell this black and oily infection.
What does Thrush look like?
This horse has thrush in the hind foot. It is more noticeable on the left side of the frog.
The frogs look infected and black. It has been eaten away by the infection.
Bad cases of Thrush will make a horse very sore
Horses are seldom lame from thrush but some do become very sore. You will notice this soreness if you probe into the frog.
What causes Thrush?
Thrush is caught by stabled horses. Urine is the real culprit, but some horses are more prone to an outbreak than others. Mud in the field will not cause thrush.
The solution for all cases of Thrush
Copper Sulphate Crystals will effectively kill Thrush and are available from chemists.
Step 1
Thrush thrives in anaerobic damp conditions so use a brush and remove any decayed frog. Use a jay cloth if the cleft has a deep fissure and work this back and fourth to clean out any dead frog.
Step 2
Dissolve copper sulphate crystals in water and use this solution to wash out the area. For deep fissures work back and forth as above with a jay cloth soaked in copper sulphate solution. Repeat this daily until the thrush is eradicated.
If a horse is susceptible to thrush wash the frogs with this solution every few days.
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