The Woes of Thrush

(Click on images to make them bigger.)

Warning: The images I have included are there to give information about the frogs and frogs alone. Most of the hooves you are about to see have many other issues and are not considered healthy, so please take this into consideration and only pay attention to the frogs. Thank you.

A healthy frog is very important to the overall health of the hoof and the comfort of your horse. Unfortunately, over 70% of horses have less than stellar frogs, which is the leading cause of pain in the back of the foot. Disease, under-stimulation, over-stimulation, and over-trimming are the most common problems associated with the frog. In this post I am going to address the number one cause of pain in the back of the foot. Thrush.

Thrush is an all-too-present condition in most hooves, and the worst part is it tends to go unnoticed and untreated for long periods of time. In my experience, most people think they know what thrush looks like, but it has many signs that can be missed if you don't know what to look for.

So what are the symptoms of thrush?

 Smell is what people tend to recognize first. As with most infections, thrush emits a very strong, very foul odor. Some have said you can tell a horse has bad frogs just by standing next to them or simply picking up the foot. This can be true, but if a horse has reached such a state where you can smell his hooves just by standing next to him, he has been suffering for a very long time and is at risk for developing infection deep in the internal structures of his hooves.

(Believe it or not, these are the same hoof. Unsanitary stall conditions and nutritional neglect have caused the thrush to worsen and this entire frog is diseased to the point of needing removed. The first picture still had major thrush, but the second picture is unacceptable.)

Thrush feeds off of the dead and dying material that naturally exfoliates from a horse's frog, and sometimes even the sole. It appears as a thick black goop that usually collects in the collateral grooves and the central sulcus. If left untreated, it begins to attack the healthy tissue, which then dies and provides even more food for the bacteria. The frog usually peels off in thin layers as it sheds. This is normal, but these flaps create places for thrush to hide and multiply and should be removed. If your horse has a very flaky-looking frog, it likely already has thrush to some degree, and you need to either remove the dead material or address the issue with your farrier.

(The first hoof had thrush so deep that everything above that seeping crack had to be removed.)

A deep central sulcus is another cozy place for thrush to feed and multiply. When left without treatment, a crack slowly forms in the sulcus that can reach between the heel bulbs and all the way to the hairline. Usually these cracks are so deep you can stick the entire end of a hoof pick inside and it will stand on its own. Every time the horse places his hoof on the ground this crack opens slightly, causing a great deal of pain.

(See how deep the central sulcus is here? This is incredibly painful, and often the horse will try to pull away if you attempt to pick it out.)

So what do you do?

Most thrush is not as severe as the examples shown here, but if you suspect your horse has thrush, there are several things you can do.

1. Keeping the hooves clean is a great way to start, and it's not as difficult as you might think. Hooves are always dirty, but even a quick job with the hoof pick once a day will help prevent or eliminate thrush.

2. Make sure the exfoliating material is trimmed off regularly. This can easily be done at home with a pair of small scissors or shears.

3. Medication of some sort is almost always required to treat even the mildest form of thrush. My favorites are Vetericyn(applied twice daily), Pete's Goo(a 50/50 mix of athletes foot cream and triple antibiotic), No Thrush powder(the first and only dry formula and it works wonders), and Clean Trax(for serious thrush and stubborn infections). Most of the commonly sold applications, however, are actually quite damaging to the hoof. Will they get rid of thrush? Most likely, yes. The problem with these harsh products is they not only kill the infection, but they kill living tissue as well, which can create the thrush cycle all over again. The three methods I mentioned are gentle on living tissue and are the most effective products I've used.

When you are applying your treatment, make sure it reaches the deep crevices where the thrush is breeding. Bacteria like warm, wet, and dark places. Those crevices are a cozy little home for any kind of infection. The central sulcus can be difficult to treat, but with some patience you can treat it properly without causing too much discomfort to your horse.

(These hooves have begun to heal. The central sulcus is opening up.)

(Here you can see great improvement. While not perfect, it is getting there. These results were achieved through twice daily applications of Vetericyn spray. I absolutely love this product. This horse lived in an unsanitary stall 24/7 that wasn't cleaned daily. I thought the thrush would never heal in that environment, but the results speak for themselves.)

I hope this helped shed some light on the often elusive plague on our horses' frogs. If you have any questions, or feel I could be clearer on something, please let me know. Thank you!

What is a barefoot trimmer?

(Smoke after I first began trimming. Sound on frozen, hoof-pocketed ground.)

There are many different terms used to refer to the person who takes care of your horse's hooves. Farrier, trimmer, horse-shoer, black smith, and I'm sure many others. One of the terms I listed stands out from the others. Trimmers do exactly as the word implies, they trim and only trim. They do not apply or handle shoes in any way unless they are simply removing them, and some won't even do that if they don't have the proper equipment.

The reasons for why a trimmer doesn't deal with shoes vary depending on the person. One may not believe in them, or they may not have the training to do it. Some trimmers deal with their own horses and maybe a few of their friends', and those horses may already be barefoot.

In general, a barefoot trimmer does not believe shoes are the answer to a hoof problem. Instead, they trim each horse according to its specific needs, helping them to achieve the natural shape that's right for them.

A barefoot trim and a pasture trim are not the same thing, and this is important to remember. Any farrier or blacksmith will trim your horse's hooves even if they don't wear shoes, but are they doing it correctly? While I don't agree with horses being shod, I know there are some fantastic farriers out there that truly know what they're doing. These people are usually very experienced with horses and have a great hoof education, and unfortunately, they don't come around very often. Most traditional farriers will look at a hoof and trim it the same way they would any other, regardless if the horse wears shoes or not. What this usually means is a horse tends to start growing high heels and short toes, giving the hoof a boxy look. Higher heels are necessary if you are going to be nailing on a horseshoe without doing serious damage, but for a barefoot horse they cause a whirlwind of problems.

I've experienced this with every traditional farrier I've ever encountered. That is not to say they are all bad, only the one's I have met, and it is usually just a lack of information on their part. A barefoot trimmer focuses on each individual horse and recognizes that they are all unique and cannot be trimmed in the exact same way. They trim to compliment the horse's conformation, not to "correct" or change it. (Corrective trimming can be detrimental to an adult horse, and should usually be done very early in life if it is truly necessary.) In the natural world, horses trim their own hooves by constantly moving over rough terrain in their endless search for good grazing. These hooves are not perfect, and sometimes they may not look like what you would expect, but they work for that horse, and that is what's important. If you're doing something wrong, the hoof will let you know, you just need to know how to read it.

Smoke's Story - Why I became a trimmer.

My name is Krista, and I would like to welcome you to my blog.
This first post will explain in brief detail the reason I decided to become a barefoot trimmer, and what the term really means. Let's get started.

My first horse was a nine year-old, very green QH stallion registered as Whip to Impress, but everyone calls him Smoke.

As you can see, he was a beautiful and healthy boy. Unfortunately, we've been through a lot together, and he has suffered more than his fair share since he became mine. His real troubles started when he was on my own property and we had a traditional farrier taking care of our horses' hooves. Like most owners, I didn't know much about their feet. I trusted the farrier, and didn't think I had anything to learn. I regret that now.

This farrier was a nice guy, and to my untrained eye, all the horses looked great. It was a standard pasture trim and no one was lame or seemed to have any issues. What I didn't know was this guy was trimming Smoke's sole every time he came out. Smoke already had flat feet, and this man did what most farriers are taught to do, he carved the traditional "bowl" shape that hooves are supposed to have. I'll explain why this is bad in a future post. After doing this a few times(about three visits), Smoke's soles couldn't keep up and the farrier took a chunk out of the live tissue. A hole the size of a dime was now bleeding profusely from the bottom of his hoof, right below the coffin bone. What happened next made me even more unhappy. The man lied to me about what happened. I was right there when this took place, but I was also very inexperienced in hoof care. He told me he hit an abscess and I should just send him back out in the pasture and he'll be fine. That didn't sit well with me, so as soon as the guy left(he still had to trim my mare, who suddenly decided she didn't want him anywhere near her. Smart girl.) I called my vet. He told me what actually happened and exactly what to do. I cleaned, wrapped and padded the hoof. I also administered penicillin injections as instructed twice daily. Despite my best efforts, infection began to set in, and he blew four abscess at the coronet. The first and largest was on his right front. Due to the soreness in that hoof, he began putting most of his weight on his left front. Eventually Smoke would no longer pick up either foot, and I realized something was wrong with his left front as well. Shortly after, it blew three small abscesses at the coronet. His lameness was to the point where he didn't even want to get up for his hay. He would only get to his feet if I asked him to. I brought him his hay and water throughout the day and tried to encourage him to move. Even on a high dose of bute, he was still miserable. I had a new farrier and a vet come out at the same time to figure out what was going on. The vet had to do a nerve block just to pick up his feet. What we found was disturbing. The bottoms of his feet were rotting away before our eyes. His frogs were gone and his sole was black and soft. Even on the left front, the hoof without the injured sole, infection was rampant. The farrier chose not to do anything to his hooves due to the massive amounts of deep infected tissue, and both he and the vet recommended Smoke go to a clinic where it could be cut out and kept sterile, so that's what I did.

He was there for about five days and the infection was removed to the best of the vet's ability(this vet also decided to open up the largest of the abscess ruptures, but instead of cutting into the hoof wall, he cut into the coronet, which has permanently disfigured Smoke's hoof. I was, and remain unhappy about this.).
I had to change his hoof dressing every other day. They had to be kept clean and medicated for several weeks. This is what they looked like.

Not a pretty sight. The infection healed slowly over time and his hooves grew out, but the new farrier didn't seem to know what he was doing. You see, after having to go through all of this, I had begun to do my research. I was learning a lot in a very short period of time, and now that I knew a little better, I wasn't liking what I was seeing.

These were his hooves under this farrier's care.

Not long after this I decided to start trimming him myself. I don't have any truly recent photos, as we've been on one heck of a roller-coaster this past year, but I can tell you he has definitely improved and has regained his soundness.

Unfortunately he has been put through the ringer once again in another form. He was not being taken care of properly at the boarding barn, and though I thought this person was a friend I could trust, it turns out that wasn't the case. I had to be away from the barn for a little over a month, and when I came back Smoke was over three-hundred pounds underweight. His frogs were rotted away and his soles were black and being eaten away due to living in an unsanitary stall 24/7, even though he was supposed to be out in the pasture.

Smoke is still recovering from this event, but is making steady progress due to the generous help of a good friend. His hooves, however, are going to take a lot more work. I feel like I am starting all over again, but I know I can get them back under control and make him a happy horse again.

Well there you have it. That is the reason I became a trimmer for myself, but through this experience I have learned so much, and I discovered my desire to be a true barefoot trimmer for other people's horses as well. I continue my education on a regular basis, and I am always open to new information. I want to help as many horses and owners as I can, because I have been there, and I don't wish that path upon anyone.