Quick Foot Update

There are a million different products out there for thrush (fungus/yeast horse hoof infection). I don't think any are really awesome or everyone would be using it. I had researched various options and went with No Thrush. It is a dry powder that is supposed to adhere to the hoof and wick moisture away while killing any bacteria and fungus/yeast. It intrigued me, so I bought a bottle and it arrived Wednesday.

I went to the barn Wednesday evening to both try out the 20 inch County Logic girth that arrived as well as apply the powder. More on the girth later. It is a big saga. Anyway...I applied the powder as instructed (I had even watched some videos on how to apply it) and left to let it do its magic.

Over my lunch break yesterday, I headed to the barn to treat her again. It needs to be used daily for 7 days and with it being Halloween I knew I wouldn't make it in the evening. I know 1 application isn't enough to make a decision on it and I will use it all 7 days, but I think it is not only not working, but I think it is making it worse.

Her feet had been very dry (good thing) but cracked. I had used iodine before getting the powder and it was keeping them nice and dry. Iodine kills everything. But when I went yesterday, her feet were wet. It puzzled me.

I applied more powder and put her back out and will check again today. I am thinking that the powder is grabbing extra moisture from the environment and trapping it against the hoof creating more moisture (a bad thing). Maybe if she was in a stall 24/7, it would work, but she isn't. The ground is dry or at least was until today when it is supposed to start raining.

If it keeps looking more wet than before, I am going to ditch it and just go back to my iodine for now. It is a great drying agent and I don't know of any organism that can live in the stuff. It can be a pain to do, but if it works, why fight it? The deep heel crack is my biggest concern. I don't think pouring iodine into the crack is such a great idea. I may need to look into other options.

We are getting a new farrier (what?! wasn't our farrier one of the reasons we left Crabby Acres??) and he is due out in a week. I will have him take a look at her feet and see what he recommends. In the meantime I will keep applying the powder.