November’s Seven: Thrush!

THRUSH!
Mud season. It saved Russia from a lotta invasion. It’s ruinous on horse hooves. Thrush happens when horse hooves can’t get dry.

Thrush has a lot of telltale signs early on and one hoof picking session can provide all the evidence:

Material from the hooves smells like an oyster beach at low tide next to a ferry terminal. If you’ve never been next to an oyster beach next to a ferry terminal, find a wet, dead seal and sniff.

There are telltale visual signs such as an unromantic black ooze and a softened frog.

Untreated thrush can causes tenderness in the hooves and swelling in the lower legs. When allowed to spread, it will cause lameness. That said, thrush is super common and treatment is super easy.

DeThrushing Dagrenning

Last week, Dagrenning had a touch of Thrush and though she’d been let out on bigger pasture, timely treatment felt key.

Fortunately, Dagrenning’s pasture BFF Juliet has an owner that was looking for thrush and supplied the medication that Dagrenning needed. (Note, the violet dye used in thrush medication is carcinogenic, don’t do as I did and pour it on your palm.)

After the first liberal application of Thrush Buster, her hooves looked and smelled clear. The second application, a few days later further sealed the grooves around the frog of her hooves. We’ll see what the farrier says this week.