thrush

[rainbow]

Rosie suffered from thrush and before I went on holiday 2wks ago I managed to clear it up.

While on holiday the sheep at the yard have been let out onto the horse fields which is fine as need to eat down the grass.

Rosie since has had major thrush affecting frogs and being really smelly. She comes in from the field with her feet compacted with sheep poo. So I put 2 and 2 together and blamed that.

Was I right to say its the sheep? She moved to a field Friday that had longer stalky grass and has cone in with less poo in her feet and thrush started to look better already.
I since told yo partner in passing conversation that's what I thought it was and today she just had major go at me for blaming the sheep and it's aload of bull that it was that. As it's only dirty stables and stems from when she was box rested. (Even though tried explaining it had cleared up and why its in dirty stables ie poo) and then gone on to day I dont look after Rosie!

Sorry for rant but just wanted to know if I was right in thinkin about the sheep.

[haffyfan]

well it's not dirty stables as Murph has it and he's out all the time! I'm not entirely sure what causes it but i always thought it was to do with dirty/wet conditions in the hoof so i'd have gone with the sheep poo theory also however i'm not sure what caused murphs. It's just in one foot and was farrier who spotted it...maybe the changable weather recently?

[rainbow]

I know I tried explaining this to them. But they just don't believe me. She said she will say sorry when I can find proof that it is that.

Have your fields been particularly wet or muddy? Could be the wet conditions. Rosie has it really bad in her fronts. And yes she has always been prone to low levels of it but never seen it this bad.

[haffyfan]

Totally the opposite, our soil is really really sandy, at the moment is everything is filthy with dust. It takes an awful lot of rain for it to get muddy which is why i was suprised by murph's..plus i was a bad mum and hadn't even noticed it!

[rainbow]

Hmmm strange then. Are they particularly dirty when pick them out?

[rainbow]

Is this not childish?

I would move but no other yard that's that close plus dont want to leave the people on the yard as we're all good friends.

She completely blanked me this morning too

[haffyfan]

OMG nice yard owner!

No rainbow they very rarely have anything in their feet at the minute when they are picked out. The only thing i can put it down to is as i said maybe the changable weather, the hooves being really hard and dry for ages then soaked by the monsoonio's we keep getting. Never thought to ask farrier what might have caused it. He said to peroxide or iodine it and not to put tar on as he thought it sealed things in.

[rainbow]

Ah strange indeed. Ive been using blue sheep rot spray and picking them out twice a day but no luck as every day she's come in they have been packed full of sheep poo and nothing gets it out. I struggle to even pick them out so not surprising there bad.

Ive got red horse products field past hopefully coming today. it will act as a barrier and help her thrush hopefully.

[brigadier]

Well Im not sure sheep poo would be the cause but it cant help the matter. But to be really honest Rainbow the weather has been really bad for horses feet, very dry for weeks then really wet so if a horse was ever going to get it, then its now. Its so hard juggling the needs of your horse with the needs of the yard, sheep are good for horse pasture so maybe you could have been a little more conciliatory as it seems the YO is looking after the pasture. She was very childish to put that message up though. So perhaps apologies all round might be needed.

[rainbow]

Yeah i just come to the conclusion because Before I went on Holiday pre sheep I had cleared up her thrush complety and when i got back and the sheep were in the field her feet were really bad. And it was just that when she came in her feet were completely covered in it.

Before YO partner butted in I did say to the YO I am sorry I over reacted earlier and mentioned the field paste as the solution.
They just throughly believe that its only dirty stables thats the cause. The sheep are only on the fields due to too much grass.
I understand that Its difficult running a yars and we have had a lot of stress due to a new horse and believe thats where all this probably stems from, but its just the we way she reacts to things and then to come out with that i dont look after my horse and to then bring in my friends horse thats on box rest due to no fault of his own into the conversation isnt the right thing because clearly i do look after rosie.
She just makes life up there unconfortable for everyone. She doesnt make lie easy for everyone up there as she doesnt know anything about horses and admits to this but then makes these kinda comments.

Gotta go work so ill reply more later x

[brigadier]

I think another of the problems with a lot of yard owners is that they are usually horse people and not people people. (if they are not horsey then thats worse) and having worked in busy people environments all my life I can say it takes a certain type of skill dealing with the differing needs of people, some yard owners will simply never have acquired the skill and experience (hence your YO resorting to childish means)
Sometimes you just have to rise above it!

[jane]

Hi Rainbow. One thing that does often cause thrush is if the ponies toe and frog isn't trimmed back enough. During the late 80's and into the 90's there was a fashion where farriers left the toe long and the frog untrimmed. This was found to cause thrush. I know this because I worked for a farrier back then and read his Association of Farrier magazines where this problem was discussed at length. Horses with long heel conformation and those with deep clefts in their feet are more prone to thrush as well.

I don't think the sheep poo will cause it, all our trekking ponies live with sheep, have done for years and it is never a problem and worm wise it is brilliant to keep sheep and horses together. As Brig also said we have had horrendous weather for feet this year. The spring was wet before all this dry too - nearly everyone is moaning about hoof condition this year.

The person on your yard does sound very unpleasant but really the best thing you can do is agree with her, even if you know what she is saying is a load of rubbish, it is no skin off your nose, you know you are right and life is easier all round. My Dad told me this years ago and it has helped me no end of times. We know you look after your pony beautifully and so do you and that is what matters. This person probably doesn't have much self esteem so makes herself 'feel' better by picking on others, not right but a little sad too.

[spotti]

I found a rather random solution to clearing up Faith's thrush a few years ago when she was at uni with me, stabled for the majority of the time (don't even get me started on their ridiculous turnout regime!)...

...Milton sterilising tablets (or Morrisons own version as they are a lot cheaper but do the same job) and 'No Wash Hand Sanitiser' (the stuff you just rub in to wash your hands when there's no access to water).

Seems a bit random but it seems to work . (It started out as a bit of an experiment since the sanitiser stuff I had for my hands said "kills 99.9% of all known bacteria", cue me thinking "thrush is caused by bacteria...I wonder if it will kill that?" And to my surprise it does! Doesn't seem to do any harm to Faith's feet either )

What I do is boil about 500ml of water, break a tablet in half and allow it to fizz in the water until it has dissolved, then scrub the hoof and frog with the solution, making sure I get into all the nooks and crannies, and then smother the frog with 'No Wash Hand Sanitiser'. Make sure you let the hoof dry before turning out/putting back in the stable. I think the most I've had to repeat this process was once or twice a week for no more than 2 weeks and voila, stinky manky feet have vanished!

Just a note to go with this process...you WILL get covered in the stuff as you scrub away at the hooves, so be warned - don't do this before going somewhere that you have to be clean/smell nice for because you WILL get mucky and you will come home stinking of manky feet! It's worth the effort though because it seems to start working straight away...Faith's feet are drastically less stinky the following morning when I've treated them with this concoction).

[brigadier]

Thats a brilliant idea re the hand sanitiser- will keep that one in the bank!!!

[rainbow]

Thanks for the advice. The sterilizing seems great idea. Im currently using red horse products field paste. Ill see what that does, but definitely keep that in mind. I have got alot better with just accepting what she says now and we all say on the yard not to poke the bear :-) if u keep her sweet shes nit too bad.

[jane]

Hand santitiser and milton tabs- brilliant idea - I will definitely remember that one.

Haha - Don't poke the bear - good one