Identifying Thrush In Your Pony

Thrush is a medical condition caused by bacterial invasion of the bottoms of pony feet. It can attract both front and back soles and is in general caused by excessive exposure to moisture.

Horses that are basically restricted to stalls or to little enclosed areas are rather more subject to thrush. Moist conditions make for excellent breeding areas for bacteria.

If you have a horse that is mostly confined, make sure to carry out inspections of and totally clean out your horse’s feet each day. You should also engage in healthy stable management practices. On the top of the daily to do list is keeping the stable clean and dry.

Thrush symptoms generally are comprised of the leaking of a black, tarry kind of material from the horse’s feet, accompanied by a nasty pong. The frog and surrounding tissue (the grooves on the side of and down the frog’s middle) are rendered soft and brittle by thrush. When thrush is permitted to progress, the heel starts splitting and bleeding. Thrush is deeply painful, and can be a total debilitating experience.

Comparatively mild cases of thrush can be easily cured with some assistance from a farrier. Treatment should be began immediately on identification, as the hoof deteriorates badly if the illness is permitted to build untreated, to the extent that the horse can go permanently lame.

If your horse is a victim of an advanced stage of thrush, you will need the services of both of your farrier and your veterinarian. They will need to debride all affected areas and get rid of as much diseased tissue as they can. Tissue removal of this sort could be accompanied by copious bleeding if the disease is fairly advanced, so it isn’t a sight for weak hearts. If the frog’s center cleft area is affected severely, you must clean it out each day and apply medication and cotton padding, be certain to implement the instructions of your farrier and veterinarian.

With some dedicated care, it’s possible to get your horse back to full health.

Horses are Heather Tomspassion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers go here