My mare, Stella, was diagnosed with navicular syndrome in November of 2022. This led me down a deep rabbit hole of hoof health and biomechanics. Here is a tidbit of what I’ve learned and seen in my time helping her and my client’s horses.
Thrush is not just the smelly black stuff that you can see during the wet/rainy season.
It is a fact of life in the PNW, but it shouldn’t be ignored.
It really can change the way your horse travels.
Let’s dive in!
Thrush is the smelly black stuff that you can see, but it can also occur when your horse’s feet are dry. It can occur anywhere in the foot. It is caused by a combination of anaerobic bacteria and fungus that thrive in wet, dark environments. Hello, horse’s hooves! The biggest culprit that I’ve found in my body work career? Center sulcus thrush. It’s thrush that attacks the center sulcus of the frog. Ya know, that big ol’ crack you sometimes see running down the center of your horse’s frog? That is central (or deep) sulcus thrush. Here are a couple examples. You can see in the first picture that the crack extends up between the heel bulbs. On the second picture, you can see what the actual frog looks like with thrush.
The second photo is a great example of how thrush can distort the way the hoof grows. It’s a chicken and egg situation, though. The way a hoof is trimmed/how the horse travels can contribute to the development of thrush.
Thrush causes heel pain which makes the horse load their foot toe first. This leads to further deterioration of the caudal (heel portion) hoof, and it can even contribute to the development of navicular syndrome because it stresses the structures inside the hoof in ways they were not made to withstand. I have also seen the pain caused by thrush show up in chronic triceps tension. Once the thrush is treated, the triceps tension goes away.
Think about how all of these things affect a performance horse! If it hurts to land heel first, they’re going to shorten their stride to prevent that from happening. Then their triceps are going to get sore which will shorten their stride even farther. Eventually, that triceps pain can translate all the way up to their lumbar region. Now you’re interfering with their hind end and the power that comes from there. All because they have some thrush in their front feet.
I’m sure you’re thinking: “Great! I know I have a problem, now tell me how to fix it!” I got you! There are a couple things that go hand in hand. Most importantly, make sure their feet have correct angles. Proper angles will encourage heel first landings which will promote a healthy caudal hoof. (More on that later but for now, check with your farrier/vet.) If angles are correct, treat the thrush directly. I’ll link some of my favorites below. I don’t like to use copper sulfate or Durasole because it is caustic and can kill the healthy tissue in the foot as well as the bacteria. My go to option for really bad thrush is No Thrush powder. Sprinkle this stuff on a foot that has been well cleaned and use the hoof pick to press it into the cracks. It really helps dry out the foot, I’ve used it when my horses are still turned out and it still works. The other option that I reach for more often (because its easy) is a zinc sulfate solution. I use 1 tablespoon of zinc sulfate powder mixed with 16 oz of water. Clean the hoof really well with a hoof pick and brush out all the little nooks & crannies. Then I spray the solution into the sulcus and on the sole of the foot. Ideally, I’ll leave them tied for a few minutes while I clean stalls so it has a chance to dry. That’s it. Super simple and easy to do but it will make a huge difference.
Here are some examples of healthier frogs that have been trimmed to allow the frog to contact the ground and have been treated previously with zinc sulfate solution. These horses have heel first landings when walking.
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