What to treat first?

[lauren123]

So the child is having problems with his feet. Not in a soundness way Though! However he has thrush and his soles are soft also his white line is 'playing up slightly and I have to remove small stones that get stuck in there. However I aren't sure what to actually treat first.
Any thoughts.

 

[Lollykay]

So the child is having problems with his feet. Not in a soundness way Though! However he has thrush and his soles are soft also his white line is 'playing up slightly and I have to remove small stones that get stuck in there. However I aren't sure what to actually treat first.
Any thoughts.

If he has whiteline to where stones are sticking in there, he has thrush, and worst of all soft soles —- he does have a soundness issues.

With the soft soles added to the mix, He sounds like he could have laminitis issues.

I could easily deal with the whiteline and thrush on my own but the addition of the soft soles, were it my horse, I would have a lameness vet look at him or a certified therapeutic farrier. However, I am in the U.S. so I don't know what protocol is in your country.

I do know this isn’t something that should be let go

 

[MrA]

Have you thought about doing a cleantrax soak? Ale had a bit of white line problem ages ago and it was recommended by my trimmer. His feet have never looked better ever since. Bit of a faff with the bag but once Ale realised it wouldn't kill him he was okay.

 

[Jessey]

I would treat it all together, a cleantrax soak would be ideal but from memory Sox doesn't do soaking. I would review diet, think about what has changed for his feet to be regressing and use red horse products to treat the symptoms daily.

 

[carthorse]

If he isn't looking lame with all that I would bet it's because he's equally lame on both fronts and possibly hinds too. Knowing he has PPID I'd also be questioning laminitis I'm afraid, soft/thin soles and white line separation are classic signs and as such I'd want the vet and farrier to him asap and would be asking the vet to check his acth levels in case his meds need altering. In the meantime I'd keep him in on a clean, dry, deep bed. While Cleantrax sounds like a good idea I wouldn't want to soak his feet at all and I'd steer clear of anything like purple spray that will stain them until after the vet has been Pick them out thoroughly and keep them dry - another day or two not treating the thrush isn't going to make a huge difference but make getting the vet a priority. Oh and cut his feed right down, I know you worry about him losing weight but while he's been looking great he's maybe been carrying too much condition for a horse with metabolic problems and if he's on box rest he doesn't need more than hay, preferably soaked.

 

[Bodshi]

No advice on the feet but just to say a horse that isn't getting any fresh grass won't be getting any vitamin e so I'd consider supplementing. Its apparently particularly important for Cushings horses and is very useful for boosting the immune system. There's lots of threads on HHO from people who use it to keep condition on their horses during winter too.

 

[chunky monkey]

I would use some golden hoof. Its a sheep footdip but it would kill off infection and help harden up the soft feet without over drying them. It is zinc sulphate.

I would soak the foot in a bucket or one of those shallow rubber feed bowls for 2 minutes. If he doesnt do soaking then have it under neath the picked up foot and use a stiff scrubbing brush and brush it on.

 

[Skib]

A horse is not a child.

 

[Lollykay]

Something else that could be done to the white lines would be to cauterize them but not all horses will tolerate the smell of their hooves burning

The vet or farrier really has to know what they are doing to cauterize a hoof but it is more successful than topical treatments as long as the horse will tolerate the procedure.

My IR/Cushings horse gets his front hooves cauterized as part of the trim routine. He could care less. The other horse however, won’t let the farrier within five feet of his hooves with the torch; it’s a good thing he has healthy hooves, lollol.

 

[Trewsers]

No advice on the feet but just to say a horse that isn't getting any fresh grass won't be getting any vitamin e so I'd consider supplementing. Its apparently particularly important for Cushings horses and is very useful for boosting the immune system. There's lots of threads on HHO from people who use it to keep condition on their horses during winter too.

I didn't know that. I wonder if I ought to feed some to Chloe as she doesn't favour going out much at all in winter, she'll nibble but not for long.

 

[carthorse]

A horse is not a child.

Oh for goodness sake Skib, it's just a phrase. If you don't have any useful advice, preferably not copied straight from a book, then don't come on just to be petty. @lauren123 is no doubt worried, nit picking is hardly helpful.

 

[carthorse]

@Lollykay is that similar to how the shoe is lightly burnt on to check fit when hot shoeing?

 

[Lollykay]

@Lollykay is that similar to how the shoe is lightly burnt on to check fit when hot shoeing?

Yes but the farrier (who is a trained therapeutic farrier) no longer uses metal shoes on Joker. She uses composite shoes with flexible plastic, full pads and DIM material under that.

She is really good at not setting his hooves on fire and he is really good at just standing there, matter-of-fact

Those composite material shoes do a better job of reducing concussion than having the horse barefoot does, IMHO. I can’t say enough good about them for a horse like Joker who needs palliative hoof care. He developed Low Ringbone in the last few years and the composite shoes have helped immensely with that as well.

The farrier was supposed to be here today (I could have taken fotos) but we are postponing as she is also an RN and is afraid she has Covid. She has had all three vax and so have I, but I am early 70’s and she doesn’t want to be around me. I would have postponed anyway as my county got 10 unexpected inches of snow last night — after being 75(F) on Saturday. Our weather has really gone off the rails——

 

[Mary Poppins]

I have no idea really, but just wanted to wish you well. You always do the very best for Sox and I guess my only advice would be to follow your instincts.

 

[Bodshi]

I didn't know that. I wonder if I ought to feed some to Chloe as she doesn't favour going out much at all in winter, she'll nibble but not for long.

I only started giving it to Raf because he had that terrible mud fever caused by e coli and enterococcus that wouldn't clear up despite repeated courses of different antibiotics and steroids. I was searching for something to boost his immune system and came across the info on vitamin e. I think some horses can store it better than others but I did read that cushings horses are particularly likely to need supplementing - maybe they can't store it so well?

Anyway, not only did Raf's infection magically clear up but since then he has held his condition in winter, whereas before he always used to lose muscle and be quite sickly .

What I'm trying to say in my long winded way (sorry!) is that you can probably tell by Chloe's general condition (and whether she loses condition when she's not getting much grass) as to whether or not she would benefit from a vit e top up.

 

[Lollykay]

Ditto adding Vitamin E. The only waste will be in your checkbook if the horse doesn’t need it; to me it’s well worth the investment to keep their immune systems boosted.

I have had both of my horses on pure Vitamin E (without selenium) for about three years. The other has has environmental, gr8n and soy sensitivities. He’s been off grain and anything with soy since 2014 but I can’t control the environment.

They are 26 & 27, I still have green pasture, except it’s covered in six inches of u expected snow today. Both horses get 3,000 IU daily, 365 days/year.

@Bodshi what is enterococcus in an adult horse? And the symptoms

 

[Bodshi]

@Lollykay enterococcus and e coli are both normally intestinal bugs but unusually they were the bacteria causing this awful mud fever that my horse had one year - identified by skin scrapings. We'd been hunting the week before and had gone through a field that had recently been spread with manure so I wonder if he picked up the bugs in there. I don't know what the symptoms are if a horse gets it in his gut, not very pleasant I would imagine!

 

[Lollykay]

@Bodshi thank you. It’s pretty great that you have a professional team who was able to figure that out..

Also that you were able to put things together and, in all likelihood, have the right answer as to how your horse got an internal bacteria on his external person

I asked because I am always interested in these odd happenings and also because one of my horses had a serious case of Fecal Water Syndrome that would go on for months, two years running. The general vet was stumped and blood tests didn’t show anything. It took the holistic vet/chiropractor, who I just discovered also has a degree in chemistry to find an answer. She is also a 20+ year student of Chinese medicine. My horse is happily better, thanks to her intense research in her old chemistry books.

Sometimes these on-going issues we think we understand, aren’t at all what they appear to be, so thank you again for explaining and being a great caregiver to keep digging for an answer

 

[Jessey]

I asked because I am always interested in these odd happenings and also because one of my horses had a serious case of Fecal Water Syndrome that would go on for months, two years running. The general vet was stumped and blood tests didn’t show anything. It took the holistic vet/chiropractor, who I just discovered also has a degree in chemistry to find an answer. She is also a 20+ year student of Chinese medicine. My horse is happily better, thanks to her intense research in her old chemistry books.

I'd be interested to hear the upshot of that one @Lollykay, I too like to hear the unusual and have a friend with a chronic FWS sufferer so might be worth her investigating, maybe.

 

[Trewsers]

I only started giving it to Raf because he had that terrible mud fever caused by e coli and enterococcus that wouldn't clear up despite repeated courses of different antibiotics and steroids. I was searching for something to boost his immune system and came across the info on vitamin e. I think some horses can store it better than others but I did read that cushings horses are particularly likely to need supplementing - maybe they can't store it so well?

Anyway, not only did Raf's infection magically clear up but since then he has held his condition in winter, whereas before he always used to lose muscle and be quite sickly .

What I'm trying to say in my long winded way (sorry!) is that you can probably tell by Chloe's general condition (and whether she loses condition when she's not getting much grass) as to whether or not she would benefit from a vit e top up.

I'm half tempted to try her with some, because her itchy skin condition never seems to clear up. She's not getting much grass at all atm. We've a two day storm and they vote with their hooves about going out- but anyway she doesn't really power eat the grass like Storm.