I love seeing what pictures the GoPro takes when set to every ten seconds hehe.
I did Chrome's first thrush treatment today. It was a total pain in the butt, but Chrome was a total love bug and an absolute perfect angel so it's okay. He's worth it. :D
First I had to clean them out as much as possible... without a hose... lol. I used water bottles to pour water over his hooves. They definitely weren't as clean as they should have been. Oh well.
Jackal was convinced he had to help by eating the stinky crap I dug out of Chrome's hooves... ew.
Still helping...
Then I had to mix the Oxine and vinegar to activate it. I didn't realize it had to sit for a few minutes before adding the water so we walked up and down the driveway to kill time.
Chrome had to help me take the tape off lol.
Pausing during our walk for a foot picture.
Our legs are the same length lol.
Then I added the water and got my fancy (ghetto) Ziploc baggie soaking boots and put his hooves in them.
Zipping his hoof in the duct tape reinforced baggie.
Wrapping duct tape around his pastern to keep it on and keep the gas in.
Chrome's ghetto booties.
Waiting for twenty minutes while they soaked was boring!!!! Chrome did a good job of keeping me entertained by smiling at me, licking my hands, wiggling his lip in my palm, etc. He is the derpiest horse on the planet and can totally keep himself entertained so easily haha. He did fantastic standing really still too!
The baggies held up really well (I put duct tape all over the bottom where they would touch the ground to reinforce them) so I should be able to reuse them. :D I was bad and didn't do his back hooves because my back is hurting. I will do them tomorrow. Then we will see mid week or next weekend how they look and decide if he needs a second treatment. I'll continue to do my salt water during the week and I have a ton of Apple Cider Vinegar so I might try that too since a reader commented about having good success with it. Thanks!
After that we went for a mile walk to let his hooves dry while still clean. I know it's a lost cause with all the mud, but Jackal and hubby wanted to go too so it was fun. Here are pictures from our walk (still LOVE my GoPro!).
My boys!
I reached over to take the rope back from hubby and got clobbered (see the shadow?). Naughty horse! He didn't bite. He just uses his lips. He's good about that. :)
My handsome boys!
Hubby steering Chrome back onto the road and almost tripping over Jackal lol.
Chrome is a big boy and can walk all by himself haha.
I left his rope over his back while I walked backwards in front of them for pictures. He tried to explore a trail that he is absolutely fascinated with (goes off into the woods, but sadly it's private property) so that's why hubby had to lead him back onto the road in the second to last picture. :)
The walk was fun, but doing the hooves was boring and annoying. It would be so much easier with running water (ours is off in the winter) and a concrete wash stall, but we did the best we could. I'm impressed how well the baggies worked, but I'm gonna have to buy mom another roll of duct tape because I used a lot of it lol. I'm looking forward to seeing how his hooves look in a day or two. They looked so clean and smelled nice after the soak, so I'm hopeful. I only had to use two tablespoons per hoof of the Oxine so that bottle should last me years!! Even if I decided to do monthly maintenance treatments in the winter to prevent it. I love that it's all natural too so it can't hurt him and it bio-degrades into regular table salt so it's environmentally friendly. :) I'll keep you updated on his hooves! I'm hoping to ride tomorrow to see if his stride feels normal again. I haven't ridden him since the longeing we did last week. :\
I used to think the WL treatments were a pain, but not any more. Do yourself a favor and buy one or two heavy duty dry bags/sacks (the kind people use for kayaking, etc.). You can buy them at Bass Pro Shop, Amazon, pretty much anywhere that sells outdoor gear. I buy the Ascend 10L heavy duty boots and they last forever. Put the Oxine solution in there (I never wait to activate it, just plunk the hoof in there), secure the top with a Saratoga wrap, standing wrap, Ace bandage, whatever, and leave on for 40 minutes while you're grooming/fussing/etc. or just tie him up with a hay bag. I don't even clean the hoof with water first, just a hoof pick and wire brush. And since the solution is active for 8 hours, you can take the bag off one foot and use it on another without even changing the solution in it.
ReplyDeleteP.S. It does bleach hair, so don't be afraid if the hair around his hoof turns orange! Salem is currently rocking the orange look himself ;-)
Oh, and I go by the old WL bottle instructions--2 oz WL (or Oxine), 2 oz white vinegar, and sometimes I add about 4 oz water, but it isn't necessary. You want the solution to cover at least the bottom portion of the hoof wall (WL bottle says halfway up the hoof wall, but I don't think that much is necessary).
ReplyDeleteOh wow!! Thank you for all of the tips!!! Do you think it would be okay to do his fronts again tomorrow when I do his hinds? I will definitely look into those bags because the zip lock bags are a pain. I'll also try the measurements you're using tomorrow because it seemed like an awful lot of water they said to put in it using the directions I found. Thanks again for all the info!!!
DeleteYou're more than welcome! :-) When I have had REALLY bad cases, I have done soaks as often as every other day on the same hooves, but that's not necessary for most horses (these were foundered horses whose feet were in pretty bad shape). For thrush, I would try to do each hoof maybe twice a week for area weeks, then down to once a week. It really depends on the horse, so jut see how he's progressing. My trimmer told me to try and do Salem's at least twice each month just to keep everything at bay, since be went through a weird abscess thing last year.
Deleteso i actually kinda love your diy soaking boots ... tho Frizzles recommendation about the dry bags sounds solid too. very cute pics of Chrome - he just looks so happy and relaxed all the time :)
ReplyDeleteYes all great idea from everyone!
ReplyDeleteMy horse would totally rip the plastic bags, lol
ReplyDelete