Wisdom Wednesday

Did you know that the hoof can be a breeding ground for a lot of different bacterias which can cause various problems and large amounts of damage to your horses hoof?

During the drought we didn’t have these problems due to no moisture around. But now Mother Nature has blessed us with the liquid gold we are seeing a lot of cases of these bacterial infections popping up.

I will just touch on the most common bacterial infection today but I advise you to discuss this issue with your farrier and to devise a plan to prevent these problems rather than trying to battle the treatment.

Thrush is the most common hoof problem and generally it doesn’t cause too much worry. However if left untreated it can cause a lot of problems deep in the sensitive tissues of the hoof and cause degrees of lameness.

Symptoms include a strong foul smell coming from the hoof once cleaned out, and thick black mucous at the sites of the infection and also hoof and frog sloughing away as the bacteria eats away at it.

Treatments will vary from horse to horse and also what their living conditions are like. It is best to speak with both your farrier and your vet to get the best solution possible for your horse.