Desert Horses

Welcome to my horse blog, Desert Horses. We live in the desert southwest, near Palm Springs, CA, but board our horses up in our local mountains where it is cooler in the summer. I have 4 horses, all rescues. Here is the ranch up the mountains where the horses stay.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Desensitizing Sunni














































It was such a nice, warm day last Saturday that, after putting the saddle on Sunni, I decided to work with him a little bit. So, back to the arena we went and I tossed the lead rope around his butt and back legs. He's quite sensitive about his back legs, although he does lift them for me to clean. He had a little bit of Thrush on his right front foot, and I cleaned his back ones, using the last of my Thrushbuster. I bought a new bottle yesterday for...***GASP*** $17.99!! Seventeen dollars??? Last time I bought it, it was $9.99 a bottle. Oye vei! Does anybody else use something different for thrush control or have a homemade recipe?

9 comments:

Cactus Jack Splash said...

Tea tree oil can help. The other thing that our farrier uses is a mix of a cream for yeast infections and iodine, puts it n a syringe.
Sunni looks like he is learning his lessons well.

Gail said...

Seems to be doing well,

Katharine Swan said...

Both my farrier and my vet recommend a solution of bleach and water, but I don't remember the ratio offhand. You might be able to find it online. Bleach is fantastic for disinfecting and killing stuff like thrush, but I think you have to mix it up fresh every day -- it loses strength after 24 hours. When I worked in child care, we mixed a bottle up every morning and used it to clean everything throughout the day!

Horse Riding Equipment said...

Best wishes for 2010 !

Unknown said...

We've used a vinegar mixture, but the formula escapes me...

Great picture these days, it's fun to see Quad and Sunni getting their kicks out...

restoration42 said...

Hi Cheryl - try visiting Horse City's Hoof Forum. It is a barefoot oriented group.
http://forums.horsecity.com/index.php?showforum=44
Many feel that Thrushbuster kills healthy tissue as well as thrush, actually feeding fungus. Pete Ramey recommends mixing 3 way antibacterial cream and toe fungus cream. Linda Cowles' Healthy Hoof site had directions for this. You can buy ingredients at the dollar store. If the thrush is severe, treating with White Lightning is the way to go, then follow up with "Pete's Goo".

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

Whatever you do, don't use bleach! Try putting bleach, even diluted, on your skin and leave it there for several hours. It can be painful and can kill healthy tissue, too.

A farrier I know recommends using a large squirt of antibacterial hand gel a couple times a day for a week. The alcohol will help dry the moist areas and the antiseptic will help destroy the bacteria.

Do you know I also used this remedy on one of my twinling sons years ago? He had warts all over his hands. After 2 weeks of the antibacterial treatments, the warts were completely gone, which was weird because warts are supposed to be viral. It worked, but I don't know how.


Good for you working with Sunni. You looked good out there.


~Lisa

Katharine Swan said...

Lisa, the amount of bleach in the water is very small. When I worked in childcare I got the cleaning solution we used on my hands all the time and it didn't hurt or do any damage to my hands. I'll see if I can find the solution for everyone.

Katharine Swan said...

Okay, this site gives directions for making a cleaning solution: only 1 tablespoon per gallon of water. It's enough to disinfect but it definitely won't hurt your skin (except for making you smell like the cleaning solution :o)!

http://www.factsaboutbleach.com/bleach_public_health.html

Notice it also says that the bleach/water solution is not harmful to the environment, because it breaks down into salt and water. This is also why you have to mix it up fresh every day.

This video on YouTube suggests a somewhat stronger solution for cleaning thrush:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K7_Hi6FgSo

What he suggests seems a little strong, so I would probably use only about half the amount of bleach.