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thrush treatment plan

16K views 63 replies 12 participants last post by  Acadianartist 
#1 ·
So, second farrier visit went great, but Zoe does have mild thrush in her one foot. Conditions here are muddy with wetness, with extra mud.

I have been picking out her feet and putting No Thrush powder 3-4 times a week prior, but this was due to initially stating Zoe didn't have active thrush.

I just want to go over my plan here to make sure I am on the right track or if anyone suggests anything better/different. Also, I don't know if I am going into overkill mode. It just want to take care of this thrush now.

First, I am doing the No Thrush for 5 days straight ( today is day 4). On day six- going to scrub the hoofs. TO mention briefly- I do not know how my horse will react to hoof soaking. It is something I am going to work on, but for right now- I don't want to just jump into it, I think she will handle the scrub better. Zoe only has a mild case in her front left, but I am treating all feet equally.

So, the scrub- going to use the antibiotic dish soap Dawn and warm water. Will scrub her hoof and frogs. Once dry, will apply a 50-50 mix of athlete cream paste and triple antibiotic for the topical.

My question is- I was reading the apple cidar vineger and water- would that be used as a scrub or just added on? If just added on every other night- I am assuming the topical won't be there to block it?

but how long should I keep up the daily scrubs and application of the topical?


So, does this plan sound good or is it too much? Is there any danger to adding that topical mixture to hoofs that don't have thrush?

thank you for your time!
 
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#2 ·
Just want to throw my two cents in here!

I have literally tried every single product designed for thrush treatment and prevention and have consistently have had poor results. The only thing that works for my horse is daily applications of “Tomorrow” for about a week at a time, and then I apply about once a week in muddy seasons. “Tomorrow” was recommended by my farrier and it is actually labeled to treat cow mastitis. Works like a charm – no scrubbing or soaking required.
 
#4 ·
I've tried every thrush treatment out there...

I know there are people out there that swear by it, but I've found ACV to be a total waste. I used to spray a little on as a "preventative" but my horse still got it and it doesn't treat it nearly as quickly as other methods.

Overall I think your plan sounds pretty good. I'm a huge advocate for soaking though. A lot of people are hesitant or nervous about it, but in my experience, you put a pile of hay in front of them and they stand perfectly content. Soaking really does get everything that a brush might miss.

I certainly didn't offer much help here :) but best of luck to you!
 
#5 ·
I hav used ToMorrow extensively on two horses for deep Sullivan thrush. It always worked wonders until last Fall. It stopped working one horse so the vet sold me some Gentian Violet.

The gentian Ciolet worked even faster than the ToMorrow.

TSC should carry TOMorrow. We are an Ag county so our Co-op also carries it. Good health food stores should carry Gentian Violet. If you have an Old Peoples Health Food Store, that would be your best bet; I'm 69, I can call it an Old Peoples Health Food store, if I want, lollol

Regarding ACV: it might work for minor thrush issues but it was a waste of time for me:)
 
#6 ·
Well, been reading other reviews about the Tomorrow stuff. Seems like a decent option. But for those who use it- can you use it as a preventative measure? I don't know if you can seal off a tube if you don't use the whole thing, and can it be harmful if used with no thrush present?.

See, only one hoof has thrush, but other's, I think I am seeing valleys forming in the frog- however, I will admit, I am a paranoid person. Yet on the back right hoof which I had concern- doesn't look worse-but doesn't look better.

I been using the No thrust for little over 1 month- just not daily, like 3-4 times a week. Last five days, was consecutive. I do each foot- pick it out, brush it down good, make sure to pick everything out of the central sulci and such, apply the powder, pack it in, and brush it around.

While we saw only thrush in her front left- what else could be causing changes in the frogs?

When I picked out said thrushy foot, it does have a valley in the central sulci, and I pick stuff out, however, all I see now is mud. But I am wanting the valley to go away... I know it will take time, but I just want to make sure it doesn't get thrushy since it looks to be great real estate for it.

I am scrubbing the feet tomorrow, and hope to get some decent pics- yes to show, but also to visually document to have photographic proof of changes versus relying on my paranoid memory. I got a product to apply topically that treats bacteria and fungal stuff. I cannot tell from the bottle of No Thrush if it has anything for bacteria and fungus in it. However, if that stuff didn't work, i think all the feet would have thrush. Luckily, this case is mild, I just don't want it getting worse.

So, right now, just gonna stick with scrubbing and this new topical stuff. I will show pics here for advice, and if things look worse/take a turn for the worse, I can always get Tomorrow and use that.

thanks for all the feedback!
 
#8 ·
@edf, I had a whole big explanation line-itemed. I didn't hit copy and darned if I didn't lose it ---- I am happy:-? No I am not:-x

1. If your horse has contracted heels, those sulci cracks will likely never disappear. My leg/hoof specialist vet tells me that Joker's contracted heels are as good as they will likely get and that I just need to watch the sulci on his front hooves.

2. But I am anal about their care, as a I suspect you are, lol. I think I over corrected with the ToMorrow and made things worse.

2.1. BTW, ToMorrow will keep. I have a floor-to-ceiling closet in the laundry room that no longer has one iota of laundry supplies, lollol

3. The vet sent me home with pure Gentian Violet to use one a week on the sulci. It dried up miraculously fast. Now I just use the gentian Violet, if it rains and I probably don't need to but---

3.1. Now that the sulci have dried up to where they are supposed to be, I just keep the dirt cleaned out and brush them with a brush. I think this is a case where Less Is More but still not to be let go --- care is a fine line:)
 
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#9 ·
Walkinthewalk- yeah, I fear over treating big time! Especially with new products. But even so, I had thrushbuster, but heard mixed reviews about it that I only used very sparingly- as in once every 2-3 months.

Part of my problem- and I feel kinda stupid- I am just not sure I can recognize thrush. When my farrier showed me, yeah, I saw the wetness. But I never see the black goopyness. I look up pics on google, read all about it. I see how my horse could be prone to it for sure and can always swear I am seeing signs, but like I said before, I am paranoid...LOL.

In my time with horses, both with my horse and when I leased- I would occasionally pick out blackish stuff, but the vet was always out shortly after, and I asked if the horse had thrush, and they always said no, and since all I ever did inbetween the vet looking and picking it out was picking out the hoofs- and even then it wasn't everyday.

About contracted heels- I kick myself for not getting pics of her hoofs when I first got her to see how they progressed or if they didn't. My past farrier kept her bars overgrown, so I don't know if that made any significant changes in her hoof or not. I am no expert- I don't think her hoofs are terribly contracted- but I think perhaps minorly. I am starting to see butt cracks ( don't know if I just didn't notice before) but they aren't tight butt cracks. I will have to make a note of it and discuss with my current farrier.

I guess a good step is to get pics for people to see. I am scrubbing her feet tomorrow, and we'll see what they look like scrubbed. I pick and brush very good- but freshly cleaned is the best.

thanks for your input!!
 
#39 ·
Walkinthewalk- yeah, I fear over treating big time! Especially with new products. But even so, I had thrushbuster, but heard mixed reviews about it that I only used very sparingly- as in once every 2-3 months.

Part of my problem- and I feel kinda stupid- I am just not sure I can recognize thrush. When my farrier showed me, yeah, I saw the wetness. But I never see the black goopyness. I look up pics on google, read all about it. I see how my horse could be prone to it for sure and can always swear I am seeing signs, but like I said before, I am paranoid...LOL.

In my time with horses, both with my horse and when I leased- I would occasionally pick out blackish stuff, but the vet was always out shortly after, and I asked if the horse had thrush, and they always said no, and since all I ever did inbetween the vet looking and picking it out was picking out the hoofs- and even then it wasn't everyday.

About contracted heels- I kick myself for not getting pics of her hoofs when I first got her to see how they progressed or if they didn't. My past farrier kept her bars overgrown, so I don't know if that made any significant changes in her hoof or not. I am no expert- I don't think her hoofs are terribly contracted- but I think perhaps minorly. I am starting to see butt cracks ( don't know if I just didn't notice before) but they aren't tight butt cracks. I will have to make a note of it and discuss with my current farrier.

I guess a good step is to get pics for people to see. I am scrubbing her feet tomorrow, and we'll see what they look like scrubbed. I pick and brush very good- but freshly cleaned is the best.

thanks for your input!!
Not going to read through the post so sorry if I'm repeating.
I'm guessing you're referring to an infection in the frog since you're saying thrush.
Easiest thing to fix out of the host of issues I find with people's horses.

Just need a few items.
Vinegar. Plain white vinegar does the trick, but you can use apple cider vinegar (which is what some people think they need) if you want the hoof to taste better :rofl:
It's the acid that does it so any vinegar will do the trick.
Tea tree oil
some cotton or gauze.

clean out the infected area. Rinse well with the vinegar (you can cut it a little with water if you want to help it go farther). Spread a layer of tea tree oil over the area. If there's a "hole" or "pocket" you can also soak some cotton or gauze with tea tree oil and pack it in the area (this will keep foreign matter out and keep oil on it for an extended period). Change the packing every 3 or 4 days. Rinse with vinegar before repacking or anytime your cleaning.

It's never failed me in more years than I can remember. I'm annul about these foot infections so I stick with what works. I've found that trush in the frog is the easiest and quickest foot infection to treat.

To make my life easier I rinse a foot with vinegar every time I work on it. Even if I'm just trimming I'll rinse it with vinegar when I finish purely as a preventative measure. Might not do anything, but it makes me feel better :grin: and the horses I work with regularly don't have recurring infections.
 
#10 ·
Hi,

'Thrush' is a 'catch all' sort of term for any infection in the frog, as 'seedy toe' or 'WLD' is for the wall. They are the same 'disease' from soil born 'opportunistic' bugs. Can be bacterial or fungal, or protozoa, which is why 'broad spectrum' treatments are best, and one reason 'mild' stuff like ACV won't work all the time. Is often black gooey & stinky(well, that's the necrotic leftovers), but not necessarily, can be whitish, crumbly or cheesy & may not smell much. One thing that seems universal with hoof infections is that they're anaerobic, meaning they like airless places. So opening up any folds, flaps, closed cracks is helpful for that, as well as making it easier to get topicals in.

*Esp to those who 'tried everything' to no or little avail, have recurring thrush problems &/or live in 'difficult (prone)environments' for at least some of the year... Thrush/seedy is an *opportunistic* infection. Meaning that it gets into already compromised tissue. If the horse is healthy, functional & well managed feet & is on dry footing, then they're not all that likely to come down with 'thrush'. But, I as with most, am in the 'real world' where there's mud, humidity, imperfect hoofcare, diet, etc. The more of those factors, the more likely your horse is going to have compromised, weak hooves, be 'prone' to infection. Depending on the situation & care you can provide, it may be a matter of eternally managing to keep it at bay! For 'preventatives' in this situation, regular scrubbing or packing with salt is helpful, because it dries the feet out too. Teatree & eucalyptus oils are good broad spectrum antiseptics too.

So... read up on balanced nutrition, functional hoofcare, best environments, etc & do whatever you can to improve your horse's situation. Horses are built to live in dry footing, their hooves are meant to be dry & so many issues come about due to 'cushy' damp - or wet - footing. Of course, can't change the world, but if your horse must be in that sort of situation, if possible, it's a good move to get him out of it, at least for part of each day, to let his feet dry out. Cleaning & treating them when you first bring him out, then allowing him to be on dry footing for a while at least is good.
 
#11 ·
Great info here! I have managed to keep thrush more or less at bay, but my horses' frogs are getting pretty soft and deep these days. We're still dealing with snow and ice at night, and melting during the day. They always have a high and dry spot to stand in, and I bring them in at night, clean off their hooves, and apply No thrush. My trimmer suggested I add a three-part cream made of yeast infection medication + triple antibiotic + athlete's foot medication (equal parts). Will be adding that to my routine as well. I think this is a challenging time of year for everyone.
 
#12 ·
Loosie- you gave some good things to look into, and I will do.

I been slowly reading up on nutrition- will do so with more desire for hoof nutrition.

There are some things I cannot change: its muddy here. And getting rain this weekend. Her paddock has mud spots, but has dry spots as well.

So, as far as the scrubbing: so much easier than I thought! Zoe handled it well. She is very prissy about water, so I thought she would really react. I picked her feet out, then got them wet with the soap and water mix with a sponge. It worked out rather well- she didn't really react as long as I didn't send a lot of water on her ankles. I used a toothbrush to get in problem areas of frog and in the collateral groove- should have used the hoof pick brush-don't know why I didn't think of that before for the collateral grooves... Then rinsed off with another sponge in clean water. Patted dry with gauze, and applied the topical.

By her last back hoof though, I think she was done with it. Just took more patience, but I still got it. I could just tell she was ready to be finished. It's ok- I was too.

But it wasn't a challenge like I thought it was. I think this week end, I will try a soak- gaining courage...LOL.

But here are pics of the one hoof that has the thrush. I am only snapping pics to show the issue- not necessarily for hoof critique- I know I need better pics for that.

I posted some recent pics of the horse too- give you something better to look at, then followed by the very first pic of that front left hoof.

thanks for all the advice and info!
 

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#13 ·
Hi, so is the last pic what her foot looked like before recent trims? In the second pic, looks like her heel may be 'sheared' - uneven? Maybe just pic angle tho. And while as mentioned, it's good to cut off any flappy, infected bits, it's also important that the frog is not trimmed routinely - shouldn't be trimmed at all if not needed. It appears the farrier may have carved it - as they often do. Cutting off the callous actually makes the frog more susceptible to infection, as well as softer, thinner.

And I'd focus on doing what you can to keep hooves as dry as you can. So I would NOT be soaking, for a start. When you need to scrub them with soapy water, dry them as well as possible, not just a quick pat down, before putting anything like ointment on them. Perhaps you can stand her in sawdust or such for a bit, or pack them with salt or lime, before you brush off & apply a topical.
 
#14 ·
Ok, no soaks, got that.

I pat them dry, but its probably not good enough- I will have to look into other ways to dry them before the topical. Its just rainy here again- blarg!

I only scrubbed 2 feet- the thrush one, and the one back hoof that looked to have deeper parts.

Is there a special type of salt to use to pack her feet with to help keep them dry?

Also, I get what you say about the farrier and the frogs. I think that is the only frog she really touched. The very last pic was before this farrier even came out. I think it is easier to clean that groove out now, but I don't want the frog to be destroyed, but my understanding ( which may not be the best) you want it open to keep it aired out and such,right? I 'll be more aware and ask about it for the next farrier visit ( keeping a notebook of things now).

thanks for the advice.
 
#15 ·
Actually, I just read up on the sawdust speil. I think that is going to be the route I go with. After I scrub, I will get a soaking tub- put sawdust in it, and have her stand in it for a few minutes.

I'll do it to the other feet to dry them out as well. I am thinking it will probably be best to do it in the evenings when she is coming in for the night when its possible since right now it is rainy. However, I scrub in the morning- I work second shift. So, I'll sawdust her feet at night when its rainy out so she has the night to have a drier period, but will do the saw dust speil after I scrub as well.
 
#17 ·
I will get a soaking tub- put sawdust in it, and have her stand in it for a few minutes.

I'll do it to the other feet to dry them out as well. I am thinking it will probably be best to do it in the evenings when she is coming in for the night when its possible since right now it is rainy. However, I scrub in the morning- I work second shift. So, I'll sawdust her feet at night when its rainy out so she has the night to have a drier period, but will do the saw dust speil after I scrub as well.
I don't think a few minutes in anything is going to have any effect. And she'd have to stand tied & unmoving if you want her feet in buckets. But you say she comes in for the night - as in, in a dry stable? While I don't generally like stabling horses, if they live in eternal muck, stabling over night may be good as a 'lesser evil'. So bedding the stable with sawdust, wood chips, sand or such to help leech the wet from her feet would be helpful, but any dry bedding for a fair few hours will be good.

Cleaning/treating her feet just before you put her out into the mud is not going to be all that effective, so I'd probably quit doing it in the morning, unless you have a fair while to leave her clean & dry before turfing her out. Once a day should probably be adequate anyway, so I'd scrub her feet & dry them as soon as you bring her in, leave her on dry/drying footing for an hour or so, before treating them topically, then back to the dry overnight.

Oh & btw - just because I'm tickled by your use of 'spiel'... that means a glib sales speech kind of thing! ;-)
 
#16 ·
Just got to jump in here and mention that Pete Ramey still stands by soaking in a solution of 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of concentrated Lysol to 1 gallon of water.

I use soak boots. Then soak all four while they eat leaving me free to do other stuff. Soaking is usually 30-40 minutes. Only takes about a cup per boot. I have two one gallon jugs that I use in rotation. One full, one partly used.
 
#18 ·
Oh & after last comment, out of interest, & in case I was wrong(has been known to happen on the very rare occasion!), I thought I'd look up 'spiel' & see if there were alternate meanings... It does indeed mean "an elaborate or glib speech or story, typically one used by a salesperson."

But then I looked up 'speil', as you spelled it. That can be a verb, meaning to climb, ascend, mount, or it can be a noun, meaning a splinter of wood! So... now we know!
 
#19 ·
@edf I use wood pellet bedding - something you might consider. Once it gets moist, it breaks into tiny bits of sawdust. These pellets can absorb about ten times their volume in water so they're great for drying things up. I don't moisten them in the winter, they just soaks up the moisture from snow and rain being tracked into the stalls. Not sure what you use for bedding, but this could be a solution. Essentially, my horses are standing in sawdust all night, every night. They feet are nice and dry in the morning. You need to start with about 4-6 bags to get it nice and thick and may have to wet it a little at first to encourage the crumbling. But after that, I only add a half a bag every few days. The manure is picked out easily and it tends to clump in places where they've urinated, so it's easy to remove.
 
#20 ·
Loosie- did I just get a citation by the grammar police? LOL, just teasing. I guess where I grew up speil is used more of a slang.

I'll change the treatments to nights, just wont be til about 11pm to 12 am.

right now she is bedded in straw. I don't know how the BO would react if I wanted to use something else, or where it would go. We have a mushroom farmer that picks up the manure pile so I don't know if the pellets would ruin it. But I used those pellets before for rodent cages and understand how they work- its great!

About the saw dust- I was reading in an article where it stated a few minutes would dry it out, that is where I got that from, it stated in a few minutes it would suck the wetness out. However, I am not experienced first hand with it. I will try it out still- got some free sawdust- and just see what happens.
 
#22 ·
Just an update on the saw dust trick if anyone is interested: while what Loosie said is true- the longer the better- I scrubbed Zoe's one hoof, then had her stand in a bucket of saw dust for about 5minutes. The hoof was indeed much drier than when I wiped it down really good. I read it is supposed to draw extra moisture out of the hoof ( and even on the web site, it said just a few minutes, but you can't always believe all you read)- I am not sure if it did that, but the hoof looked pretty dry to me. However, I did this at night and lighting wasn't that good, even with a hot with a built in light. But it was indeed dryer than my other attempts.

I'd say it did a good job in drying a just soaked foot for the basic extra water. Now, I don't know how helpful it is for a thrushy hoof that needs drying out- but it was definitely better than towel drying. If your horse stands still nicely, I bet doing a full hour the saw dust would work better.

But if you want to dry off a soaked hoof just to dry it off- I think saw dust will work nicely. I got mine free from Home Depot ( or try any place that cuts wood) they have vacuums that suck it up, and you can just dig it out there ( bring your own bag) The guy was even so nice to state he has more in the back if needed and was happy it was going to some use other than just the trash.


On my horses home front:

not looking so good. The hoof that had thrush looks betterish, but when I picked up her other front, I smelt that horrible smell. I also looked in her stall since I went at about 8 pm- it didn't even look mucked! I don't know if they were in longer that day or when they were brought in to eat ( I dont think very long), but it was mucky and wet. We mucked out the stall completly- it was that bad- and put new straw in. So, sadly, had I not mucked out the stall, she would have been on wet dirty hay. So, I am hoping it wasn't mucked for some reason and that is not the standard!

But quick question: will stall mats help with a stall that has a dirt base to keep it a little drier? I am thinking of using stall mats with the horse pellet bedding. The barn get s a little damp in wet weather, so if the stall mats go down first, I think it will serve as a barrier between the dirty ground and the pellets. Also, upon reading up on the pellets- is it possible this will dry a horses feet out too much? Right now, I don't really think I need to worry about that...lol, but it was concerns I was reading about when looking up the bedding.
 
#23 ·
Horses with dry hooves in the desert still get thrush with contracted heels and squeezed frogs. Moisture itself does not cause a thrush infection but rather crevices in the frog (or hoof wall) that allows entry of aerobic bacteria and fungi but not oxygen.

Any successful treatment must reach the deepest part of the infection in the crevice or otherwise the infection will continue to go deeper and deeper.

Soaking in a medicated solution for an extended time of 30 minutes or so gives the medication time to migrate by diffusion deeper into the crevices that many topical applications.

With topical applications, the crevices do need to be opened up to the extent possible when treating. But if some crevices are missed, then those infected crevices continues getting worse. Soaking misses no crevices.
 
#24 ·
I have had a lot of experience dealing with deep thrush, and I took a multi prong approach to dealing with it.

1) Get a small wire brush, I got mine at the auto parts store for a couple of bucks. I used this along with a borax solution to really scrub and clean the hoof.

2) A properly balanced trim. My horse came with long toes and underrun heels, while still in the "healing" process, the hoof is adjusting it's self.

3) Proper nutrition I did a lot of tweaking of hay/feed/supplements and I finally seem to have reached a good place.

4) I used No Thrush and Thrush Buster in a 1-2 approach. I cleaned the hoof out well and used the Thrush Buster pre-ride and after the ride I used the wire brush and borax solution to really clean the hoof, then after drying the hoof, I applied No Thrush.

5) I got super lucky and found almost free mats from a trailer that was being cannibalized. I placed the mats in his stall and also encouraged him to pee outside in his run (12 x 12 stall with a 12 x 12 run attached) as his urine I believe (along with nearly a month of rain and mud) attributed to his thrushy feet.

I really do like the No Thrush dry powder, and I use it once a week as a preventive measure after I scrub the hoof with the wire brush and borax solution.

Best of luck to your situation, thrush is a seemingly never ending battle.
 
#25 ·
A edf, adding stall mats is a "yes, I guess not" answer. They can help if the urine has a way to drain off them.

I don't use regular stall mats. I use 3/4" thick grid mats that are made for restaurant kitchens. They are on top of several inches of crush. I put 2-3 inches of pine shavings on top of them. Even though the holes in the grid mats quickly plug up with shavings, they still drain the excess urine.

My horses are home, I clean manure from the stalls every morning and shovel out the pee spots every other day. I am down two to horses and they go to pasture every day, I Still go tnru a pallet of shavings (45 bags) every 4-1/2 weeks because I want their stalls dry.

It all helps immensely with thrush issues. The farrier is the other half. Sadly I have to have two farrier's, happily they both do a whizz bang job on each horse.

I still contend, after what I did to Joker, that too much soaking does more harm than good. Many years ago, one of the nuclear mechanical engineers I worked for, told me "all things in moderation". I tend to forget that.

Anyway, you are boarding, so do the best you can. If you put mats down, IMHO pine shavings would be much better than straw. They stay drier longer. Don't ever use cedar shavings or anything with walnut as they can both cause founder.

It sounds as if you may have to start doing some of the stall work, just to keep your horse's hooves healthy:(
 
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#26 ·
Well, talked to the BO today. Told her I just had some questions, and am in no way accusing anything on you what so ever.

I asked her flat out if Zoe's stall was not mucked. It was mucked. We did get 2 other mares in for the short term, so Zoe was much more active and therefore trashed her stall. She said we can lay down more straw and she can always put more in during her nightly checks.

I asked her if I could switch bedding and explained what I wanted to use and why. After figuring a few things out, I am able to make the change. Yeah, I am going to have to muck the stall myself every day, but I am there anyways. I did get a mat, was looking for ones with holes in it but no luck. I can try putting my own holes in it if need be.

I did go the horse pellet route. This may not be a permanent change, but for the wetter weather, its gonna give her that time to be in drier condition.

We'll see how that works out. I don't think the straw was providing a dry enough space for her hoofs to dry out to help with the thrush issue.

So, got one part of the puzzle worked on. Reading up on nutrition and such to make sure that is in check. Gonna keep up with daily hoof picking and treating with No thrush. While today is sunny, sadly, I hear we are in for another wet week.
 
#27 ·
It sounds like the BO is willing to help:)

Tractor Supply used to carry grid mats but looking at their web site, I don't think they carry them, anymore.

Their grid mats were not as good of quality as the ones I have now but they lasted nine years. I could easily handle one by myself.

My husband ordered the grid mats we put in last Fall. They are heavy. I am not able to do that kind of work anymore, so we hired two guys used to that kind of work. It took both of them to pull one mat off the bed of the truck.

Don't try to cut holes in the mats. You will kill yourself and ruin the mats in the process. Even if you have a hole saw, I doubt you could cut thru the mat.

Stick with your plan to use shavings and clean the stall every day you are there:). That and keeping the hooves cleaned out daily and the thrush meds should be enough.

You might still consider going on the hunt for pure Gentian Violet. Your mom and pop health food stores might carry it (GNC in my area does not) or order it on-line.

We are also in direct line of all the storms. While my pastures and yards are dry, there is a lot of mud in front of the water tubs. I am at the point where I may or may not use the Gentian Violet on Sunday (my for sure once weekly hoof cleaning day). This morning all eight frogs, and the sulci on my foundered horse were dry as could be. I had only picked all of them once or twice thru the week. I haven't scrubbed Joker's frogs and sulci since the vet sent me home with Gentian Violet seven weeks ago.

I'm sorry this means more work for you. Sometimes it seems like we go thru periods with our horses that "one more thing" almost consumes all of our free time and the place left to scrounge more time is by getting less sleep --- something I did a lot of when I was still working and dealing with metabolic and elderly horses.

Please keep us posted on how the new routine and stall works:)
 
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