okay, so, l was wondering if a horse has to be wearing a special kind of shoe to be ridden on sand. l do not think he does, but my horse does not wear shoes and l do not know a lot about horse shoes. also is it normal for the horse is frog to fall off? my horse is an 9 y/o AQH, l ride him western, he is 15.3 hands tall.
thx!
oops. sorry, l did not mean exactly 'fall off' l meant like, in the past couple months his frog has been getting a little shorter and does not sick out of the hoof so much anymore. it is still there but it is just smaller. it doesn't, like fall off in chunks or anything. it just looks like it is being worn away, or something like that. it does not look serious. and it has only been happening since it has started snowing. l was just wondering if that is normal.

What Is Thrush & What Do l Do About It?
What is it?

Thrush is usually a rather benign disease that attacks the frog & surrounding tissue. It is primarily found in the sulci (the grooves along side & down the center of the frog). It is characterized by a dark, often black, putrid slimy discharge. It is usually associated with poor frog growth & a ragged disintegration of the frog tissue. Occasionally a case will become chronic & complicated with deep involvement of the sensitive structures & may, in worst case scenarios, involve the tendons. These cases r hard to distinguish from canker, & very difficult to cure.

What causes thrush?

A little critter called spherophorus necrophorus is most often to blame. It is an anaerobic (lives without oxygen) bacterium that lives in the digestive tracts of animals world wide. Poor sanitation, dirty stalls, manure filled paddocks & wet conditions r major factors that predispose the foot to thrush. Contracted or overly high heels that trap debris also contribute to a horse’s chances of contracting thrush. But the primary cause of this disease is lack of thorough cleaning of the feet. S. necrophorus in small colonies is easily killed by air & light. This bacterium loves dark wet unsanitary places like the bottom of a horse’s foot. It can set up housekeeping & multiply prolifically, feeding on the frog tissue itself.

How is thrush detected?

A foul odor that smells like a cross between rotting garbage & stinky socks, & a black slimy discharge r the main clues. The frog may be covered with this discharge, or there may be some deep in the sulci along side the frog & down the center of it. The sulci may be deeper than normal. You may also see it in the white chalky exfoliating sole around the frog. The white powdery stuff is NOT thrush. That is normal shedding of the sole.

In advanced cases, the frog will be atrophied & have a shredded, disintegrated, mushy look to it, with loose, ragged flaps of tissue hanging off. (Loose flaps alone do not signify thrush. Horses shed their frogs in the spring & fall along with their coats. These flaps, if uninfected, r normal. Your farrier will trim them off at his/her next visit. If these flaps appear loose & about to come off, u can grab them with ur hands & pull them off.) Your horse may be sensitive to the hoof pick when u dig down into the sulci. In very serious cases u may draw blood. Your horse may also be lame.

What can be done to treat thrush?

In very mild cases, simply keeping ur horse in a clean, dry environment & thoroughly picking his feet every day, especially the sulci, may be all that is required. In mild cases, u may need to use an over the counter remedy. There r several available in tack shops & feed stores. You should discuss treatment with ur farrier and/or veterinarian. They can recommend the right product to you, as there r some that r more effective than others. With the right product & diligence on ur part, thrush can be cleared up an a few days to a week or two.

What about serious cases?

In advanced cases u will need the help of ur farrier & ur veterinarian. They will need to debride the effected area & remove as much of the diseased tissue as possible. There may be a good deal of blood associated with this tissue removal if the thrush is advanced enough. This is followed by aggressive treatment.

If the center cleft of the frog is deeply involved, u will have to clean it out every day & pack it with medication & cotton. This is done by hooking a cotton ball on the end of a clean hoof pick, & swabbing it through the cleft, all the way to the bottom. It will come out covered with gunk & slime, & ur horse may complain that it hurts. Repeat this process with a clean cotton ball each time, until the last one comes out clean. Then soak as many cotton balls as needed in Betadine solution or a similar product (DO NOT use the scrub, as the soap will irritate sensitive tissue), & pack them down in the cleft. Pack it tight & full. Repeat this treatment every day & keep ur horse in a clean, dry environment. The rest of the frog should be treated with a commercial remedy or one ur vet gives you.

You will have to do this for a long time. The frog tissue will eventually fill in the cleft. It must grow from the inside out. If the cleft is deeply involved, this can take several months. If u stop treatment too soon, the thrush will return & u will be back to square one.

More serious treatment may take the form of ur vet packing the affected areas with medication & wrapping the feet to keep them clean. S/he may want to administer a tetanus shot & antibiotics as well. The bandages & packing will have to be replaced every day or two. If u do not feel qualified to do this, u should ask ur vet to return & do it for you. A bandage that does not stay on is not goin

your horse dont even need shoes to ride in sand only on solid ground so its feet dont hurt.

if you are reining in sand they need to be wearing sliders, but if just regular riding no, my arena is sand and my QH mare goes barefoot. Sometimes the frog will peel away when it gets dead enough but the whole frog shouldnt come out. if it does your horse my have thrush. Make sure to keep your horses footing dry, thrush is caused by standing in wet areas.

Unless her has trouble moving in the sand, l would not worry about it.
But are you talking about being ridden in sand on the beach? thats a different story. or just in an arena?

They do not need special shoes for sand. Really, they do not need shoes for that at all as long as u get a good hoof moisturizer like ''Rain Maker''. The only thing about sand is that it is so dry & if u ride on it a lot it has a tendency to suck all the moisture out of the hoof & then they get brittle & chip & crack. l used to use Rain Maker on my horses & it is one of the best products u can get.
Horse shoes r really only needed if you're going to be riding on rock, gravel, or pavement & cement. They give the horse more traction & prevent bruising of the sole. I've had horses almost all my life & we never got any of them shod. And there is a slip-over horse boot u can get from Country Supply (online) that works like a slipper to prevent bruising from rocks if u do not want to get iron shoes.
It is normal to a certain extent for the frog to shed. If u watch ur farrier closely when he trims ur horses feet u will notice that he will use a hoof knife to trim it up. My horses used to shed theirs in big layers that were close to a quarter of an inch thick. l used to do all the hoof trimming so l just let the frog shed on it is own. If it is coming off too thick, say more than a half inch at a time, I'd call a vet or farrier & have it looked at. Otherwise it is pretty normal. Think of it like a big callus. You can even pull the hanging chunks off my hand if u want.
Just remember, if ur horse is feet feel hot to the touch there is something wrong. Feel with ur wrist on the outside top edge where the hairline is, & feel all around the heel, toe & frog. It should be warm, but not too warm. If there is heat, it might be anything from a bruise to the onset of ur horse becoming lame. Heat should be brought to ur farrier or vet is attention asap.

Hope l helped you!

It is healthiest to allow a horse to go barefoot. A hoof is supposed to flex. Steel shoes prevent that from happening & binds the hoof is circulation.. Sand is really easy on their feet, with the exception that it is drying to the feet, but that has nothing to do with needing shoes. If riding on hard or rocky terrain, u could use Old Mac horse boots, boas, or easyboots. There is a lot of boot options on the easycare website, shoe alternatives. Check out swedish hoof school on youtube. Oh, & It is normal for a frog to shed a little here & there, but not 'fall off''! If it really did fall off, then you'd better have a vet or ur farrier check that out pronto. Even if barefoot, a horse still needs regular hoofcare. :)

First, it is normal for the frog to be worn off. When it is not sufficiently worn down, it will sometimes shed off in one big chunk, revealing healthy new tissue underneath. The tissue that is shed consists of dead cells. It has nothing to do with thrush. It is normal.
Horses do better without shoes. a variety of surfaces r good for the hooves to be exposed to which toughens them. l am a firm believer in barefoot trimming, which is a learned skill that many farriers have not acquired. If u can find a qualified barefoot trimmer to service ur horse, it is the best guarantee u can find to developing & maintaining strong, healthy hooves.
Keep him barefoot, & have the trims done frequently. Give him as much opportunity to exercise as possible, which keeps the blood moving in the hooves & ''feeds'' hoof tissues from the inside.

Add. l just saw the post above mine. Trust me, it is not often, but the entire dead frog does come off all at once as a normal occurrance on occasion.

no horse needs shoes. even on hard ground. was it protruding a bit and the top just peeled off? if so he is merely self trimming. so no you dont need to put shoes on to ride on sand. if you are concerned about the frog thing consult your trimmer

l agree with the comments about keeping him barefoot.
You should keep him barefoot, this isnt an issue that would cause him to need shoes. The healthiest way (on the whole) for a horses feet to be is without the shoes.
Its normal for the horses frog to change shape with different changes in the weather & conditions, it could well be to do with the snow & the weather being a bit more damp than usual.
He wont need special shoes for sand, their bare feet provide the best grip on most surfaces :)