by Heath Kizzier | Jul 16, 2015 | No Thrush, NT-Dry - AKA No Thrush, Pro Tips, Thrush
No Thrush – PRO TIP – July 2015… “**Shedding Frog**” We received a private message from a woman whose horse was shedding its frog. The answer is valuable, so we thought we’d share to all….
While frog shedding is normal, if you have never experienced it, it can look scary. In fact, sometimes the entire V of the frog will shed at once, which really looks daunting.
Usually thrush is the procuring cause of the shedding.
Here is why: Thrush wants to invade and live deep inside the heel tissue, and of course you can’t see it or smell it because it is so deep. [This is why we preach so hard about eliminating the heel cracks and deep collateral grooves. These are bacteria access points.] — Anyway, when the thrush has run it course deep inside, this action can undermine the frog.
However, when active thrush is present, the frog tissue will literally hang on for dear-life. The body does not want to allow it to shed because it is the only protection for the soft, tender, and vulnerable tissue underneath. ….
So here is the No Thrush “tip.” —- If you see the frog begin to shed [ perhaps an edge, or even a big section looks to be dislodging and “flappy” under your hoof pick] get aggressive with your No Thrush dustings. Once per day is best. The powder will draw out the deep bacteria and breeding ground and take care of the “thrush” problem. If the thrush was severe, and the frog has been undermined, the rest of the frog may fully shed away. This is a good sign. This is the body’s way of breathing a sigh of relief. It no longer needs to fight the thrush, so the body allows the necrotic/dead tissue to fall away.
But you are not quite done…. Keep using your NT every few days. This will help firm up that new tender tissue and allow it to regrow properly. No Thrush is not caustic, so it will not inhibit natural grow…. As the new frog continues to grow you can slowly back off. The A-to-Z timing will be based on the speed of your horse’s natural growth rate. [usually 20-50 days] No Thrush is not “making” the tissue grow, it is “allowing” it to grow. Meanwhile the powder is protecting the new/tender tissue from being invaded by a whole new round of thrush.
Hope you found this helpful. Learn more about those heel cracks at www.nothrushshop.com
by Heath Kizzier | Jul 2, 2015 | Dust On Wound Powder, Wounds and Skin
Dust On! is an All-Natural, All-In-One powdered wound dressing. The best explanation of the product is: Dust On! is a powdered, breathable Band Aid.
Right now, you are probably using cream, sprays to deal with wounds. Therefore you have two options:
1. You put on a cream and DON’T wrap it. In this case the wound/cream now collects all of the dirt, dust, and debris of the surroundings. This option requires that you wash the wound daily. It is very work-intensive.
or
2. You use a cream/spray and DO wrap the wound. Well, we all know that when you remove a wrapping, it is more often than not smelly and infected. Now you must deal with the wound AND the infection. This is also work-intensive, as the wrapping/bandaging must be changed every day.
With DUST On! you wash the wound on day #1 to remove the collected debris, allow the area to dry, and then you puff the powder onto the wound. That’s it. Do this 1-2 times per day, which will create a super strong “Breat
hable” scab. The word “breathable” is the key. The powder allows air to penetrate, while also forming a protective (and natural) scab barrier. One the scab is firm, simply puff DUST ON onto the wound area once per day until the scab falls off on its own. When this occurs you will find the wound gone.
Finally, DUST ON! is called “All-In-ONE” Because it is also a blood-stopper, it protects attacking, drawing, and absorbing bacteria and infection, it allows the body to heal naturally without caustic chemicals , and it creates a protective barrier against the elements.
For more info, log onto http://www.nothrushshop.com/dust_on.html
by Heath Kizzier | Oct 21, 2010 | Heel Cracks, News, No Thrush, NT-Dry - AKA No Thrush, Pro Tips, Thrush
From HK at No Thrush:
No Thrush has been independently studied and reviewed by authors of The Healthy Frog article in THE HORSE’S HOOF magazine. Below is the photo-documentation, and below that is a segment of the article. Thanks to the HORSE’S HOOF, Heike Bean, and Josephine Trott, PhD U.C. Davis
No Thrush independent study Via the Horse’s Hoof
Josephine Trott, PhD, Assistant Project Scientist, Department of Animal Science at the University of California, Davis, has been experimenting with and documenting her treatment procedure which included several different agents, amongst others, No Thrush and Oxine AH.
After a frustrating, expensive and time consuming battle using nearly every product imaginable, she tried No Thrush. “I started an experiment on eight hooves, comparing daily dusting with No Thrush to daily soaking in Oxine AH or a combination of the two. Three weeks later, the No Thrush treated frogs were not sensitive anymore, the heel bulbs were much firmer, the depth of the central sulcus was 50% shallower and the frog tissue was overall much firmer with no significant areas of surface thrush/cheesy frog. By comparison, the two Oxine AH soaked frogs were still sensitive to pressure, still had deep central sulci and significant surface thrush.”
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by Heath Kizzier | Sep 25, 2010 | Heel Cracks, News, No Thrush, NT-Dry - AKA No Thrush, Pro Tips, Thrush
Hoping for your input…..
My partner, K. Busfield – creator of NO THRUSH – Dry also owns an extensive Equine Rehabilitation Center here in Southern California. She is discovering that well over 95% of the working horses that arrive at her facility due to Soft Tissue Damage (cartilage, tendons, etc), also have moderate-to-severe thrush when they walk in the door. She also notes that in most cases the rehab recovery takes a shorter period if the thrush is properly treated first. Right now we’re looking for anecdotal evidence on a larger scale. Down the line we may push this issue up to an official Vet-university program to scientifically get to the bottom of this.
So for now however, here is what I ask…. For those of you dealing with mystery lameness, suspensory, bowed tendons, strained ligaments, shoulder issues, even neck and back issues… – will you check your horses’ feet to see if you can also find thrush? Often the feet will look dry and healthy, but thrush will most often hide in the Sulcus near the heel bulbs. If there is a crack that seems to go quite deep, you might push on the frog and sulcus just below the heel bulbs. If it’s softer than normal, (might even be…squishy) or if the horse reacts/jerks away from a normal hoof-picking in the Central Sulcus, odds are – that’s thrush.
Our Hypothesis:
It is our belief that these soft tissue injuries can often be avoided if the thrush is diagnosed and treated before the horse self-protectively changes his gait. (usually to a toe-first walking style to avoid pain in the heels.)
This is the progression of our hypothesis.
0. thrush sets in (usually hidden in the sulcus)
1. The thrush creates tenderness. (but not yet noticeable as “lameness”)
2. The tenderness creates an unbalanced stride.
3. The unbalanced stride creates excessive stress on the soft tissue.
4. Soft tissue damage/breaks occur.
The Central Question: If a horse stumbles and injurers himself – what are the odds that he stumbled because of a tentative step due to thrush soreness, and not because he’s clumsy…..?
(I know that if I limp for a few days, I ALWAYS strain the muscles in my back.)
I would love to hear your personal observations. Of course, the trimmers and farriers out there will have comments on the trim/shoeing work, which certainly plays a part in a balanced stride, but my hope here is to anecdotally determine if there is – or is not – a direct link between thrush and soft tissue damage.
