Our riders have been super dedicated at spraying their mount’s feet after picking them every time to stay on top of the thrush and foot fungus they are apt to get with all of the wet weather we have been having. Despite this, our farrier Matt has been scratching his head over the incredible amount of lost horse shoes we have experienced lately. We have come to realize that vinegar is a great acidic agent that helps retard fungus and clean out disease in our horse’s feet but rusts and weakens the actual horse shoe nails. All the vinegar sprayed on our mount’s feet is causing the decay of the horse shoe nails… hence missing shoes.
Thats the theory anyway. So for now, we are switching our thrush treatment to a bleach solution- 1 part bleach to 10 parts waters. Lets see if this takes care of the feet but preserves the horse shoe nails!