DIY

There are SO many products to treat thrush and/or fungal issues for horses feet. Some are caustic (bad!), some stain hands (yuck!), some work great and some don’t work at all. At the recommendation of my farrier to use copper sulfate for a specific issue, I found and purchased a copper sulfate spray solution and a copper sulfate clay from an online source. I won’t say where, I don’t want to take away from their products as they worked great, but it was EXPENSIVE. I was in a rush for literally anything that would help at the time and I wanted something ASAP so didn’t really take the time to research. Since it did work so well, I wanted to come up with something more budget friendly but still effective.

The ingredients on the purchased product label were: Copper Sulfate, Vinegar. That’s it? Really?? I paid $30 for a 16 oz bottle and $40 for the 16 oz jar of clay. I thought, “There’s got to be a better LESS EXPENSIVE way” so I took to google AND discussed with my farrier and here’s what I’ve come up with for the spray: 1 cup Copper Sulfate Crystals (Amazon- 5 lbs for $27) to a gallon of vinegar. Microwave or heat mixture until crystals dissolve. If not heated, the crystals don’t incorporate with the vinegar very well and are not as effective.

Pour into a spray bottle and spray on the bottom of the hoof. Obviously, pick/clean the hooves first! I loved the clay too, but I haven’t tackled coming up with a DIY version of that (yet!) but maybe later. The spray is super easy to use so I’ve just been using that.

1 cup Copper Sulfate (crystals or powder)
- I used this product: Copper Sulfate ($27 from Amazon)
- Per google, there’s approximately 9.5 cups per 5 gallons of crystals, but I have not verified.
1 Gallon White Vinegar (5% acidity) ($4.00 from the grocery store)
Spray bottle (I reused the one from the previously purchased product, but assuming you need to buy one, maybe $5)

BAM, about 7 bucks for a GALLON of solution. That’s 128 ounces, or 8 spray bottles of the purchased product, which would have cost $240 if purchased individually with the spray bottle included each time or the company has a gallon refill jug for $175. Talk about ROI/markup, WOW! Some people might be happy to spend that and NOT mix their own, but that’s too rich for my blood. I’ll spend that nearly $170 I am saving on a months worth of feed, thank ya!

I am working on refinishing an entire pleasure driving cart. I’m working on a post to cover that through to completion (which, who knows when that will actually be), but there are a few projects within I want to document separately. Here’s the first (and easiest) one: The seat. It makes me really happy to have spent $9 on a bottle of dye instead of $250 on a new seat! Saving where I can gives me more room to purchase the things that I really do need.

First off, the seat is actually in pretty nice shape. No splits in the material and no major flaws to the leather. The snaps and snap straps are still intact and there are no tears anywhere. It was just faded and a little dingy looking, not new looking. What should I expect for a seat that is likely 20 years old give or take. I don’t know what kind of material this thing is made of, some kind of velvety something or another, but I chose a suede shoe dye to bring it back to life.

The kind I purchased is shown below and the lid came with a little dobber applicator attached to it so it was really easy to just paint the dye on. First, I sprayed the dust off the seat with the air compressor. Then just went to town with the dye, and left it to sit for a few hours to dry. SUPER easy! I love little projects with BIG results. The photos speak for themselves.