HORSE REMEDIES

The following is a list of inexpensive and quick home remedies for your horse.

Rescue Remedy ~ trauma.  Calms and clears the horse's mind.  I have personally used this for myself and it works!  Within 15 minutes I no longer felt anxious and my head became clear.

Preparation H ~ aids in reduction of proud flesh and encourages hair growth on wound sites.

Meat Tenderizer ~ moistened into paste takes the sting out of bug bites and stinging nettles.

Sugar and Iodine ~ mix into paste for burns and scrapes.  The sugar keeps the flesh from dying and the iodine fights the infection.

Vinegar ~ for natural fly repellant ~ 2 cups white vinegar, 1 cup Skin-So-Soft oil (original product by Avon), 1 cup water, 1 tablespoon eucalyptus oil.  Mix in a spray bottle.

Clorox or Lysol ~ 4 parts water, 2 parts Clorox or Lysol.  Use in a spray bottle for thrush.  To treat thrush you must clean deep into the clefts at each side of the frog.  You may have to pare out infected tissue and then medicate and pack the foot.  Soak cotton wool in whatever medication you choose and push it into the clefts of your horse's hooves and cover with packing.

Diapers ~ place on the underside of hoof and wrap duct tape around the horse's hoof.  This is great for holding a poultice in place and keeping abscesses clean.  The diapers can also be used as an "Easy Boot" for your equine companion.

For poison oak/ivy/sumac - mix equal parts of buttermilk, salt, and vinegar into a paste, then liberally coat on the affected skin. The salt actually provides a delightful abrasive that scratches the itch while the buttermilk seems to neutralize the poison oils that cause the itch. Your horse will thank you.

Poultice Mixture Horse Remedy

• Clay ~ (either white, gray or green), such as Vogel.  Use a popular brand as they are "clean" and do not contain a chemical makeup that can do more harm than good. Keep on for 8 to 12 hours.
• Onion, cabbage and cottage cheese are very good at drawing toxins out of dirty wounds.  Used separately or mixed together (1/3 of each).  Chop the onion fine and mix well with enough cottage cheese to produce a semi-solid paste.  A cabbage leaf may be used, if the poultice is to remain in place a long time or if it is applied to a sensitive area.
• Mustard ~ excellent for horse's joint pain.  Mustard brings blood to the surface, thus increasing circulation.  Dry mustard, such as Colman's or Keen's must never be mixed with very hot water.  Mix first with cool water and let stand and THEN add the hot water.  Make a paste of equal parts of flour and mustard.  Apply to your horse's joint.
• Bran and Sea Salt (equal parts) ~ 2/3 cider vinegar and 1/3 water is commonly used to relieve inflammation.

How to Apply the Poultice to your horse

• Spread the mixture on a piece of cotton cloth large enough to cover the area.

• Apply the cloth with the mixture side directly in contact with the body.

• Cover the poultice with an extra piece of flannel to keep in the warmth.  For a more drawing effect, cover with a plastic bag providing moisture and heat.

• Keep the poultice on for 15 to 30 minutes, depending on the part of the body.

• For young growing animals (foals and yearlings), 10 minutes is sufficient.  If skin is broken put a layer of clean cotton cloth between the poultice and the skin.

Bacterial Imbalances in your horse

Anytime a horse is under stress a bacterial imbalance will occur.  All of us have seen a horse with loose stools from shipping or showing.  If this isn't corrected, there will be problems.  The E-coli or Salmonella can quickly take over and create even more problems.

The use of antibiotics kills the beneficial bacteria leaving a sterile gut.  Drinking chlorinated water will kill the beneficial bacteria.  The imbalanced flora hinders the body's ability to digest food, preventing your horse from absorbing the nutrients that are essential to its health.

A bacterial imbalance can be prevented with a probiotic.

RAIN ROT (on your horse's back)

Rain rot, being a bacteria, has bacterial AND fungal characteristics. It's important to keep the horse clean. (One of the Standardbred geldings I rescued several years ago had a bad case of "rain rot".  This was my first experience with the fungus and it is not a pretty sight. After I was finished, most of his hair was gone from his back and it was cold outside and he had to be kept in his stall because I couldn't put a blanket on him.  Don't let this happen to your horse.  Keep the infected area DRY and exposed to the air. The following is what you can do for your horse.

Betadine is a good start. It's important you get the infected hair/skin OFF the horse. Use warm water and the betadine or an anti-fungus scrub to soak and soften the skin, then slowly work at removing it with your fingers. It may be a little sensitive for the horse, so take your time. But once those scabs are off, the horse will feel MUCH better.

This organism does not like oxygen. Moist, wet, dark environments actually speed the growth and help spread it. If you can, clip the area on your horse to expose it to air. Do not use ointments as they will only lock the organism in and prevent exposure to oxygen. Keeping the area clean and dry is the best course of action.  I also put hydrogen peroxide in a spray bottle, and spray the affected area once it has been cleaned and de-scabbed. This will help oxygenate it. You can wipe off the excess peroxide and keep spraying until it no longer fizzes. You can tell if the area is responding to the treatment when you see the area is not fizzing. Afterwards, towel dry. You can even sprinkle a little corn starch on it to absorb excess moisture. I don't like baby powder as it has talc, which can be too much of a barrier. Plain old corn starch is best. Dust off the excess. Remember, you want the horse's skin exposed to air.

Mane, Tail and Groom (M.T.G.) is a solution already prepared that you can buy in most tack and feed stores.  The cost is around $18.00.  Most of the equestrian community have tried this formula and swear by it.  So you may want to purchase an already mixed formula.

TO OIL OR NOT TO OIL

If your animal nutritionist is recommending canola oil, corn oil, or some other vegetable oil to fatten up your horse please read on. This recommendation is based on the fact that fats provide energy in a very concentrated form thus making it very difficult to burn off quickly. Fats are very slow to metabolize. One calorie of fat is equivalent to 3 pounds of oats or 6 pounds of hay. Very dense indeed. But is a daily feeding of 1/2 to 1 cup of oil from questionable sources a healthy cure-all to weight gain?

Vegetable oils in this form are poor-quality oils, all of which are polyunsaturated. This means that these oils are unstable with very poor resistance to heat and/or light. They easily release free electrons which are the culprits in free radical damage. The resulting cell damage is implicated in cancer, heart disease, and other chronic diseases related to aging and unless you buy organic, many corn and canola crops are genetically modified as well.

Horses have no gallbladder-they don't need one! The natural equine finds no puddles of concentrated fat in his foraging and if he/she did the reaction would be a "what in the heck was that?" lip curl. Can you imagine drinking a cup of oil without your gallbladder? I drank 1/2 cup of olive oil (twice), a relatively healthy oil, over 2 or 3 hours with my gallbladder intact and I can tell you my liver never worked so hard. The gallbladder acts as a timer that shoots bile (bile digests fat) within 20 minutes of ingesting fat. Without it the liver releases bile at random and thus becomes easily congested and overworked with excess dietary fats.

Fats slow down the normal rate that the stomach empties its food into the intestine so adding oil to grain means that the digestion of grains is abnormally slowed down, thus affecting stomach overload, gut motility, adequate enzyme activity, and energy. Horses have a small stomach designed to empty quickly. That is the reason they eat almost continuously. Replacing grain/hay calories with fat calories means a significant loss in protein, fibre, and minerals.

The key to healthy weight gain is finding the appropriate grain/hay combination for your particular horse based on breed and lifestyle.