This is very interesting. I never used to ice but now we do at shows or at home after bigger jump schools. I have gel packs that we put on under Velcro boots or a wrap. I also purchased some used Equifit because I like the idea of the compression and the shape but honestly, if we leave them on for 20 or 30 minutes when I take them off I never feel like the leg is cooler so none of them last very long. I think the most effective way is the old-fashioned ones where you add actual ice and water to cover the whole leg. But I would love to see the studies suggesting it’s not a good idea. RAyers knows what’s up, I’m inclined to believe him!
I don’t know if there are studies on horses. The ones I saw were on humans.
The other thing to keep in mind is that a horse has no muscles below the hock or knee, just bones, tendons and ligaments.
So you’d want to see if the research suggests different treatments for muscles and tendons.
2 Likes
The best ice boots and they are not expensive are - Tough 1
I even use them on myself. They stay cold for hours.
https://www.amazon.com/Tough-1-67-5690-2-0-P-Ice-Boot/dp/B00EJFC4EC
I have been absolutely amazed by my Tough-1 ice boots. I use them often. Easy and stay very cold. I won them but would buy them if I needed to!
I like the simple design. Question: do the freezer inserts come out or do you need to stick the whole barn smell boot in with the ice cream and freezer burned chicken legs?
Whole boot, which is why although I like these-- I prefer the Ice Horse
Oh ick.
Unless I had a freezer running at the barn, or perhaps a huge chest freezer so I could dump the boots in a plastic bag, that’s a deal breaker.
I wash my saddles pads in my washing machine, I dry my turnout sheet in the front hall, and I have some “vintage” saddles in the living room.
But I draw the line at used ice boots in the fridge freezer 
3 Likes
Looking at the Cochrane Database you can find numerous papers on cryotherapy. While not on horses, it is clear that cold therapy can inhibit healing, diminish the necessary macrophage/monocyte infiltration needed to stimulate tissue regeneration, reduce the quality of new tissue, or even have no effect on the outcomes.
For example a 2015 review of cryotherapy on knee replacements (11 studies encompassing 809 patients) found that it had no effect on patient outcomes or the quality of outcome.
The concept of RICE in medicine is being revised. Even the doctor who “discovered” this has said it was intended as a general treatment.
I have tall ice boots from Duratech that stay cold a long time…like days. I only ever used them on my horse with laminitis, though.
@RAyers, what is the latest on heat? For my personal injuries I strongly prefer the feeling of a bag of rice warmed in the microwave to cold, but if it is harmful I won’t do that. Have tendinitis right now in my foot…stupid me took too long of a run last week.
You can always put the boots in a gallon ziplock bag or something, if you don’t want them contaminating/getting contaminated by whatever else is in the freezer
Very interesting.
The idea for ice therapy for humans or horses as explained to me in the past was that reducing inflammation and swelling was a good thing, as the swelling itself could cause more damage to the tissues.
That sounded reasonable but perhaps there is now a newer understanding of the role of inflammation in the healing process.
My vet told me last week not to give an NSAID if my mare got uncomfortable the day following the vaccine as a little inflammation meant the immune system was processing things and not to shut that down.
Icing actually will prevent drainage, leading to extended swelling because the lymphatic system becomes constricted.
Ice was originally prescribed before the cellular/tissue functions were understood. It was incorrectly assumed that because the propreiception of pain was reduced in the patient that swelling was reduce.
additionally, because the vasculature is constricted, the monocytes/lymphocytes and macrophages needed to intitiate healing (the so called inflammation) are restricted in access to the tissues, thus further inhibiting healing.
Therefore, the concept of prophylactic icing is actually doing more damage to the tissues than simply letting them recover.
As as I said, I keep icing to trauma and acute conditions. I want me and my horses to get sore in workouts to develop the biological and physiological responses to better heal in competition. I also believe it expends overall soundness of the horses as well.
2 Likes
How does icing work for trauma? Would it not also reduce healing?
And would cold hosing have a similar if much more modest effect? Or would it be useful to reduce heat and strain?
I must say I’d be unlikely to choose a cold shower if my legs were tired. But a cool or lukewarm shower if I was totally overheated in the summer would be great to bring down body temperature.
Very interesting thread!!! Love to read more about what people have to say about it. I got 2 of those igloo wraps, I was thinking that the worst case scenario would be that I would end up not using them and putting them in my cooler. haha
I recently bought the Tough-1 Ice boot. I wish i would have just gotten two right away. Stays cold for a good 20-30 minutes, i have never gone over 30 but even when laying off to the side for a while after 30 it still seemed cold. I always wet the leg with cold water before I apply.
1 Like
Icing is currently being rethought as the “go to” for baseball pitchers after they throw. For pitchers, especially there is more stress on the shoulder and elbow tendons and ligaments than on the arm muscles, and pitchers would ice the shoulder and elbow following a game. But now many are replacing that protocol with “active recovery” of specific exercises to target those joints.
1 Like
This thread is fascinating. I have long been a believer in the power of ice for my own orthopedic troubles. Reading this literature has made me rethink my approach. Thanks COTHers for constantly teaching me new things!
2 Likes
Generally, after gallop sets (once a week), trot sets on the road, and XC schools, I groom my horse and turn them out in the paddocks. The next day or two are easy days off, allowing the biology and physiology to respond. I am training my horses at the cellular level as much at the body level.
At competitions, I will poultice or alcohol wrap with lots of hand walking. I may use ice boots to cool the horse on hot days by covering the major arteries and veins.
I cold hose on wounds to flush bacteria.
The goal is that my training is supposed to get my horses sore so they can develop the appropriate physiologic responses. There is no known method to start tissue generation by inhibiting inflammation.
For example, in bone, we have learned that there is no way to start bone growth without turning on the inflammatory pathways. That is why osteoporosis is what it is. The inflammatory cells (catabolic) have disconnected form the anabolic pathways. Right now the general treatment is to kill off the inflammatory cells (e.g. tilden, fosamax, boniva, osphos,…). But that only stops the degradation of the bone. It doesn’t heal the microfactures etc. However, if we use MCSF, RANK-L or other upregulation pathway for inflammation, we san start the growth.
3 Likes
