OK To Be Honest Here.
I have NOT responded to ANY of the comments on here because when I First put this Thread out there. ALL of you jumped on a Soap Box and became very harsh. So you know what . I dropped it . I am Done. You all have such an opinion about what we are trying to do here. Geez …
Generally threads such as this are created in order to garner opinions. If you don’t want them, don’t start the thread. I am sure a google search could have turned up any number of “recipes” for what you are looking for. Or better yet if you are doing this because your vet advised you to, ask him.
Long story short
In MANY eyes, blistering is just straight abuse. Ignorant “treatment” of a wound. Its a throw back from the dark ages. We have better treatments now, and its not clear that blistering is any treatment at all.
And it does hurt. I don’t care that horses have hair, they can feel a fly on their skin, I am sure they can feel caustic chemicals burning through it.
please please please do not “blister” your horse.
How is it different from saying, hey, I want to BURN my horse? What should I use? How hot should it be? I want a good STRONG BURN.
My filly has a “bump” that I would like to go away. Its a left over from an injury. Like you, when it was acute I used a DMSO sweat to bring the swelling down, it worked well (when the injury is ACUTE). Now that it is “old” and “set”, my main option is to wait it out. And it has been reducing over the months.
OP- Have you tried using such ointments as Surpass? A timber horse I run had a “lump” on his tendon, and after a scan turned up no actual damage to the tendon, the trainer tried many things. The “lump” did not diminish with any treatments, until finally we used Back On Track wraps, which reduced the “lump” quite a bit. We then used Surpass to take out the rest of the “lump” and also the tiniest bit of remaining heat. Also worked on another horse I have.
[QUOTE=Equinoxfox;5353360]
OK To Be Honest Here.
I have NOT responded to ANY of the comments on here because when I First put this Thread out there. ALL of you jumped on a Soap Box and became very harsh. So you know what . I dropped it . I am Done. You all have such an opinion about what we are trying to do here. Geez …;)[/QUOTE]
There are informed or educated “opinions” and there are just opinions, something that everyone has in addition to a few other “things”. It sounds like you do not want to hear anything beyond that “oh, great here is xyz, go ahead and treat your horse without a clue what you are doing”. Some may have been childish and over dramatic (also uniformed) but there have been some good and necessary responses. If you do not have the money to have the horse treated with the more expensive modalities (which I certainly understand), then try the Surpass, it has had some very good success, just like SteeleRdr suggests. In the future though, if you do not want a response, or you think your feelings are going to be hurt, do not ask. Better yet though, put on the big girl panties and learn about life. Reminds me of the old negro spiritual “better humble, humble, humble yourself, the bells done rung…”.
I have a 30 yr old can of Reducine if anyone wants it… Used once years ago for a splint and I was looking longingly at the can a week or so ago. Horse in the barn with a huge splint that is driving me nutz. I ignore the pretty can as [I] hope I have learned something in the time gone by but I do like the smell. I do remember red mercury and Reducine blisters years ago and they were gross.
I am surprised at some of the holier than thou opinions posted on this thread. As if putting a piece of steel in a horses mouth feels good to them. Or placing an ill fitting saddle on a retired thoroughbreds back and having an overwide novice climb aboard. Or perhaps overloading a TB with Bute so it can make it to a race?
OP - I recommend warm , moist heat along with gentle stretching and massage.This will require time and patience. Azium powder may be appropriate in this case, as prescribed by a vet.
If you must blister, I recommend Palmolive dish detergent (Green, like Madge used), apply undiluted for three days, rinse off after the fourth day.
[QUOTE=sm473;5384613]
I am surprised at some of the holier than thou opinions posted on this thread. As if putting a piece of steel in a horses mouth feels good to them. Or placing an ill fitting saddle on a retired thoroughbreds back and having an overwide novice climb aboard. Or perhaps overloading a TB with Bute so it can make it to a race?
OP - I recommend warm , moist heat along with gentle stretching and massage.This will require time and patience. Azium powder may be appropriate in this case, as prescribed by a vet.
If you must blister, I recommend Palmolive dish detergent (Green, like Madge used), apply undiluted for three days, rinse off after the fourth day.[/QUOTE]
What the FRUITBAT? Are you a horseman? 
Palmolive…green…undiluted. Mild yet effective. Didnt believe it till I tried it. Ask some old time trackies.
It does work! Know someone who tried it on a racehorse. Not condoning the blistering practice, but it did the trick.:eek:
[QUOTE=sm473;5384613]
I am surprised at some of the holier than thou opinions posted on this thread. As if putting a piece of steel in a horses mouth feels good to them. Or placing an ill fitting saddle on a retired thoroughbreds back and having an overwide novice climb aboard. Or perhaps overloading a TB with Bute so it can make it to a race?
OP - I recommend warm , moist heat along with gentle stretching and massage.This will require time and patience. Azium powder may be appropriate in this case, as prescribed by a vet.
If you must blister, I recommend Palmolive dish detergent (Green, like Madge used), apply undiluted for three days, rinse off after the fourth day.[/QUOTE]
Why are you using “moist heat” and how are you going to apply it? Why use Azium, in other words, what is it’s labeled use? This is supposed to reduce a possible bone involved swelling how? Palmolive dish detergent as a sweat, real old time race track remedy brought to you by Betty Crocker and Madge. Probably does work for the reason that detergents are irritants. Do you know what is in Palmolive that cause this to “work”. Madge should be told at least. Sometimes there are those who really are holier or actually better educated or experienced, than thou. It is called learning. It can only insult you if you already know it all.
BTW, Reducine is good stuff, not all of the “old stuff” should be thrown out. I never used it for blistering since I just never blistered and OP was asking for random info about some as yet unidentified problem that required random mixes for that purpose.
OP, I suggest you contact a vet.
Intead of trying to cheap out and get free advice ... its always best to check with your vet.
It would be a surprise to most, but at the track, vets are called immediately -- good trainers just call the vet, have it assessed, diagnosed, treated and usually resolved in much shorter time than trying to shortcut with some voodoo recipe.[QUOTE=SwtVixen;5386461]
OP, I suggest you contact a vet.
Intead of trying to cheap out and get free advice ... its always best to check with your vet.
It would be a surprise to most, but at the track, vets are called immediately -- good trainers just call the vet, have it assessed, diagnosed, treated and usually resolved in much shorter time than trying to shortcut with some voodoo recipe.[/QUOTE]
I disagree. I don’t believe “good trainers” have to call a vet for every little thing. That’s the problem today…too many vet trainers and not enough horsemen.
I didnt say, for every little thing… perhaps I should have been more specific (afterall, this is COTH)…
When there is a question such as this... I think it can be agreed that such drastic (and risky) measures over something cosmetic ...well, is unjustified. If its that important that this little blemish be removed, then best to surgically remove it.
The OP stated this occured a long time ago, this is set…
it is what it is. The horsemen here know that
I do agree with you that there are many things that can be done without a vets assistance -- and many things that really do require the experts.
In the world there will always be those at the ends of the bell curve; but the majority of HORSEMEN (at the track, let me clarify) have the common sense to know WHEN to call the vet.Based on the posts from the OP, this injury occured last summer(5+ months ago), doesnt involve bone, and is scar tissue,which tells me it is either connective tissue or soft tissue(ie muscle).
Moist warm heat can be applied by using cold water bandages soaked in hot water. if the water is too hot for you to handle without rubber gloves, than it is too hot for the horse. After 30 minutes, massage and gentle stretching can help.
Azium powder (dexamethasone) is a corticosteroid which is typically given orally, I mix it in the feed. Its anti - inflammatory properties may help reduce the size of the bump. If it doesnt help, that may indicate there is no inflammatory process involved at this time.
Just to clarify my earlier post, the one and only horse I have used the Palmolive on was not a horse I owned or trained, it belonged to another trainer who I was helping out. I ended up treating the horse on day two and three of the “blister”, and saw the results.The horses skin did not blister, but was irritated and developed some scurff. And he appeared to have improved dramatically with the blister treatment.
The Palmolive “blister” was recommended to my friend by two vets from different practices at the track. A third vet recommended an internal blister. I have no idea what the vet would inject in this case.
I dont like the idea of blisters. Anything that damages the integrity of the patients skin can open a pathway for infectious agents. I am also concerned about these electo-stimulatory devices. While they do promote rapid healing, I think they diminish the response from nerve endings. I had one used on me twice a week for two months during physical therapy and that was my experience.
I tend prefer the least invasive treatments, and am satisfied with the results I get.
[QUOTE=sm473;5387844]
Based on the posts from the OP, this injury occured last summer(5+ months ago), doesnt involve bone, and is scar tissue,which tells me it is either connective tissue or soft tissue(ie muscle).
Moist warm heat can be applied by using cold water bandages soaked in hot water. if the water is too hot for you to handle without rubber gloves, than it is too hot for the horse. After 30 minutes, massage and gentle stretching can help.
Azium powder (dexamethasone) is a corticosteroid which is typically given orally, I mix it in the feed. Its anti - inflammatory properties may help reduce the size of the bump. If it doesnt help, that may indicate there is no inflammatory process involved at this time.
Just to clarify my earlier post, the one and only horse I have used the Palmolive on was not a horse I owned or trained, it belonged to another trainer who I was helping out. I ended up treating the horse on day two and three of the “blister”, and saw the results.The horses skin did not blister, but was irritated and developed some scurff. And he appeared to have improved dramatically with the blister treatment.
The Palmolive “blister” was recommended to my friend by two vets from different practices at the track. A third vet recommended an internal blister. I have no idea what the vet would inject in this case.
I dont like the idea of blisters. Anything that damages the integrity of the patients skin can open a pathway for infectious agents. I am also concerned about these electo-stimulatory devices. While they do promote rapid healing, I think they diminish the response from nerve endings. I had one used on me twice a week for two months during physical therapy and that was my experience.
I tend prefer the least invasive treatments, and am satisfied with the results I get.[/QUOTE]
How does the OP know it is scar tissue and not bone? Sometimes fragments can cause lumps just the same as scar tissue, for that matter, so can a foreign object. The OP never said much specifically except that it was from last summer and that it is scar tissue. If it has been ultrasounded and determined to be scar tissue that is one thing, but overall too little information to make any kind of informed decision. I just have to ask though why you would recommend the use of a coricosteroid on a horse just on the whim that it might have inflammation?
Is this the same ‘scientific reasoning’ that is used to determine that electro stim diminish the response of the nerve endings which in your view and from your experience is bad? Actually that is correct which is why it is useful. Altering the overstimulated nerve which continues to fire is what is needed to reduce the pain so that gentle exercise or stretching can achieve some success. There are also hand held devices that are not electro stims that are also of great use. Overuse or uneducated use of course, as in the use of any modality or medication will cause harm, such as the random use of Azium. Just sayin’.
Calumber, in my original post I advised Azium as prescribed by a vet. Why are you mischaracterizing this as being “on a whim” or “random use”?
As far as the “electro-stim devices”, there is a reason that they are prohibited on most tracks. You see deadening the nerves allows a horse to train or race on an injury. Many butchers in the horse racing business are very successful in getting cripples to the track, and risking catostrophic injury to the horse and jockey,by using these devices. Aside from that, I am extremely skeptical of the value of such a device in the situation the OP described.
If there are any licensed vets out there trained in the use of these “electro-stim” devices, I would be very interested in hearing from you.
A simple Furacin swet-to be used overnight (apply evening,remove the next day)
- Apply Furacin ointment liberally over area
2 )cover with layer of saran wrap
3)cover layer with cotton
4)apply standing bandage or vet wrap
Ok . Ok. I talked to vet last week and got Surpass.
It is working .
Why are you guys still on this topic.
I got your points over 2 weeks ago and you guys are still wasting time on this .
It’s been about a million years since I worked on the track – back then blistering and pin-firing was all the rage.
However, I was under the impression those methods have fallen out of favor because they really aren’t that effective. The “theory” back then was that the irritation caused by the blistering formed scar tissue that made the soft tissue stronger when healed. But of course it also makes it less flexible.
So – to those on the track – are these two methods still being used?
For a “bump”? If it’s not bothering the horse why not just leave it be?
