I have a 13y.o. OTTB (raced ten years) who is rehabbing a torn check ligament that occurred about 6 mos. post retirement (last April). He’s doing very, very well. He’s been on stall rest since October. Today was his second day in small area turnout and he’s been sound under saddle for 4 months!
I ran out of Dr. Riddle’s leg tightener and would like a recipe for making one using DMSO.
Any recipes out there?
How about DMSO and poultice? Lots of poultice.
Does the leg have heat and/or filling?
I’m from the track, so ice is my friend. There are fancy therapies that involve water boots and such, but some simple remedies also work.
FM, I have been going back and forth using poultice for a few days (post work) and Dr. Riddle’s leg tightener for a few days.
Yes, the tendon at the injury site has filling.
For a horse with an old injury,do you ice, post work, every time? Do you have certain situations where you poultice vs. DMSO?
I find he gets scurfy/scabby with poultice more so than with DMSO.
Leg tightener
Benson, There are plenty of people on this board who have more experience and knowledge than I do, but I’ve spent a fair amount of time taking care of legs on the racetrack.
I’m unclear as to whether the horse has filling all the time, or after exertion. Have you obtained ultrasound confirmation? Not that you necessarily need it, but it’s good to know what you’re dealing with.
Especially post exertion, I’d ice or cold hose and then put on a “super sweat”, consisting of Furazone, Ball solution (if you have it or can find it), azium or dex powder and DMSO. I’ve never measured the amounts, always just eyeballed it. Assume that you start with 3/4 jar of Furazone, add 1 pack dex, about 2 tablespoons of Ball solution and the remainder DMSO. Mix it into a beautiful mahogany color! and massage it into the affected area and wrap as usual with cotton, plastic, quilt, standing wrap. Use gloves when you’re using this! This really brings down the filling, but, of course, doesn’t cure serious injuries that may require time off or other therapies.
BTW, I think that poultice should be used as a cooling, drawing agent and not as a sweat. Different strokes and all!
I hose, ice and poultice until the inflammation(heat) is totally absent. I don’t sweat anything until the heat is removed first. In the past, I have also rubbed on some ice-a-tight gel(until somewhat dry), poulticed over the top and covered.
Once you no longer find any heat (using your lips locates heat far better than your hand, especially in knee joints), I will then do one of two things depending on how much fluid is built up. If there is a lot of fluid, I like to use winner circle sweat & dmso. Message it in until you feel the heat in your hands. I usually rub much much longer than your average groom/horseman. Then wrap with sheet cotton, pad, plastic and bandage.
If there is only a minimal amount of fluid, I have sweated with bigeloil and alcohol(pad, plastic, bandage) or liquid furazone and dmso(sheet cotton, pad, plastic, bandage), if the former isnt quite strong enough.
Once the heat is removed and then any remaining fluid sweated out, I will just rub down with bigeloil and alcohol (pad and bandage)
If you have a horse whose not hard on himself in the stall, and is cold and tight, fresh air(oxygen) on the legs is his best friend. So rubbing down with brace mix and leave open works with some horses.
Just for the record, i’m not much of a leg paint person. I think some paints may help with (splints, shins, curbs), but beyond that, I believe it is a waste of time.
Not only are these leg paints(blisters) an outdated form of theraphy, the really strong paints are somewhat inhumane as well.
When leg paints are applied to the skin they cause a chemical burn, which can be very severe. Seriously, would you allow a doctor to do that to you in the hospital?
The idea is to cause skin inflammation for the purposing of increasing blood flow to the injured tissues beneath. By creating this increased blood flow, it is believed by many to help speed up healing.
The problem with this theory though is that the blood vessels that supply the skin are not the same blood vessels that supply the deeper tissues.
So causing inflammation at the skin surface does not necessarily increase blood flow to the structures below. So I guess what im saying is that applying a leg paint(ball solution, hardhills, etc) to the skin does very little to promote healing of a damaged tendon, ligament or joint capsule.
I was just telling a vet last week who was pin firing a horse for this trainer, “hey doc…assuring some rest there, huh?”
He just kind of looked at me and grinned. The guy holding the horse had no clue as to what I meant, but this vet did.
When firing a horse, it is the period of enforced rest that is of most benefit. Rest alone should be as effective as any of these counterirritants without causing the animal more pain and suffering.
He has filling all the time. Yes, it was confirmed by ultrasound shortly after he injured it.
Check Ligaments can be nearly impossible to keep down regardless of what you use. I tried everything short of sticking the horse’s leg in the freezer and it still wouldn’t come down.
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