Leg treatment after a race

[smilesthepony]

Hello everyone-
I am conditioning a new horse for longer distances, and would love to keep her going for years to come. I have talked to many people to see what they do for horse care after the race, but I would love to learn about new strategies.

Do you rap, poultice, DMSO the tendons? Pro’s and con’s of each? Maybe an ice rap? Cold hose/soak?
Any and all advice would be wonderful, I’m a relative newbie just looking to learn something new.
Do you have a different routine say for 50’s, compared to 75’s or 100’s? Hard ground vs. Grass vs. long climbing rides? Winter vs. Summer?
My pony club manual from the past has failed me on this subject, as has my trustworthy Google search.
Thanks for the advice!

[chicamux]

I use Sore No More liniment after any kind of harder work. After a competition I suggest a good rub down with SNM then a cooling clay poutice over that. Do the poultice RIGHT! Add a little SNM to the poultice to get it good and wet, slather it on the legs from just below the knees to just below the fetlocks. Work it into the hair so it contacts the skin. I’ve seen a lot of folks put just a thin coat onto the hair. Just how is clay on hair going to do anything for the horse??? Work it down to the skin then add more clay so there is a consistently thick layer , sort of like a thin cast over the entire lower leg. Cover this with a dampened rectangle of brown paper. There is a layer of clean brown paper inside of most feed bags that will work well. Cover the paper with a quilted leg wrap and finally a firmly wrapped standing bandage over that.

You want to COOL your horses legs, never apply DMSO to a leg that has just been stressed. DMSO will heat a leg. The clay poultice will cool by evaporation.
the reason for covering the poultice with the dampened paper is the paper will extend the evaporation time so the cooling effect will last much much longer than an unwrapped leg. Yes, you can apply a clay poutice without wrapping but it dries quickly and once the water in the clay is evaporated the cooling stops. Also the good “FIRM” wrap over the paper will hold the paper in place, slow evaporation and give a firm support to the legs, also reducing filling. The well applied standing wrap will act like a flexible cast to some extent. When you remove the wraps and clean the dried clay off with cold water you will find nice tight legs.

Bonnie S.

[colorfan]

Thanks this answered my question re how much clay to apply.

[brightskyfarm]

Excellent advice Bonnie.

Let me add: inspect the area thoroughly for any nicks or scrapes, wounds, openings. Do not apply poutice if any are found.

Treat wounds instead.

Even tiny ones will blow the leg up.

[KarenC]

I poultice exactly as chicamuxin recommends - thick layer of clay, use wet brown paper wraps and then standing wraps over top. I have seen a number of people use saran wrap over the poultice which totally defeats the purpose as they are then holding heat in (there are certainly times when you would want to sweat a leg, but post-ride care isn’t one of them).

A short period of icing post-ride would also be good but I can rarely keep ice frozen over a ride weekend.

[Auventera_Two]

@chicamux;5783383

I use Sore No More liniment after any kind of harder work. After a competition I suggest a good rub down with SNM then a cooling clay poutice over that. Do the poultice RIGHT! Add a little SNM to the poultice to get it good and wet, slather it on the legs from just below the knees to just below the fetlocks. Work it into the hair so it contacts the skin. I’ve seen a lot of folks put just a thin coat onto the hair. Just how is clay on hair going to do anything for the horse??? Work it down to the skin then add more clay so there is a consistently thick layer , sort of like a thin cast over the entire lower leg. Cover this with a dampened rectangle of brown paper. There is a layer of clean brown paper inside of most feed bags that will work well. Cover the paper with a quilted leg wrap and finally a firmly wrapped standing bandage over that.

You want to COOL your horses legs, never apply DMSO to a leg that has just been stressed. DMSO will heat a leg. The clay poultice will cool by evaporation.
the reason for covering the poultice with the dampened paper is the paper will extend the evaporation time so the cooling effect will last much much longer than an unwrapped leg. Yes, you can apply a clay poutice without wrapping but it dries quickly and once the water in the clay is evaporated the cooling stops. Also the good “FIRM” wrap over the paper will hold the paper in place, slow evaporation and give a firm support to the legs, also reducing filling. The well applied standing wrap will act like a flexible cast to some extent. When you remove the wraps and clean the dried clay off with cold water you will find nice tight legs.

Bonnie S.

This is exactly what I was taught to do. I also love Sore No More. They make a great clay poultice!!

[malinda]

Can you use Sore No More poultice even though it contains Arnica, an AERC prohibited substance? Obviously I know you can use it after a ride, but what is the withdrawal time, say if you wanted to compete the horse again the next day (or day after)?

[chicamux]

www.aerc.org/DrugRuleAppendices.pdf is the list of prohibited substances. There is a short list of some withdrawal times. Arnica is a prohibited substance but no withdrawal time listed. Just don’t use it until after you are done competing.

You may use a plain clay poultice between rides, alcohol, ice, wraps but no prohibited substances. You will often see riders repeated walking their horses after a hard ride to “manually” reduce filling of the legs.

Bonnie

[wendy]

best thing is to stand the horse in a cool creek for a bit, or if no creek, some cold-hosing of the legs. A good massage of the back/shoulders/hindquarters.

I don’t really see the point of putting a poultice on? I thought they were more for treating infections.

[wendybird]

[QUOTE=wendy;6049599]
best thing is to stand the horse in a cool creek for a bit, or if no creek, some cold-hosing of the legs. A good massage of the back/shoulders/hindquarters.

I don’t really see the point of putting a poultice on? I thought they were more for treating infections.[/QUOTE]

I hose my horses’ legs down. I wouldn’t bandage them or put clay on unless there was signs of filling.

Have done 2000 ks barefoot over all sorts of ground mostly 50 milers and never needed to. Mind you we did months of legging up before we ever did a ride.

[DianeS]

Ok I’ll show my ignorance, What is a cooling clay poultice? What product name or names? I’d like to try this advice but don’t know what poultice to purchase.
D:)

[malinda]

So what would the withdrawal time be on a prohibited substance (such as Arnica)? A few hours? A few days? A few weeks? Does the AERC even enforce the rule against things like Arnica? How would they stand behind their rule, say if I used Sore No More after the previous day’s ride?

It just seems odd to have prohibited a fairly common substance that isn’t all that potent (compared to things like anti-inflammatories or steroids), and then not have any type of ballpark figure for a withdrawal time.

[malinda]

[QUOTE=DianeS;6059120]
Ok I’ll show my ignorance, What is a cooling clay poultice? What product name or names? I’d like to try this advice but don’t know what poultice to purchase.
D:)[/QUOTE]

Sore No More is the brand name of one clay poultice (that’s the one with the prohibited substance, Arnica). http://www.equilite.com/product-sorenomore-horse_poultice.asp There are several other brands available too (without Arnica). A poultice is usually used after a hard workout as it’s supposed to reduce heat/swelling/inflammation, and helps soothe sore, tired muscles and tendons.