I would like to help my older mare as much as I can. I have done a search for older horse care and ligament use and am now thoroughly confused.
Some say to use ligament on the whole body, what is the purpose of that? Diluted liniment in a bucket, is it wiped on splashed on?
I have a blue menthol smelling product in a gallon container, label is gone, I use this on her legs, I put a blob in my hand and rub it into her leg from the knee/hock down. Is this effective? two blobs per leg?
I have been spraying my mares legs off but realize I don’t really know what Im doing, I want to help prevent injury, help her relax, muscles not get tight.
How warm/cold should the water be?
How long should each leg be hosed to do any good? I have read to prevent fading the horse should have all sweat rinsed off, what about muscle benefit? Should the whole horse be rinsed every ride?
Before shower capabilities I always wiped sweaty areas on the face, girth area and other creases.
I appreciate any insight thank you,
About 20 years ago I spent a summer volunteering at a farm that housed an Olympic level national jumping team. After every ride those horses were wiped down with a cloth that had been dipped in a warm water and liniment mix. I have no idea if it actually accomplished anything, but it was a step that was never skipped.
From a very knowledgeable trainer/friend:
“The action of rubbing does more good than the product”
His point made sense, the brisk rubbing - in one direction, for me: down, knee to pastern - stimulates circulation. Then the cooling action of the liniment remains.
I like gel products: Green Cool, Absorbine - because they stay on my hands while I rub.
Beneficial side effect: my hands feel better 
I’ve used diluted liniment - big glug in a bucket of cool water - to sponge off a horse hot from work, or even while working, taking a Pit Stop to sponge off breast, neck, between hind legs… & Me 
For this I’ve used Vetrolin or a homebrew of equal parts Wintergreen rubbing alcohol (or generic Listerine) & witch hazel in a bucket of water. Sponged on, then scraped off.
Yep, the benefits are more from the rubbing than the actual product, with some exceptions.
Liniments are generally cooling, which can help cool a horse faster if sponged over the body. You can do this cheaply with plain rubbing alcohol as well.
Something with arnica in it, like the Sore No More products, can help further into the tissue, but the denser/bigger the tissue, like big muscles compared to smaller muscles, smaller muscles compared to muscle-less areas, the smaller % into the tissue it will help. So, things like the SNM stuff really don’t help bigger muscles unless the issue is pretty superficial, but can really help legs, including the smaller forearms and gaskins
Helping muscles not get tight means walking until vitals are normal, and the only sweating is due to the ambient air conditions. After taking care of the after-ride stuff, turnout is much more beneficial than going into a stall. If turnout isn’t an option, walking until they are dry(ish) adds to the continual internal cool down and keeping muscles moving as they cool off.
You don’t need or want warm water when it’s hot out, but the colder it is, the warmer you want the water on the body. Legs like cold water (the horse might not, so that’s preference, but you want to get and keep legs cool after work.
I wouldn’t run water over legs for the length of time it takes to cool things out in a lot of situations. For running water benefits, you really want on the order of 20 minutes, and that’s a lot of water.
Liniments will help cool after the water stops running, ice boots can help in the more extreme situations
Thank you, this makes sense. How long would you spend rubbing to make a difference? This really makes sense as I spent a lot of time rubbing legs on one of my kids, usually used icy blue but if I ran out any lotion or oil would do.
