I have had old TBs with pin firing scars on their legs, but was under the impression this was a practice not being done these days. In my travels looking at breeding stallions I was surprised to find a current stallion ( youngster just off the track) with pin fire scars on his legs. Is this still a treatment of choice and why?
I had one pin fired last year and I have a broodmare that raced in NY and she is pin fired.
But why ? For what reason and are there not better treatment options?
From AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners):Thermocautery may have therapeutic value for certain conditions in the horse. When applied judiciously and in conjunction with appropriate analgesia and aftercare, the AAEP considers the modality an acceptable form of therapy in cases that have proven refractory to conventional treatment.
That being said, you won’t find many vets that will do it and it is not taught at most vet schools. When done well it can have good results. When done badly, it can go really, really bad. If you are just looking at breeding stock or a non-competition horse, old pin firing scars wouldn’t scare me away from an otherwise acceptable choice.
[QUOTE=camohn;7509533]
But why ? For what reason and are there not better treatment options?[/QUOTE]
It depends on the horse. Some horses that don’t have good results with other treatments will have good results with firing.
Some guys still do, honestly I don’t believe in it myself, but it is still done. Freeze firing is still pretty popular, and while not as crazy it still isn’t that great.
If nothing else, it gets a horse time off…
It’s an outdated technique and bad medicine in my opinion, but the horses really do tolerate it OK. We used to get a lot of layup business because our farm was located near a vet who would still fire a horse… However, no trainer I personally worked for would still utilize it.
[QUOTE=camohn;7509533]
But why ? For what reason and are there not better treatment options?[/QUOTE]Yes there are much better options. It’s veterinary malpractice and quackery. Unfortunately old habits tend to die hard on the backside. A UC Davis study a few years back proved pretty conclusively that it IS in fact deleterious and makes the animal more predisposed to future injury. Thankfully that study made it less favorable but there are still a few doofi out there still doing it. Next Derby or BC champion to bear firing scars will in all likelihood get them all doing it again:rolleyes:
Anyway, as to your question of why. It’s a counter-irritant. 'Nuther words, if a horse sustains an injury, for this stuff is more often than not bucked shins. Inflammation, pain and swelling occur in the injured area. This is how the body heals an injury. Some of these clowns think to increase the pain, inflammation and swelling will heal it faster and stronger. This BS is right out of the dark ages. Question is if there is anything to that cockamamie belief then why don’t they do it to people? Fact of the matter is they did used to do it to people but quit it in the 1800’s when they figured out it was stupidity. Is a next step up from blistering. In fact, oftentimes they’ll have painful blistering agents painted on fresh firing wounds. The backside is certainly no place for people who like horses.
Also, some people will fire everything need it or not just to keep them from getting claimed.
New quackery like periostium scraping has largely replaced it but is just as ridiculous.
[QUOTE=Profidia;7510036]
Is a next step up from blistering. In fact, oftentimes they’ll have painful blistering agents painted on fresh firing wounds. [/QUOTE]
That is the part that I HATED. The firing itself was not overly terrible. But it was downright disgusting when they decided they wanted to blister over top of it. The horses legs would stovepipe and the top layers of skin would peel off. The horses were just painful. After I saw the first couple come in with that regimen, I had to draw the line and say I couldn’t do it.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;7510103]
That is the part that I HATED. The firing itself was not overly terrible. But it was downright disgusting when they decided they wanted to blister over top of it. The horses legs would stovepipe and the top layers of skin would peel off. The horses were just painful. After I saw the first couple come in with that regimen, I had to draw the line and say I couldn’t do it.[/QUOTE]
Is bad enough without it though. I’ve seen them have a whole bottle of leg deadening anaesthetic injected into them and STILL be trying to jump over the moon when the hot iron was applied.
I’m a physical therapist. All my tx options are to promote healing via reducing inflammation. Inflammation causes joint damage down the pike. Why I did not understand the whole idea. Now there is validity to the theory that stress to the bone causes it to develop stronger. But…we are talking micro trauma . Getting to bucked shins in horses or shin splints in humans… You are past micro in the trauma. No pain no gain used to be a PT theory that has been disproved… Sore is one thing, actual pain causes irritation and is counter productive. Capsacin cream as a counter irrirant for chronic inflammation issues like arthritis has a place to increase circulaion but never to the point of blisters. I never bought into no pain no gain anyway … But there are some old school holdouts there in PT as well .
[QUOTE=camohn;7510324]
I’m a physical therapist. All my tx options are to promote healing via reducing inflammation. Inflammation causes joint damage down the pike. Why I did not understand the whole idea. Now there is validity to the theory that stress to the bone causes it to develop stronger. But…we are talking micro trauma . Getting to bucked shins in horses or shin splints in humans… You are past micro in the trauma. No pain no gain used to be a PT theory that has been disproved… Sore is one thing, actual pain causes irritation and is counter productive. Capsacin cream as a counter irrirant for chronic inflammation issues like arthritis has a place to increase circulaion but never to the point of blisters. I never bought into no pain no gain anyway … But there are some old school holdouts there in PT as well .[/QUOTE]
Exactly. Every time I’ve been hurt, the docs and therapists have emphasized to keep the heat OFF of the injury.
Ice for the first 48 hours, then heat is he general rule…or basically to get things cooled down before you start with heat. The thought behind pin firing is indeed circulation, and remember that as far as horses go circulation get’s slower down the leg, so generally not a lot going on down there. That’s one reason for bandaging. It’s also why people sweat horses.
I’m not a fan of pin firing at all, and glad to see that it’s not as widely used as it once was.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;7510103]
That is the part that I HATED. The firing itself was not overly terrible. But it was downright disgusting when they decided they wanted to blister over top of it. The horses legs would stovepipe and the top layers of skin would peel off. The horses were just painful. After I saw the first couple come in with that regimen, I had to draw the line and say I couldn’t do it.[/QUOTE]
Me too. We’d get an “after fire paint” concoction that would either burn your eyes and smelled like turpentine that I was supposed to blister them with when they came in after firing.
Yeah no.
That was probably a Dr. Harthill concoction…some nasty stuff!
