With warm summer days in full swing, many horses are out and about engaged in a number of activities and, as is well known, when horses are out and about, injuries easily occur causing a need for products and dressings that bring relief to injured areas. Many horse owners and caretakers turn to liniments for this relief.
Women using a liniment to cleanse and treat a wound on a horse's leg.
Many formulas, potions and products have been used as liniments and poultices over the years and some old-time trainers had their own secret ingredients and wouldn’t tell what was in their liniment.
© 2017 by Mark Sellers
There are dozens of liniment products for horses. Traditionally, liniments have been used for relieving muscle soreness and to help ease strains and sprains in the lower limbs, containing ingredients that increase circulation to the area.
Some of the liniments used in the past contained toxic materials such as lead or mercury, which are not healthy for horse or human. “Rubbing” liniments usually contained alcohol or turpentine.
Most of the commercial products today incorporate safer ingredients than the old liniment “blisters”, but should still be used wisely and according to directions.
Use of some liniments is still based largely on tradition. Liniments are a fringe area of medicine, but there are a number of products that do work well as drawing agents to reduce swelling, or for reducing inflammation.
Many trainers and horse owners use liniments on horses’ legs as an aid in helping relieve discomfort, swelling and inflammation following athletic workouts or excessive strain on the limbs.
Some liniments can also be diluted with water, and used as body washes to help a horse cool out and feel better after exertion.
Most products are designed to increase blood circulation, which can help reduce fluid buildup in the limbs.
The term liniment is broadly used; there is no real definition.
Liniment products today can be broken into several categories.
Some are mild astringents (like rubbing alcohol or products that contain witch hazel), used as a leg brace with or without bandages or as a body wash when diluted with water.
Some liniments are used as sweats (products used under a bandage to create more heat).
Some are used as poultices--usually a medicated salve or mud to help reduce inflammation and draw out any swelling or heat.
There are also some products that are stronger anti-inflammatory agents such as DMSO or mixes containing steroids or other medications.
There are also herbal products (some of which are very mild and others that can be quite irritating) and topical anesthetics that produce a temporary numbing effect for pain relief.
Some of the products most commonly used include alcohol, or an astringent, like witch hazel. Most of these are applied to the legs before bandaging. Many racehorses are kept in standing bandages when they are not being exercised, and underneath those bandages will be alcohol, witch hazel or some sort of liniment to help ease any aches and soreness.
If a liniment makes the horse feel better, he will perform better when asked to compete. It probably won’t make an actual difference in his soundness, but he’s more comfortable. The legs may stay healthier if you can reduce any inflammation and swelling, to promote more free-flowing movement.
Products that are menthol based are often used as a mild brace under a bandage to create a small amount of heat and increase circulation. The bandaging tends to prolong or augment the effect. It’s not a good idea to use products that create so much heat they might injure the leg when used improperly. Some liniments can actually create blisters under certain circumstances.
The mild leg braces are safer. The main thing is to make sure that the liniment you use doesn’t irritate the skin or cause a reaction that might make it difficult to determine what’s really wrong with the leg. Braces are mostly alcohol-based, used to cool the legs in horses that are working hard. A mild brace may have some benefit and won’t cause harm, and it won’t cover or mask a problem to make it more difficult to see or diagnose.
Sometimes a little more heat is desired, to stimulate an increase in circulation. In these instances some horsemen mix up a furacin and glycerin combination (half and half) to create a sweat. If there is strain or injury to the leg, many people use a mix of DMSO and furacin, since DMSO is very effective for reducing swelling and inflammation.
Horse’s skin is sensitive, however, and prolonged use of DMSO can irritate the skin, creating some “burning” and scurf on the skin. Mixing the DMSO with a little water first can help reduce the burning sensation because the water/DMSO combination produces heat and gets rid of that chemical reaction before you apply it to the horse.
There are many things you can put on the horse’s legs to make them sweat (which reduces swelling). Some osmotic sweats (materials that pull fluid out of the body tissues) and salves have a drawing ability like a poultice. Horses that have swollen legs from trauma can often benefit from a sweat or poultice that draws the edema out of the leg.
If a horse has filling or edema in the legs, a sweat type liniment or material like furacin can take out some of the swelling. Sometimes this is therapeutic by itself. Other times it just allows you to see what’s going on with the leg, once you get the swelling out of the area.
If the horse is not lame and the leg is stocked up with fluid buildup, a sweat type liniment can help remove the filling so you can more accurately evaluate the leg and determine whether it’s a tendon problem, a suspensory issue, inflammation, or just poor circulation.
There are many formulas, potions and products that have been used as liniments and poultices over the years. Some people buy a commercial product and then add/mix in some other ingredients. The old-time trainers had their own secret ingredients and wouldn’t tell anyone what was in it.
There was a lot of myth and mystery surrounding certain liniments and some people put more stock in the application of the product than the actual benefit. The massage that went along with applying the liniment probably had as much benefit, messaging the swollen lymphatic tissue.
In earlier times, alcohol was the basic liniment, along with Absorbine and the old Ball Solution, which was an iodine product used as a counter-irritant designed to stimulate circulation. This product is still advertised for relief of muscle soreness, curbs, splints, ringbone, cracked heel, bowed tendons and big knees due to extreme overexertion.
Bigeloil was another favorite, for legs and sore muscles, and as a body wash when mixed with water—to loosen up stiff muscles and joints. It creates a warming effect and smells good. It was also used on the horse’s legs as a sweat, with a bandage.
Article was first published on EquiMed in the General Care Health Center and is reposted here after minor updating by EquiMed