If lowering the possibility of bacterial infection is important to you as a horse owner, then don't put your money on cotton.
Science helping to protect horses' legs
The cotton equine bandages most owners, grooms and stable managers have grown up relying on he warns are, âPetri dishes waiting to happen,â since cotton soaks in and holds on to problems nurtured by wet environments and fungal infection.
© 2015 by Sox for Horses
A ScienceNews.org report (citing among its sources a 2010 Foodborne Pathogens and Disease investigation) compared the survival of bacteria on polymer- versus cotton-based bank notes and concluded cotton had four times the propensity for collecting and harboring germs. As cotton fiber wore over time it created microscopic beds that harbored bacteria.
âOur current paper," said Frank Vriesekoop of the University of Ballarat, Australia, âonly represented a snapshot. Now we want to know how long bacteria will stay alive when we place them on both cotton-based and polymer-based notes. Our prediction is that the bacteria stay alive longer on cotton-based notes.â
It's a prediction Sox For Horses, Inc. ® president and founder Raymond Petterson would agree with, having spent the last decade knitting pull-on equine leg protection trusted by veterinarians and animal owners alike. Cotton is not conducive to a healing environment.
The cotton equine bandages most owners, grooms and stable managers have grown up relying on he warns are, âPetri dishes waiting to happen.â Cotton soaks in and holds on to the very problems nurtured by wet environments and fungal infection.
A better option for wicking moisture away while creating a cooling, breathable barrier between a horse's legs and environmental debris, is to choose silver ion-embedded knitted Silver Whinnys.
Silver Whinnys offer the attributes needed in leg protection. Embedded silver in the yarn inhibits the growth of bacteria, fungi, and mold in the socks, providing a clean environment around the leg.
The yarn wicks moisture from the skin surface, creating a dry tissue surface and insects cannot penetrate its double layer to spread disease and infection. These add up to a clean barrier that protects legs while they heal and prevents insects and dirt from causing further damage.
âSilver Whinnys are made to assist owners in resolving difficult issues while utilizing the best in a bandage/barrier against bacteria and infection,â Petterson said.
In the world of equine leg protection, the coin of the realm isn't cotton. It's Silver.
Sox For Horse, Inc. are an American-made product. Summer Whinnys ® and Silver Whinnys ⢠equine leg wear have helped owners better help their equines since 2007. Visit www.soxforhorses.com or call (850) 907-5724.