FAVORITE EYE OINTMENT: Triple Antibiotic Ointment with Bacitracin, Neomycin Sulfate, and Polymycin B Sulfate. You can buy this at Walmart or any drug store for $5.00 and it's the exact same thing the vet gives you for a weepy, swollen eyes. Much cheaper and really works! Just apply twice a day for a few days and eye is better. If the eye doesn't improve within a day or two, call a vet since it could be a corneal scratch, which may require more aggressive treatment. Note: This information was given to me by a vet so believe me and save!
FAVORITE TREATMENT FOR ABSCESSES: First of all, in my 40 years of horse experience, I have discovered that the main cause of abscesses is diet and improper trimming. So cut down on grains and give more hay. Also, vets won't like this but abscesses will heal themselves. The best thing you can do for your horse is give it a gram of bute or so a day for a week and baby the horse a bit for your own peace of mind. Keep the horse turned out so it can move which increases blood flow so the abscess either blows out or disintegrates inside the hoof. But check to make sure the horse was not kicked or otherwise injured, of course. If not, and the horse is suddenly dead lame on one hoof, it is usually an abscess. Take a couple of aspirin for your own headache and wait it out. But don't allow anyone to dig it out! This is counterproductive to healing and can actually introduce bacteria into the hoof and cause problems! No need to wrap the hoof either. It just annoys the horse and doesn't help it's healing. So drink a glass of wine and prop your own foot up instead. :) Some drawing products like Epsoms salt do help a little bit so soak away. Every once in a while a horse will have an abscess that causes the leg to swell. These are scary so call a vet in case the horse needs to be on antibiotics.
Favorite fly spray: ESPREE ALOE HERBAL HORSE SPRAY - Inexpensive and really works and a natural product! Also, Skin So Soft by Avon wards off ticks so we put some in our fly spray to keep them at bay. We also mix a bit of the regular fly sprays in with the natural and Skin So Soft when the flies are really bad. Sometimes nothing works but hiding in a stall. We also use Piranha Fly Spray when the biting flies are out.
Favorite horse riding boots: EASYBOOT GLOVE BACK COUNTRY. EasyCare Inc. is making better and better, user-friendly boots. The above mentioned are light, very easy to put on and they stay on. Wonderful boots! I also like Renegade Riding Boots but they are quite expensive.
Favorite thrush medications: DURASOLE FOR SERIOUS THRUSH OR WOUND KOTE OR FURAZONE SPRAY FOR THE REGULAR VARIETY. Durasole is not sold in stores but you can buy it online at Valley Vet. It kills all thrush and helps facilitate healthy new frogs. Wound Kote is a purple spray many of us have seen for years to spray on wounds. But I've found it kills thrush in a day or two, usually. The Furazone spray or ointment works too but the ointment is messy and best only for stuffing in the slit in the back of the frog on contracted hooves to open them up. These products kill thrush and make weak, thrushy frogs healthy again. Apply at least twice per week on clean frogs and bottom's of the hooves. FYI: The product, NFZ ointment, is sometimes cheaper than Furazone but is the same thing. Unfortunately, I can't find the NFZ in a spray though.
Mythbuster: Thrush is NOT caused by mud though over-moisturized hooves are a bit more likely to harbor thrush than dry hooves. Thrush is caused by hooves that do not expand properly upon impact which is the product of poor trims/unhealthy hooves/rehabbing hooves and/or horses in shoes.
Favorite treatment of rainrot: BABY OIL. Most rain rot is just dry, crusty skin. Do not pull off scabs (ouch!), just rub in baby oil and in a day or two the scabs will come right off. If baby oil does not work alone, ramp up to using Furazone since it has antibiotic properties.
Favorite horse book: THE SOUL OF A HORSE by Joe Camp -Author of Benji movies - www.thesoulofahorse.com. This book is about herd behavior and how a horse thinks. Nice, enjoyable, informative read.
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