During the winter, I put my horses in stalls at night, but I try not to seal the barn up too tight. I want to allow for some air flow because a closed up, dusty, dirty barn invites respiratory problems. Keep the stalls clean and keep the urine smell down—clean, clean, clean.
In the wild, horses roam to better climates. They’ll go to canyons, tree lines, wooded areas and find natural shelter in winter, summer heat or storms. But, we put our horses up in paddocks where they have no choices. Unless you have some Icelandic Pony they need help in the winter, they need shelter, a […]
We make sure there is an area absent of ice before taking the horses out or that the ice will break under their weight. During several days of a winter storm, we tested the paddocks and only two were usable—the others were still solid ice or ice in large areas. I put our horse, Thurben, […]
Unfortunately, in the last 5 days my horses have been in the barn. First we had snow, then we had over 3 inches of solid ice and it was dangerous for people to walk outside. Our barn doors were froze shut and took hours to get in. The snow had drifted up against the doors […]
I can’t say I have found any shoe to help with this condition. Sometimes a toe grip or something like that will help grab the track but it isn’t going to help on thick ice and could make conditions worse. Also to change a shoe to something like a serious toe grab would change the […]
When horses race in the winter, they do not race on sheets of ice or snowy tracks. Races are cancelled in these cases. The tracks are constantly worked. They are worked after each race. If they would have frozen areas, then the track would cancel, and most of the time if the jockeys feel the […]
Ice-O-Poultice is a medicated poultice that makes it anti-inflammatory. The anti inflammatory properties are enhanced within Ice-O-Poultice, making it very effective.
Never put poultice on any type of wound including open and puncture wounds. Drawing sauves made specifically for wounds are recommended in this situation. Poultice is not an anti-biotic and does not kill bacteria, viruses, infection, or fungus.
We do not recommend poultice to wrap feet. It draws the moisture out of the hoof. With repeated use, it can damage the hoof wall. Sole Pack is created specifically the hoof. If we are on the road we may use it when no other medication is available. Using poultice is better than using nothing […]
For young horses, our poultice gets them used to something on leg – preparing for bandage use. We do not use a bandage on a young horse because they tend to twist and pull bandages potentially bowing a tendon. When I am breaking my young horses in to become used to bandages, I leave poultice […]