Old Timey Horse Remedies

I've been battling a deep stone bruise with Madison and it made me think of all of the old remedies that people still use, many from old timers at the track.   

Here are a few that I have discovered in no particular order:

1) Sauerkraut juice on scratches and a bit more modern but highly effective.

2) Listerine for itchy tails (add a little mineral oil to it).

3)  Had a mare develop a sarcoid inside her ear. Had it removed, but it grew back as vet said it would likely do. Researched other therapies, and an old timers treatment was simple crest toothpaste rubbed onto sacroid as often as possible.It worked!! 6 months later when vet came for vaccinations he asked about the ear, told him what I had done, and he was speechless!

 4) For a cut that won't heal or is very slow to heal, pick off scab. Pour some sea salt into a bucket and add some hot water to dissove salt. Cleanse wound with the salt water and let air dry. Repeat at least daily, more if you can. This works well on leg wounds that can't be stitched, or any other area. A fellow boarder had to have half her horse's tail surgically removed and the wound would not heal. She was a nurse and tried everything that she knew of to try to get it to heal and it was summer, so flies were landing in the wound and it was just a bad situation. I mentioned the salt water rinse and she finally tried it and it worked. I was very relieved for them both, as she was just beside herself over the whole situation.

5) For scratches, I was told to use Castile soap to wash the legs daily and then towel dry. Supposedly, this is used a lot at the race tracks. 

 

6) Bleach and water for thrush.

7) Preparation H for scaring.

8) Scratches - 2:1 mix of baby oil and bleach

9) Liniment: some mix Venice turpentine, eggs & something else, can't remember what

10) Vick's vaporub in the noses of the "too interested" colts.

11) To treat horses that hive up easily, either by bug bites or bedding: paste worm every other month or once a month if it gets bad. I had a qh that would hive up with bug bites in the summer. paste worm him and it would vanish and he wouldn't get it back. So in the bug biting season, he was paste wormed every other month if he didn't have problems. worked like a charm. (and after a couple years, horse wasn't so touchy with bug bites.) 

12)  Witch hazel, water and Absorbine...the ultimate body brace. 

13)  For Splints: 1 Gallon apple cider vinegar
1 small bottle of oil of wintergreen
1 small jar alum (the whole spice jar size)

Shake well, then paint on fat legs, splints, etc.
Wrap one hour.
POOF.
Swelling gone.

Hardest part of this recipe is finding an apothecary that stocks oil of wintergreen. 

14)  For a fascinating and eye-opening historical perspective, I heartily recommend picking up a copy of "Every Horse Owners Cyclopedia" circa 1880, by Mssrs Fleming, Harvey, Walsh & Stonehenge. It's a comprehensive book of horse keeping, breeding and training. It has a whole chapter on remedies, including all manner of paints, drenches and horse balls (stuff mixed with treacle and then fed orally.) Interspersed are plates of the super horses of the day - Goldsmith Maid, Hopeful, Gold-Dust, Flora Temple, Hambletonian.