WHOBAA COMMUNITY MESSAGE FORUM - By digitalcreations

I expect we all have secret remedies, also old books full of weird ones. Handy to share....furphy or otherwise!
Here's a good 'un myself and daughter, bless her worn out riding gloves -use for hoof oil.
First, get a big old tin (large milo type),
Second, make holes up the top to put a wire through for a handle (poor person's billy). If you do use a billy - it ain't gunna be much use for anything else!!!! And needs to be copious.
THEN! get a heap of fat (dripping, or twice boil down animal fat).
For three parts of the tin, have fat, then add a decent dollop of oil (neatsfoot preferably or any cheapo cooking stuff, even used).
Then add the expensive bit - a good tablespoon worth of pure eucalyptus or teatree oil (this is an antiseptic).
If you're flash/lucky you can add a dollop of stockholm tar (helps by restricting water/closes pores of the hooves).
Remember normal hoof conditioner actually opens the pores - this one conditions, kills germs, and keeps hooves hard.
NEXT! Melt all slowly over a fire (nice, an outside fire! what better excuse...), or stove (not if you're renting! it stinks, and landlords always have sus stoves...), or BBQ if you're flash -
Once melted and stirred up, all done. Apply warm or cold with a brush. keep sealed when not using (or the dogs, mice, landlords etc might get into it ha ha).
it is runny when warm, soft to hard when cold, and keeps a month or three. Also, does wonders and goes far - a dozen horses easy, a couple means you'll have some to spare.
Any more remedies out there??!!

I have a similar recipe for hoof dressing, old mare, but mine didn't contain the eucalyptus oil. Must give this one a try!

Now for my contribution. A thing called Black Powder. It's made here in Australia, and it is really is magic on wounds, especially those that can't be stitched. You just clean off the wound a bit, spray on little betadine to act as a sticking agent, then puff in the black powder. It's saved for us, a cow with a bad cut to the interior of the hock that was so deep she was loosing joint fluid, and a horse with a badly cut knee that couldn't be stitched...vet wanted to put him down, he's fully recovered. A friends cat was bitten by a white tail spider and this powder was the only thing that healed him when the vet gave up!

Available through a lot of saddlerys, stock and station suppliers, but vets in general aren't on to it. I can supply the address and phone number of manufacturer if anyone has trouble finding it.

Forgot to say you must NEVER bandage over the top of this product, it needs air to work it's magic!

Hi All

My gelding has wire cut himself on hind leg. We bandaged until hole closed over, using betadine to clean site, followed by yellow lotion on cloth wrapped onto leg. Now we have proud flesh forming. Should we continue bandaging daily, leave bandage on, or leave wound uncovered? Flies really bad at moment here. What do you think, it was suggested using garden lime powder on open wound. Dusty is in with 18 other horses in grassy paddock. Any ideas apreciated.

Hi BP,
There seems to be more recipes around for healing open wounds and preventing or reducing proud flesh than there are rivets on the Sydney harbour bridge. Thes include lime, copper sulphate, let the flies do it, cut it off as it forms ( the proud flesh ) etc, etc. We had 2 horses over the years that stripped their hind cannons to the bone - both did it twice in the same place having a boot at a horse on the other side of the fence. We ended up using "flints oil" - I think the main ingredient is what you use to preserve timber i.e. creosote. I know that sarcoids react adversley to physical attempts to remove them and wonder if proud flesh reacts in a similar manner ?
Anyway, I will give you a call.

Hi Bush Pony,

Sorry!, I don't have any answers as to whether you should bandage or not, or any suggestions about garden lime, because I dont use any of that stuff.

All I ever use is old fashioned olive oil, and sometimes, Purple Spray ( Cetrigen ).

Maybe there are others out there who could direct you. Cheers!

Good trick for open wounds that won't promote proud flesh but will promote hair growth (this one worked on an old TB of mine whom cut his leg to the bone - he now had no scarring!!)

Melt 1 part paw paw ointment and one part Rawleys ointment ( bought from a barber shop) but make sure it is only warm - not hot! Pour over the wound - repeat once a day until wound nicely starting to heal.
The wound will heal from the inside out so it should not form any scabbing - the ointment will mould into all the grooves and provide and extremely protective barrier - dont bandage - but make sure you hose wound before applying!

BP - as for your boy - leave the wound uncovered and just spray the yellow lotion on it being careful not to get any on the good flesh. Oh and I wouldnt advise putting purple spray on any kind of open wound - once you get in on your own wound I am sure you will understand

bandaging a wound for horses is certain death, flies and all not withstanding
Best kept open, no matter what or how ugly it looks -
Flints oil, yellow lotion, copper sulphate and just plain air and room to move and some gum trees for shelter as they all said, eucalyptus oil (ouch) or tea-tree oil, watered down with a bit of heavy duty ev olive oil, better, a shot of diesel kills a lot of bugs (slosh on, don't light fag nearby) and also deters the fly types.... fly spray works too

for detering Slitherers Snakes
Geraniums, they smell of mustard gas and snakes being deaf, short-sighted but sensitive to some smells, hate it, as we would if we were little low flat things lying about without arms legs or motors or hearing... erk, geranium, urk, diesel (they hate that too) but the girks like geraniums btter than diesel sprayed all about - but it does work
so plant geraniums as they always did in the not so old days about stables, etc
or wear one or hang about with a big truck driver reeking of lovely diesel, or drive a diesel truck and have horse loving gals hanging about like flies, no snakes, no wucking furries,.....
anyone else got snake oil potions lotions or repellants to stick about the gate and paddock... other than the old 4 10.... wheen and if its to hand

The man who taught me everything I know worth knowing is a huge believer in builder's lime. He reckons that you should use "purple spray" (whatever it is) and just "throw" the lime on. Apparently that dries out the wound. He said that flint's medicated oil would work too, but i find it tends to rot the hair on the affected area a bit... I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Another method is to just coat the entire wound in tar... As the wound wasn't stitchable, I ended up doing just that recently when my (non-waler) pony ran through the fence (the waler had the sense to stay on the side of the fence he was supposed to be on)- I thought the would be a lot of proud flesh from that, but there wasn't... but we did throw on some lime when the tar eventually wore off, and that dried up the last bit of pus... but the tar does keep the flies out.

Hi All

Our computer has been on a very extended holiday.
My horses' leg has healed over completely, but I am sure there is going to be some scarring. Thanks for the ideas.
Still in the amber zone; Cheers BP

BBR,
Yes have put the tar on a leg that had all flesh/tendons etc ripped off it, fore-arm to hoof - by running thru barb wire- looked a lost cause.
The mare was in a bad way but the tar seemed to stop any infection, stopped bleeding etc and once the leg healed, it was ugly and always suss soundness wise, but she was able to get about a bush run and breed. Pretty good considering it was a bad case!
Must say, barbed wire and horses, or barbed wire and humans - big no-no. (I also have the scars to prove it- a barb hidden in scrub years back caught a mare I was riding and threw her, she got only a scratch but my thigh went through a length of the wire as I came off, to the bone).
Bled like mad I can tell you, and lamed me too! Yuk
Barb has little barbs - each one cuts, so as one cuts a bit, the next cuts freshly - deeper - think of a quick horse running along a fence - in little time it could scrape past 50 barbed bits, and each contributing 10 centimetres deeper to the cut - flesh peels off in the wink of an eye.
Bone gets cut or snagged, joints bust - I have lost a mare years back running through barb after a foal, another case of a hidden fence in scrub, just moved them onto a huge new run thinking it was clean and voila - mare down and boned out, alive, blood pumping out, no meat - I cannot stand the sight of barbed wire I msut say. Had to shoot her.
Saw a new barbed fence a while back - the proud people put in a TB mare and she stripped her whole neck and side the first time in the new pad - she ran the fence to the bones, spurting blood, fell - shot the day she was put into her lovely new fenced paddock. You just cannot tell some people, and now, gee, thay have put an electric outrigger on the fence. Lovely folk, and the mare they have now, has just had a precious foal. Yes, my heart is in my mouth, ....... one does not need to be psychic
Common sense - no barb near hosses or riders, please please please.
Anyway it seems common sense rules with horse wounds too!!!!!!
tar etc......whatever is to hand, purple spray also ok....

Any more remedies
say for sweet itch?
Insect repellant - marsh flies, flies, mossies, sandflies, bot flies..........

White vinegar is a good cheap substitute for fly repellent... you can use the proper stuff for their faces, then wipe a bit of vinegar over the rest of their bodies... It stinks, but it works.
Apparently kerosene is good for getting rid of bot eggs... I haven't tried it out yet, but I don't know how good it would be for the horses skin... So maybe I won't try it!