A week or so ago I was at the barn and a couple of us were moaning about the bites on our horses. One of Dude's pasture mates had been kept in for a week or so, and apparently when he got turned back out, he felt the need to make his presence known. Very surprising, because prior to being stall-bound, he was low man on the totem pole. They've all settled back down again now.
In any case, as we were comparing bite marks, the other boarder mentioned that she swears by A&D ointment when her horse gets a bite that doesn't break the skin but takes the hair clean off. She was quite enthusiastic about its skin protecting and hair growing properties. A&D was our diaper rash ointment of choice when the kids were small, so I was familiar with it. Never one to pass up an easily found, inexpensive product for horse ailments, I bought a tube. I've been applying it to Dude's bald bite spots for about a week. It does keep the skin soft, which is better than having the spots get super dry and scaly in this cold weather.
Buying the A&D reminded me of the time that Dude got scratches. Everyone seemed to have a homegrown remedy. I'm sure I could've bought a cleansing/protecting product specifically for equine scratches, but trying the homegrown remedies appealed more to me--the products suggested were familiar ones and known to be gentle, and therefore seemed safe to me. Plus, the customer testimonials were hard to resist. So, following a friend's recommendation, we bought some lavender soap ("gentle and antibacterial") to scrub the ugly scratches spots on his heels and a tube of Desitin diaper rash cream ("soothing and healing") to rub in after the scrubbing and once we had dried his heels off.
What I learned from this episode is that there is no miracle cure for scratches. We were conscientious, but after several weeks of scrubbing and drying and applying, we concluded that the lavender/Desitin combo wasn't working for us, even though it had worked on our friends' horse. We ended up having success with a lavender soap wash/Corona ointment treatment. We've still got that tube of Desitin in the horsey first aid kit. It's hard for me to part with stuff like that--I always feel like I need to keep it, just in case. I'm thinking that at this point I need to check the expiration date.
The product thing goes both ways. I sing the praises of Sore No More liniment (used on myself and on the ponies) to anyone who will listen. Bag Balm works for me when my heels get rough in the winter, although it's greasy so it does kind of mess up the sheets. (The instructions on the can indicate that it's a product for cows, but it is sold in the skin care section of many drugstores in our neck of the woods.) I know I've heard people talk about using their horse's Corona ointment for their cuticles. I love hearing "cross over product" stories; when people start telling them, I'm all ears. Sometimes I hear a great tip, other times I think, "hmmn, kinda wierd." You have to determine your own comfort level. But the tips are always entertaining. Off to put Bag Balm on my heels. :)
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