Icing within 48 hours can significantly reduce the severity of an equine soft-tissue injury. The practice is also a good maintenance strategy for horses that have long-term or chronic problems. Here’s a brief overview of how icing reduces inflammation and tips for applying ice to your horse’s leg. Make sure you talk to your veterinarian if you have any questions about your horse’s injury.

How Icing Helps Inflammation

With inflammation comes an increase in blood vessel permeability. That brings more tissue “fluid” to the injured area to cause swelling. The use of cryotherapy (icing), particularly in the initial days of injury, is instrumental in slowing down the circulation. This helps to reduce the swelling and pain.

Cold therapy also decreases metabolic needs of the tissue as well as provides a local anesthetic effect. All of these benefits mean more comfort for your horse.

“Cold today and hot tamale” is a simple reminder of how to approach managing inflammation.

Cold “today” might mean as many as several days to a couple of weeks of cryotherapy depending on the injury. Discuss this with your veterinarian. Icing addresses some of the physical signs of inflammation, but it doesn’t entirely curtail the inflammatory process (this process assists in healing). If there is an open wound, icing is not a recommended treatment in order to limit wound contamination.

Icing Tips

• Do not put ice directly on a horse’s skin. Wrap ice in a thin, damp cloth to avoid causing ‘skin burn.’ Then it is safe to apply to your horse.
• If you plan to use ice boots on your horse’s legs, wet the hair thoroughly—down to the skin—before placing a limb in ice boots. That eliminates the insulating effects of hair and enables transmission of cold to underlying tissues.
• Ice for no more than 20-30 minutes at a time, then remove the ice to restore circulation. It is best to ice for short periods frequently and allow intervals with no ice in between rather than just leaving ice in place for extended periods. Depending on the injury, you might want to ice 2-4 times a day.
• When using frozen vegetables for icing, you’ll need to constantly exchange them out for freshly frozen bags, otherwise they warm up too quickly to supply sufficient cold to the area.
• Ice boots are an excellent investment, especially if you purchase the kind with removable ice packs so you can freshen the cold application as the ice thaws in the initial pack.
• If you don’t have ice boots, you can rig up something similar using an inner tube that extends from knee to pastern. Secure the tube at the pastern using a track bandage. Pour crushed ice into the inside of the tube, and secure the top with another track bandage. It is smart to stay with and monitor your horse while he is wearing this contraption.
• If the injury is in the ankle or foot, ask your veterinarian for a used 2-liter fluid bag. Cut out one end, put the horse’s foot in the bag (which is quite sturdy), and pour in ice and some water. You can use a track bandage to secure the bag at the top. Again, stay with and monitor your horse while he is wearing the ice bag. It is better if he doesn’t walk around.
• Another alternative for icing is the use of a commercial ice gel pack that can be thawed just enough to conform to the area you wish to ice. Some locations, such as the legs, are amenable to securing the gel pack with tape or a track bandage so you don’t need to sit and hold it in place. You will still want to stay with and monitor your horse.
• Cold water soaking is helpful for foot inflammation, especially if you add ice to the water and use a tall bucket that extends well up the horse’s cannon bone.

Final Words

There are many ways to apply cryotherapy to injured areas on your horse. For limbs, having commercial ice boots can make the job easier. However, you can create a homemade device to keep ice near an injury. Monitor the horse and don’t ice any area too long. Make sure to follow the directions of your veterinarian.