Horses are creatures that take a lot of stress on their joints for a variety of reasons. For one, most of the time, they wear iron horseshoes which can be terrible for the joint health of a horse because it doesn’t do anything to absorb the impact of running on hard ground. The repeated impact of the horses’ hooves hitting the earth suddenly can cause a lot of heat in the tendons, joints, and ligaments. This repeated exposure to heat and the swelling that it causes can cause serious cellular damage. This will ultimately lead way to far more serious issues such as arthritis and tendon issues.
If you want to treat your horses like the stellar athletes that they are, you will need to get them the correct equipment. The most relevant equipment, in this case, is the ice boots for horses. They are basically ice packs that strap around the joints of horses and cool them down over time preventing tissue damage.
Many horse owners believe that ice boots are fundamentally necessary for the care of the horse after a long and hard race. And this is not a myth or anything of the sort, when running, the horse often goes through a massive amount of stress and strain, and this can really spell trouble for the horse if not looked into.
Because the heat and swelling of the horse is mostly centered around the horses’ joints, ice packs are often extremely useful to kick start the horse’s recovery after the race. If the horse has undergone some form of injury the ice pack can even be used to soothe the injury. If you have a pack of ice boots, then you will want to use them directly after exercise. Exercise can mean any number of activities such as show jumping, going for cross country runs or even just learning tricks out in the field. Ice boots are great to help horses who need a little extra attention in recovering after an event.
Ice boots are remarkably easy to use. All you need to do is remove the ice packs from the boots themselves (these packs are filled with some form of a gel that retains coolness) and put them into the freezer for at least 12 hours. These ice jelly packs will then need to be reinserted into the boot. You will then have to fasten the ice boots to the horse’s joints. Ensure that the top of the boot is below the knee (otherwise the horse will tear right through the ice boots when it walks) Then make sure that the Velcro is attached firmly together. Give it a good once over and ensure that the ice packs are touching as much of the joint as possible. This is the best way to guarantee results.
Afterwards, you will need to keep the ice boots on the horse for a good 20 minutes. In an ideal situation, you will want to have the horse tied up and calm.
