Did You Know?

That giving your horse a vigorous and thorough grooming prior to work is an excellent method of increasing circulation to the extremities and provides a mini-warmup. Use a rubber curry comb, grooma or grooming mitt in large circular motions starting with light pressure and moving deeper into the large muscles of the neck, shoulder and hindquarters. Follow with quick short firm strokes of the dandy brush and finish with long deep strokes of the body brush or rag. This should not take longer than 15 minutes to complete, your horse should be clean from head to tail and you should feel warm and slightly out of breath! In cold weather, immediately put on a wool cooler or quarter sheet to keep this warmth in while you tack up and keep on for the first 10 to 15 minutes of your ride. Replace the wool cooler or quarter sheet as soon as you are finished your workout. This will minimize your horse's chances of getting a chill across his loins and coming out the next day stiff and sore.

Epsom Salt Baths ~

After a long hard day at work or play humans often enjoy a relaxing warm bath with epsom salts. We recognize this as a method to relax and rejuvenate tired sore muscles. What many don't realize is that this is a form of therapeutic hydrotherapy. Epsom salts are a very powerful mineral that helps to draw toxins and metabolic wastes e.g. lactic acid through the pores in our skin. The significant reduction in toxicity coupled with the warmth of the water relaxes the muscles of the body, increases their contractability and increases blood flow.

Blood flow is the life force of the body as it brings oxygen and nutrients to the cells and removes wastes and carbon dioxide. This ensures that cells grow, multiply and repair themselves in an efficient, life preserving and body strengthening manner.

Obviously humans benefit enormously from this simple act of leisure and pleasure. Can horses and dogs benefit as well? Absolutely! After a long vigourous ride, a day at a show, agility trial or post racing an epsom salt bath will help restore your animal's muscles to athletic readiness. Epsom salt baths used up to three times a week and aided with a solid warm-up and cool down routine can also help reduce the incidences of tying up in animals prone to such muscular difficulties.

Hot Epsom Salt Baths:

1. Dissolve in a 5 gallon bucket 1 cup of epsom salts in hot water (should be slightly hotter than what is comfortable for your hand).
   
2. Dunk in a large beach towel until well saturated. Squeeze the excess out as you withdraw the towel from the bucket.
   
3. Lay across your animal starting at the neck. Remove when the towel begins to feel cool to touch. Repeat process until you have covered the entire body three times OR dissolve one cup of epsom salts per 5 gallons into a large basin or skip bucket and place in a wool cooler then lay this from head to tail across horse. Process should be done three times. OR for a cold weather alternative follow the first three instructions but bath / wrap only the legs.