Good standby medical kit for pony?

[TheWindowDonkey]

Hi

First foray into pony ownership and want to be organised. We will have a kit down at the stables for first aid, as i'm assuming thats what everyone does. If you do have ine then which items are absolute must haves and are there any extras you like to have but arent stricly essential too. I like to be prepared. :)

Hmmm. Let me think. (Please excuse my witterings as didn't get much sleep last night!)

Cotton wool
Salt
Sudocrem
Antibiotic spray - purple spray in tack shops isn't very good. If you get it from the vet it is more hardcore.
Scissors

As time has gone on I also have a thermometer
Aluminium spray
Hypo care
Manuka honey
Hibiscrub
Bandage type wraps which look like they are made out of cotton wool and are sterile (can't think what they are called)
Vetrap/stretch self adhesive bandages
Electrical Tape

You will accumulate as time goes on but if pony is being kept at a yard I am sure people will offer advice and let you try something in an emergency... If I think of anything else I will post

I'm afraid I disagree with having antibiotic spray (purple/blue spray) It's not something that should be used without veterinary guidance (hence why you can only get it from vets on prescription) for many reasons. Hibiscrub is a very effective antifungal and antibacterial which for small, uncomplicated wounds is ideal. I would also add in a poultice type dressing material such as Animalintex which can be useful for minor wounds. Good luck with your new venture! How exciting!

Don't apologise for disagreeing. We all have opinions and that's what makes life interesting

I have collected all sorts of things over the years (unfortunately). My go to antiseptic has always been Betadine rather than Hibiscrub. No idea why really but I use it for everything.

A few large squares of clean horse have bags and some duct tape for foot issues are handy to have in addition to animalintex.

Also, with my youngster, I seemed to be forever hosing legs at one point and I bought a boot that you can put a cold gel pack in a pocket which saved a lot of time.

Just thought it worth a mention that in a bind you can use germoline if you have no Hibiscrub to hand. It contains the same active ingredient but at a fraction of the strength. I always keep some in my tack room along with the items above. It's my go to mud fever treatment too. In fact I usually have a tube in my yard coat pocket along with the rest of the pony related random stuff

Horse Hage

I have:
Vetwrap
Anti bac wash
Purple spray
Cotton wool
Salt
Suncream
Nappy cream of some sort
Duct tape
Animalintex (for poutices - lots of people use nappies)
Mud fever cream
Scissors (only used for first aid - I have a million other pairs for everything else that I can never find!)
Latex gloves
Painkillers (left over from vet when shetty was on them)

Err...I'm sure there is some more random crap in there that I never use but this is what I make sure I have all the time...just in case!

I also have basic people stuffs - plasters, bandage etc - just saves faffing with cotton wool and vet wrap if you shove you hand on barbed wire... .

Bonkey - do people really use nappies instead of animalintex? Never heard of that! Does it work?!

Yes they do and apparently it works - I personally prefer the animalintex just because I know where I'm at but it is essentially the same thing.

The inside can be soaked and will hold liquid and draw out bad stuff. I always wrap mine in duct tape(hence the million and one rolls of the stuff I have everywhere) because a)the shetty has too small feet for a boot b) the big one would pull off a boot .

Actually thinking about it a nappy may off slightly more of a pad..usefull if the horse is foot sore?

I think that a nappy would be fine as long as you didn't need a sterile dressing, not that I have used one myself.

Wow thanks, thats a great list to get started with. Can i show my extreme ignorance and ask what you would put a poultice on? How wiw i know if DO needs one. I need to get a book and do some serious finding out about ponies online! Thats going to be my mission for the first month!!

We've always found BR Healing jelly to be good for minor wounds. You've reminded me I need to get some more. And of course Sudocreme gets used a lot.

When dhorse had a bit of seedy toe and the farrier dug out the bottom of his hoof we had to clean it out with hydrogen peroxide so I always keep some of that in the kit now as it's nice and cheap!

I seem to have the same as everyone else, and many nappies!
They are amazing for foot abscesses. DH has had several foot abscesses over the past few years. I use them in addition to a poultice.
I lift the leg up. Put the poultice in place either wet, or dry, and then put a nappy over the top. They are a perfect fit as they have the straps to secure them in place. I then duct tape over the top to provide more protection.

Poultices eg if there is an infection. Could be in the foot if a horse has trodden on something or in the leg if a foreign body has punctured the skin. Poultice will draw the foreign body out along with pus etc

WindowDonkey nooooo, not the book, you will frighten yourself silly . I did the same when I got my chickens, I'd only flicked through half a chicken keepers' magazine before I was a wreck, wondering what on earth I'd done lumbering myself with these creatures that could apparently drop dead from 101 diseases at the drop of a hat. In reality of course they are ridiculously easy to keep as long as you are sensible and observe good hygiene etc.

Ponies are much the same and although they obviously can and do injure themselves it's definitely true that prevention is better than cure. Good hoofcare, regular checking for wounds/mudfever etc so you can nip things in the bud means that you will hopefully not need your first aid kit too often. I can honestly say that in over 30 years I've used the plasters I put in there for myself more often than anything else (apart from antiseptic cream).

Of course you need the basics, much the same as a human first aid kit (cotton wool, bandages, scissors, antiseptic - all that) but anything serious and you will be on the phone to the vet anyway, especially as a first-time owner when you might find it harder to judge if it is serious or not and prefer to be on the safe side pfb! As time goes on you will feel more confident about dealing with various things yourself, such as deciding when a poultice is needed.

Ha, Pixel, we were the same with our chickens. Picked up the basics today, amd will stay away from the books (but will look up mud fever.) Luckily the people at the yard are lovely so far (we've been riding DP there for a while and i think i could ask if i was too worried about anything.

You've all been really helpful, thank you!

Hypo care

I use it for everything

and I use wound powder as well although it is very old fashioned and frowned upon now

You have to be careful with wound powder though. If it's a deep wound and you dry it out too quickly you can trap pus in there, or so I was always told.

Ours is virtually the same as Incapinka. We also have some iodine spray which the farrier recommended us to spray on after he'd dealt with seedy toe in one of ours.

We used to keep some sachets of bute in our vet cupboard but in reality it's best for the vet to see a horse unmedicated as using that before a vet visit will only mask the issue.

Not really a vet issue but of course we also keep decent quality fly cream in there.

I agree that poultice and good quality tape (we use that silver duct wrap) to help keep it on are the most essential.

We also keep those bent ended type scissors in there - they are less likely to stab a ponies leg when cutting tape etc.

Silverfeet balm is fantastic for seedy toe. We packed the hole with cotton wool soaked in the balm, which has anti-bac properties, and had no further problems whatsoever.