Leeches being used on horses?

[bryngelenponies]

I posted this on another forum but thought that this forum may be the better place. Basically I was having a discussion with a friend of mine the other day about leeches being used on horses and it got me thinking. Apparently they are good for laminitis and hematomas. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience using leeches or any info etc, it's just something that intrigued me...

 

[TarrSteps]

I think there was someone on here asking about ordering them on line not that long ago. (The consensus seems to be it wasn't possible without a medical license of some sort.)

They're using them on people so I can't see why someone wouldn't be trying it on horses for similar problems. I've not heard it for laminitis but since, at base, it's a circulatory disease and horses used to be "bled" for it, I can see the reasoning. Whether or not it works, I couldn't say.

 

[bryngelenponies]

Thanks- I have looked into it a bit and apparently you can use them as long as you sign something to say that you're using the leeches at your own risk. I heard than an eventer used them on one of her horses for something (?) on it's leg and it worked. Just wondered if anyone had any personal experiences with using them.