Angelbones
Well-Known Member
Someone posted a week or so ago asking if there can be complications from using pig oil / & sulphur on horses.
I put some pig oil (which is mixed with sulphur but it had settled at the bottom and I didn't shake it up) on my ISH legs where he wasn't clipped, and also around his 'armpits' where the mud is always tough to get off, and on his lower quarters where the mud gets when he rolls and his rug rucks up.
He seemed under the weather the next evening but otherwise ok, and I put it down to being kept in due to bad weather. The next day I took him to the school (with his rug on) to let off some steam but he didn't want to move and looked very lame. I took off the rug and inspected him closely and he had huge lumps - and I mean the size of mangoes - all around his armpits, under his chest, and smaller raised patches on his quarters. They were very filled with fluid and I could feel some soft tissue swelling inside.
I called the vet who said it was an allergic reaction and that she had seen several cases recently with people using PO/ &S to keep the mud at bay. My horse was put on a course of Danilon and was put off games for a week. Three days later (today), although the swelling is much reduced, and his is perkier in himself and no longer appears lame, the hair has started to come off, attached to large peeling pieces of skin.
So, in essence, yes some horses it would seem can have allergic reactions to pig oil so definitely do a test patch first. I should point out that although not recently clipped, he got the reactions on his clipped parts, not on the hairier parts. This horse does not have particularly sensitive skin by the way and otherwise is in the picture of health.
I guess it's just not my lucky year so far!
I put some pig oil (which is mixed with sulphur but it had settled at the bottom and I didn't shake it up) on my ISH legs where he wasn't clipped, and also around his 'armpits' where the mud is always tough to get off, and on his lower quarters where the mud gets when he rolls and his rug rucks up.
He seemed under the weather the next evening but otherwise ok, and I put it down to being kept in due to bad weather. The next day I took him to the school (with his rug on) to let off some steam but he didn't want to move and looked very lame. I took off the rug and inspected him closely and he had huge lumps - and I mean the size of mangoes - all around his armpits, under his chest, and smaller raised patches on his quarters. They were very filled with fluid and I could feel some soft tissue swelling inside.
I called the vet who said it was an allergic reaction and that she had seen several cases recently with people using PO/ &S to keep the mud at bay. My horse was put on a course of Danilon and was put off games for a week. Three days later (today), although the swelling is much reduced, and his is perkier in himself and no longer appears lame, the hair has started to come off, attached to large peeling pieces of skin.
So, in essence, yes some horses it would seem can have allergic reactions to pig oil so definitely do a test patch first. I should point out that although not recently clipped, he got the reactions on his clipped parts, not on the hairier parts. This horse does not have particularly sensitive skin by the way and otherwise is in the picture of health.
I guess it's just not my lucky year so far!
