Horse IQ

Earlier this year, I told you about Navicular Disease, a serious hoof problem that can cause your horse a lot of pain. Your vet will most likely prescribe Phenylbutazone (otherwise known as “bute”) to relieve the pain until your vet arrives on the scene. But if you don’t have any available, you can always use this until he arrives…

As I mentioned previously, you should never consider NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) as a long-term pain management strategy. But if you don’t have any horse bute available and your horse is showing visible signs of hoof pain, feel free to give him an aspirin.

That’s right. Good old Bayer, Anacin, or whatever brand you happen to have on hand. They’ll all work just fine until your equine vet arrives.

Aspirin is a very short-term fix. Your horse will excrete it from his body within 6 to 8 hours. This is what makes aspirin not-so-good for musculo-skelatal injuries. But it’s good for hoof pain relief. Even if the pain is due to navicular disease or even laminitis. The reason it works so well has to do with your horse’s blood.

What Aspirin Does To Horse’s Blood

Like our human blood, your horse’s blood contains cells called platelets (so named because they look like tiny dinner plates under a microscope). These cells are important for his blood’s ability to clot properly.

Aspirin changes the way the platelets work in your horse’s bloodstream, making his hooves less able to transmit pain signals throughout his nervous system.

When we humans take an aspirin for a headache, the pain-relieving effect can be gone in a matter of hours. But aspirin’s pain-relieving effect on your horse’s platelets can last as long as 3 days after you give it to him.

Again, I want to emphasize that NSAIDs should not be used as a long term solution to navicular disease, or any other hoof care problem your horse has. It doesn’t cure anything. It only masks the symptoms.

If your horse has navicular disease (or something like it), please get your equine vet our to your barn as soon as possible. He’ll be able to catch any horse diseases before they get out of hand. And that’s what you want.

Yours for Better Horse Health,