So, you have a horse, or you are getting a horse. Everything is peaches and cream! Until it’s not. From lacerations, abscesses, thrush, eye ulcers, colic, choke, and infections, to name just a few, horses are talented at finding trouble. There are few things that leave you with such a sinking feeling as having an animal you care about in trouble and being unprepared to handle it at least until help can arrive. What first aid supplies should you have on hand for immediate use when your horse is in a pickle?

This is a list of items I make sure to keep in my barn medicine cabinet. Many of these items can be found in your regular pharmacy while others are best found at a farm store. Meanwhile, other items are only available through a vet. That is for good reason. A vet should be involved in the use of prescription items. Even if you have them on hand for quick use, your vet should be informed if you have cause to use them!

There are certainly many other first aid supplies you may find need of. Like I said, horses are creative. Your barn medicine cabinet could get every bit as diverse dealing with your horse’s creativity as your arts and crafts supplies for your own creative energies. After all, you just never know when you will need purple paint and green glitter for that poster board… Or sugar/betadine paste for that thrushy hoof!

Tools

• Thermometer
• Stethoscope
• Bandage scissors
• Forceps and/or small needle nose pliers
• Heavy wire cutters
• Nail pullers
• Farrier snips

There are a few very simple tools I recommend having on hand. A thermometer is a no-brainer. Something just not right with your favorite pony? Take its temperature. It will also be the first thing the vet asks for when you call them for a horsey illness. Stethoscopes are great for listening for heart and respiratory rates and gut sounds. It’s also a very good kids’ learning activity to have them listen to animals’ vital signs. Bandage scissors are self-explanatory – for cutting off bandaging. Forceps or needle nose pliers are excellent horsey-size tweezers. You may not use them much, but if you need them, you have them.

Wire cutters may seem more like a toolbox item, and indeed they are, but I can think of at least three occasions in my experience where wire cutters were required to rescue a horse hung up in fencing. These and any other “rescue” tools you can think of should definitely be kept on a quick grab around the barn. Nail pullers and farrier snips may also seem kind of heavy duty for a medicine cabinet, but if your horse wears shoes, you may want to have these around. When your horse has a shoe hanging by two nails, it becomes a hazard, and you may not get a farrier out for days to solve it. If you have the ability to pull the shoe, you may prevent an actual medical issue.

Supplies

• A pack of baby diapers
  • Use as hoof wraps and quick wound compression, held secure with vet wrap or duct tape.
• Vet Wrap (stretchy, self-adhesive wrap)
• Gauze pads
• Telfa (non-stick) wound pads
• Ceran/Plastic wrap
  • Use in leg wraps for sweating swollen legs
• Standing wraps
  • Polo wraps will serve in a pinch but do not hold compression as well
• Quilted leg wrap pads
  • Use with standing wraps
• Duct tape
  • Commonly used for securing hoof wraps
  • It’s duct tape – you need a roll in every room of your house and barn just because!
• Syringes of varying sizes
  • Sizes 3cc-20cc are most commonly needed, though a 40cc can also be handy
  • I prefer Luer lock tips for secure attachment of needles
  • Use for both oral and injectable medications
• Needles
  • 20g and 18g x 1” work well for horses
• A medicine boot for hoof soaking
• Epsom salts
  • Use for hoof soaks
• Clean Towels
  • For wound compression
  • For drying freshly cleaned wounds

In a nutshell, you will need an assortment of bandage material. Do not rely on your vet to hand you a full supply after he has stitched up your horse. If he has some extra supplies in his truck, he will charge you plenty for them. And if he doesn’t have them, he’s just going to send you to the pharmacy anyway. In the same way, syringes and needles are usually needed at a moment’s notice. Believe me, you won’t ever regret having these most basic first aid supplies!

Topical Medications

• Betadine or other antiseptic cleanser
  • For any wound or infection treatment
• Ichthammol
  • AKA drawing salve
  • Draws out infections such as abscesses
• Antibacterial spray/ointment – multitudes to choose from

Most any wound will need to be cleaned. After a wound is cleaned, you will usually treat it with a topical spray, cream, ointment or salve, possibly followed by wrapping depending on type of wound and location. Topicals have limitations in treatment, so don’t go crazy with every topical “this or that” you see. There are many good products to choose from for everyday scrapes, and having a couple you like is a good idea. I usually keep a wound spray and a cream or ointment so I have some options, but there’s no need to have three or four of the same form of topical. Ichthammol is a drawing salve. It is used to pull infection out of deeper wounds or pull an abscess out of a hoof. Other topicals are intended more for scrapes and stitched wounds.

Internal Use Medications

• Banamine
  • Injectable anti-inflammatory for colic or other pain management
• Acepromazine
  • Sedative
  • Oral and injectable
• Sulfamethoxazole Trimethoprim (SMZ-TMP) which a common oral antibiotic combo, or other antibiotic
  • To get quick treatment of infections started until the vet can get to you.
• Phenylbutazone (Bute)
  • Oral anti-inflammatory
• Electrolytes
  • For oral treatment/prevention of dehydration

While you are still scratching your head over how electrolytes made this list, let’s talk about them. Electrolytes are typically considered more of a feed supplement. That’s where you find it in the feed store, right? But when a horse is colicking, what does the vet have in the solution he is tubing into your horse’s belly? Electrolytes! If that doesn’t constitute medication, I don’t know what does. I view electrolytes as a preventative medication. Preventing dehydration proactively is reason enough, but dehydration is a huge factor in other medical emergencies such as heat exhaustion/stroke, colic and choke. I’m a firm believer that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

As for the rest of the medications on this list, they are only available through a veterinarian. You must have an active relationship with a vet to access them. Your vet will come to trust your judgment by working with you, and many horse vets will become comfortable giving you a small supply of these sorts of medications for quick emergency use. As I said earlier, if you are using these supplies, your vet should be informed as he may have some additional insight into the matter, especially in the situation of colic or choke. These can become big problems very, very quickly, and a vet must be consulted right away, even if it is just a heads-up phone call to keep them in the loop in case things escalate.

Final Thoughts

Bear in mind that this is not an exhaustive list. Your horse may present you with reason to try additional products but, with this list, you will have a solid starting point. Remember, many of these things are good human or pet first aid supplies as well, particularly the cleansers and bandage material. To be clear, I am in no way recommending you take horse medication! Just that your horse is not the only one who might benefit from having a good first aid supply.

Do you have any “must haves” for your barn’s medicine cabinet? Comment to share your add-ons to my list!

About The Author

Testament Farm – Training and Lessons