Injury treated with clay poultice

[Kylie Chamberlain]

yesterday Dually got stuck on a gate.
Yes, I know it sounds stupid, but when i was riding him out of the stable yard he barged through the gate and pushed it the wrong way.
He got his front half over but couldn't manage to fit his back end through.
He thrashed and kicked until the gate was basically pulled off it's hinge and stood shaking on the other side.
He had a few little cuts around his stifle area, but wasn't lame, so i sprayed him with some centrigen and let him be.
But today he had swelled up a bit (Strangely only around a small scratch) but still wasn't lame.
The owner of the stables checked him out and said it didn't look like it was infecteed but i should try cooling it every 20 minutes or so.
But after a few minute of trying to hold a wet towel to his stifle (Avoiding agravated cow kicks!) I started to complain.
So she came out with Clay poultice for me to put on it.

I've got two questions.

1) What does clay poultice do?

2) Do you think it will help the swelling go down?


And one last thing. everytime my horse so much as scratches himself (just so a little flesh is showing) the area around it puffs up, but goes down when it is healed. What's with that?

Any advice?

[mikka]

Kylie, I can't give you any advice about clay poutices - but, oddly enough, as I (just) sat down at the computer to open up this site, I was wondering if Fuller's earth was still used in the UK; and was musing about how the clay in it constricts the outer layers of skin and tightens it to the point of making pulses more pronounced... Very strange coincidence as yours was the first post I opened. If my experience is anything to go by, clay does constrict as it dries and may, indeed, offer support to a swelling.

[Kylie Chamberlain]

Interesting.
I have to go up tomorrow morning to wash off the old stuff and put new on, so hopefully the swelling has gone down then

[Mehitabel]

we use astringent clay poultice, like aintree plast or some french stuff called poudre armoricaine, on tendons and windgalls - general strains and swellings. i'd be dubious about using it on broken skin though, in case the clay has anything in it that might get the wound infected. the stuff you're using might be a kind designed for use on cuts though, so don't panic.
it does shrink and harden, so is like a mini cast to suppot the strain and help the swelling go down.