Ice Horse Continuous Flow System and Other Icing Products

[Divine Comedy]

Now that I am competing at prelim, I am looking into different products for icing my horse's legs. Almost everyone at my barn either seems to either a)refuse to ice/poultice legs at the "low" preliminary level, or b) own a Game Ready system, which while seems to work fabulously for them, is way out of my price range. There does seem to be another system on the market called the Ice Horse continuous flow system which is available for $550 instead of $3000 for the Game Ready, and seems to do the same thing. Has anyone had experience with the Ice Horse Continuous Flow System? There are a few very positive reviews about it online and no negative ones that I can find, but I would love to hear if any of you have experience with it.

Since I will be looking for something else that is pretty inexpensive to use in the meantime, does anyone else have any products they particularly like? It is very difficult for me to have anything that must be kept frozen at an event, so refrigerated (in a cooler) is preferable. And I would rather put my money towards the Ice Horse Flow System if possible, so I want to keep it as cheap as possible. Has anyone tried the ColdFlex Vet Wrap? Any other products that you all like?

[GotSpots]

Honestly - for at the horse shows, our horses, even those running Advanced, go into old fashioned ice boots or plunk their feet/legs into a muck tub full of ice and water. Someone gets sent out to the nearest gas station for a couple big bags of ice if the event doesn't have them, and we do it sans all the whistles and bells. Nothing to break, easy to manage, and can do multiple horses at once. I love the Game Ready systems but they're the kind of thing you usually leave at home (particularly for a one day) and are quite expensive if they break.

[vineyridge]

The Ice Horse is nothing more than a very expensive version (because it has "horse" in the name) of a gadget called The Ice Man. I got one of those when I had knee surgery, and have since used it on my shoulder when I had shoulder surgery and on my horse's knees. As far as I'm concerned, mine was free, since it was part of the knee surgery package. The only difference is that it will only do one leg at a time, and the hose is shorter than the Ice Horse hose.

If you know someone who has had ACL replacement, the odds are very good that they will have this or something similar, and you can borrow it to see if you like it.

[ExcelEventing]

The Ice Horse is nothing more than a very expensive version (because it has "horse" in the name) of a gadget called The Ice Man. I got one of those when I had knee surgery, and have since used it on my shoulder when I had shoulder surgery and on my horse's knees. As far as I'm concerned, mine was free, since it was part of the knee surgery package. The only difference is that it will only do one leg at a time, and the hose is shorter than the Ice Horse hose.

If you know someone who has had ACL replacement, the odds are very good that they will have this or something similar, and you can borrow it to see if you like it.

I had an ACL replacement and have the ICE MAN system. The first thing I said when I got out of surgery and saw it was... "cool, I can use this after XC". (thats when my husband finally realized how crazy I really was!)
I just bought the Y splitter and extra cold pad, and compression bandage that they sell, and it works great! I really love the system, and it gets the legs really cold.
I would try looking for an Ice Man on ebay and go from there. Plenty of people sell them when they are healed from surgery. I cant remember where I found the attachements, but I can look for the site. I remember I looked for a while to find the lowest price.

[yellowbritches]

Ice boots really do just fine, as do most other icing procedures. I just discovered this one- http://horsehero.com/1180/competition-turnout-and-travel/1718 - and think it is pretty brilliant (I like that you don't need to hang out with them like you do when they are standing in something like Jack's ice boots and DEFINITELY a Game Ready or Ice Horse). Good old fashion cold hosing does plenty, too, if that's possible. We have this contraption- http://smartpakequine.com/productclass.aspx?productClassid=5219 - which is so convenient...obviously not always a solution away from home.

I do like ice tubs because they get feet, too, but after nearly getting killed by the Dun One the first time I tried to soak him, we quickly found a better solution to icing his legs...having your horse try to kill himself, you, and tear down the barn in the process will get you to re-think your icing process rather quickly! ;)

[pegasusmom]

I just ordered the boots part of the whirlpool boot system - you know the big ugly yellow things - they work very well -ad we do exactly what Got Spots said. Very easy, plus I like being able to ice hooves as well. And the added advantage for thos of us dealing with taller horses is the ugly yellow boots cover all the way up to the knee. Easier to manage than a muck tub, although we have used that as well.

[vineyridge]

I just bought the Y splitter and extra cold pad, and compression bandage that they sell, and it works great! I really love the system, and it gets the legs really cold. * * *
I cant remember where I found the attachements, but I can look for the site. I remember I looked for a while to find the lowest price.

Us crazies need to stick together. :) If you would search for the site with attachments, I would greatly appreciate it!

[Highflyer]

I actually saw some men's waders at the Goodwill the other day and was wondering if they could be modified. :) I'm not very handy, though, and they weren't THAT cheap.

[vineyridge]

I really like the British technique. Where do you suppose the plastic ice cube sheets can be purchased? Some place like Campmor?

They are available at Campingworld.com :)

[mkevent]

Vineyridge- I've found the rubbermaid ice cell sheets in Target and Walmart-camping supplies section. I use the Coleman 5 day cooler and ice literally takes forever to melt in those suckers(my apologies to OP-I know I posted this on the other site, too so I sound like a broken record!!). I've found that I have to wet the legs first for the cooling to reach maximum effect.

[curlykarot]

http://www.bitofbritain.com/Jack_s_Ice_Boots_p/9365.htm

I like these ice boots - super easy to use and all 5 of the horses I've used them on took them well.

[Divine Comedy]

Wow, that British technique is awesome. I see where everyone says to get the ice cell sheets, but what about the Tubi Grip? Any recommendations? And what size should I get for the diameter?

[vineyridge]

Wow, that British technique is awesome. I see where everyone says to get the ice cell sheets, but what about the Tubi Grip? Any recommendations? And what size should I get for the diameter?

Doesn't Bit of Britain have something like tubi grip? I know I've seen it or something very like it in their catalog.

It looks as if medical supply houses have it online. Size would be a mystery, but wouldn't you want the inside layer to not compress and the outside layer to provide the compression?

[eventinglvr]

I've actually used the Tubigrip system for icing when I groomed at 3 days, and it works like a charm. You have to measure the horse's leg to figure out the best size...we always had two or three different sizes because we had such a wide range of horses.

Definitely wet the leg down before you ice, and I highly recommend putting shipping boots on top, like in the video. If the horse starts to move around much the ice will slip a little as it starts to melt.

[yellowbritches]

We have a GIANT roll of Tubigrip that we bought from a medical supply store (it actually goes under casts). I used it under porter boots, but since the porters haven't been used in years, this might be how I use it up. I think the stuff I have is arm size.

vineyridge, mkevent- thanks for the heads up on where the find the ice cube bags. We've been wondering this since I first saw the video, but haven't really started looking.