Supply
Cost: Under $50
These cost ranges are approximate and may vary from region to region.
Additional charges may also apply.
Hydrogen Peroxide
Cost: Under $50
These cost ranges are approximate and may vary from region to region.
Additional charges may also apply.
Summary
Hydrogen peroxide (3%) is one of the most misused items in the average horse owner's kit, so it
is worth being clear about what it is — and is not — good for. Many people reflexively pour it
into every cut because it foams and feels like it is working. That foaming is the problem, not the
benefit: the bubbling is hydrogen peroxide reacting with and damaging living tissue. It is toxic to
the very cells — the fibroblasts and new skin cells — that your horse needs in order to heal, and
its germ-killing effect is weak and lasts only seconds before the tissue neutralizes it. For
cleaning a wound, plain saline or clean-water lavage does a better job with none of the harm.
Do not put hydrogen peroxide in or on open wounds, and never flush it into a deep puncture or
closed cavity.
So why keep it in the kit at all? It has one genuinely useful role: it lifts dried blood out of a white
or light-colored hair coat when nothing else will, which helps you clean a horse up after a minor
injury so you can actually see what you are dealing with. It is also fine for cleaning blood and
organic material off equipment. Used for those purposes — not as a wound treatment — it
earns its place. Store it in its dark bottle, as it loses potency with light and age.
is worth being clear about what it is — and is not — good for. Many people reflexively pour it
into every cut because it foams and feels like it is working. That foaming is the problem, not the
benefit: the bubbling is hydrogen peroxide reacting with and damaging living tissue. It is toxic to
the very cells — the fibroblasts and new skin cells — that your horse needs in order to heal, and
its germ-killing effect is weak and lasts only seconds before the tissue neutralizes it. For
cleaning a wound, plain saline or clean-water lavage does a better job with none of the harm.
Do not put hydrogen peroxide in or on open wounds, and never flush it into a deep puncture or
closed cavity.
So why keep it in the kit at all? It has one genuinely useful role: it lifts dried blood out of a white
or light-colored hair coat when nothing else will, which helps you clean a horse up after a minor
injury so you can actually see what you are dealing with. It is also fine for cleaning blood and
organic material off equipment. Used for those purposes — not as a wound treatment — it
earns its place. Store it in its dark bottle, as it loses potency with light and age.