FAQs Silver Whinnys Part 2 - Sox For Horses!

QUESTION #02 Do the socks offer compression?

Silver Whinnys utilize a safe level of compression to stay in place on the legs. They offer a resting level of compression but not tight compression. If they are very tight on the leg, they may be too small for your horse. You should be able to slide your hand, if not a large hand, snuggly between the sock and leg. The stretch of a sock allows it to go over the hoof. The light level of compression causes it to come back and conform to the leg. See "ABOUT COMPRESSION AND SILVER WHINNY:" Our compression lab results are included in this article.

QUESTION #03 Can Silver Whinnys heal scratches, dew poisoning, summer sores, or a wound/injury?

Sox For Horse, Inc. makes no claims that the socks will heal, cure, or prevent leg conditions. The silver does not have a chemical reaction with the skin. The reason the results are profound is because the sox are a knitted, high tech bandage providing a barrier against the insects and dirt of the equine environment. Go to: WHEN ALL ELSE HAS FAILED - SILVER WHINNYS® SUCCEED

Go to Testimonials to read what other equine owners have to say and visit the "Studies" page to see the results that other owners have achieved. And don't forget to listen to what the Veterinarians have to say!

QUESTION #04 Can the Silver Whinnys® help with Mud Fever?

Yes. Mud fever occurs in constant muddy and wet conditions in any season of the year and is difficult to completely heal. Silver Whinnys offer the protection to keep the skin clean and dry even in wet mud. It takes more effort to heal anything in these conditions but by using, Silver Whinnys you can keep wounds and sores clean and dry. The Sox must be changed at least once a day for the silver to optimally inhibit the exponentially propagating bacteria and fungi in the Sox during wet, muddy conditions.

Keeping clean Sox on your horse is essential when battling Mud Fever. And YES, you want your horse in the Sox when turned out. Let it rain or pour. Silver Whinnys are your front line defense. Ideally your horse should wear the Sox 24 & 7, but pasture time is when you most need them to protect your horse’s legs. The Sox may look terrible when your horse comes in, but if you look under the Sox, the skin will be clean and dry. They are your barrier against those elements which have caused your horse so much trouble! Get rid of your fear and let your horse outside. The silver is activated even more so by water.

If it is a bad case of mud fever, change the Sox with clean dry Sox in the AM and PM if you can. This will support optimum microbe reduction in the Sox and offer even more ideal conditions around the legs.

Mud and water can weigh a lot and drag the Sox down. To keep the Sox over the disrupted skin, you can support the Sox with a few individual wraps of electrical tape. Wrap so there is hardly any tape indentation in the Sock. It's just a single wrap around of electrical tape to add support. Add a single wrap of tape around the pastern to keep the socks down over the mud fever, also just above the fetlock and 2” from the top of the Sox. For instructions on how to tape, go to https://soxforhorses.com/pdf/keeping-the-socks-in-place-and-protected-2018-08-06.pdf

Electrical tape is good to use. It doesn;t cover very much of the Sox and air is allowed to reach the tissue. It stretches so if the sox are pushed down by the horse, the tape gives. During the Fall, Winter or Spring, our Whinny Wellies® can be a huge asset in keeping the Sox and legs clean and dry making your task much simpler. Check out Whinny Wellies, our foul weather leg gear for horses. https://soxforhorses.com/buy-now-whinny-wellies/

Check out Isaac and Ana, both mud fever cases on the "Studies" page.

QUESTION #05 Will Silver Whinnys® help my horse with Lymphangitis?

First, we want you to read an article we have published on this subject which was co-written by Dr Steve Soule. This article will really help you understand why we feel about how our sox can integrate with your vet's treatment plan. https://equimanagement.com/news/fei-vet-dr-stephen-soule-cites-circulation-compression-critical-cellulitis-lymphangitis-relief-54094

The second article you should read is our article ABOUT COMPRESSION AND SILVER WHINNYS® This article provides our Lab results on our socks compression values and will again, help your vet determine how and when they will fit into the treatment plan. We make custom socks as well to fit special situations where the legs must have the bandage barrier and also very little compression. Contact us regarding custom made socks.

We know that it is critical to heal the secondary infections on the skin surface when trying to help a horse with lymphangitis, lesions, and other forms of infection-driven edema and tissue stresses. Silver Whinnys® maintain a clean environment around the legs useful for reducing dirt and debris near any pre-existing wounds/sores, and they reduce the bio-burden on the contact surface of the socks. They provide the protection needed to help owners make forward progress in eliminating the secondary infections.

QUESTION #06 Can the socks help with dew poisoning?

Dew poisoning is partially caused by excessive moisture for prolonged periods on the grass. The wicking fiber of the socks will pull the moisture from the skin tissue, keeping it dry. When dermatitis issues are very bad and low on the pastern, near the bulbs or the top of the hoof, and your horse is out in pasture, you might consider adding a pastern wrap if the socks are being pushed off the skin by the grass. A wrap can securely and safely insure the sock material is constantly over the pastern regardless of the horse's activities in the field. Though you will lose the air reaching the tissue, healing is not slowed down as long as the hygienic environment is against the skin tissue. We know this from working with wounds in bitter cold sub-zero temperatures where the wounds had to be wrapped in order to prevent them from healing. See our study page, case Jeta. Oxygen is good, but protection is a necessity and that can mean making sure the sox stay over the pastern tissue.

When the horse comes back from the pasture, you can inspect the socks to see if they are wet and change them if so. Most of the time, the socks will dry on the horse after the dew is gone. We've heard this works great and we've heard that existing cases of dew poisoning go away when the socks are changed daily with clean, dry socks. Dew poisoning must have a wet, warm, environment to persist. The socks are cool and they keep the skin tissue dry while allowing air to reach the skin.

QUESTION #07 My horse has bedsores. Can your socks help?

It is important to resolve bedsores quickly as they can turn into chronic pressure ulcers that become repeatedly infected and more difficult to heal. The longer a sore remains unresolved, the weaker any new skin or tissue developed will be. Weakened tissue is the revolving door of nearly healed to back-to-open oozing. Bedsore boots by themselves can be problematic if your horse has skin reactions to neoprene, the most commonly used material for boot construction.

Every situation is different for horses with bedsores. You must heal the sores first. Silver Whinnys® can work in tandem with various protection hock and fetlock gear to make them more effective and safe against your horse's skin while preventing further injury. The sox will help to keep the heat from building up beneath a neoprene boot. The socks will continue to wick the moisture from the skin and keep the environment around that damaged tissue clean.

Fitting hocks can be an issue if you have a large horse. Sox For Horses now makes the "Large Bandage Sock" for bandaging hocks and when worn with the Hock Shield® made by Click Horse Products, we've helped many horses resolve these issues. Call us to order the "Large Bandage Sox" They are a specialty bandage and not listed on our Buy Now Page. We want to review your horse's situation to make sure these bandages will work for your horse. The beauty of the "Large Bandage Sox" is that they are so large they will not constrict circulation nor movement anywhere on a large joint even when your horse lies down and they are not expensive. They are made of the same great silver yarn as the Silver Whinnys. We are happy to discuss individual situations and help owners find the appropriate bandaging application for their horse. Bed sores on knees can be the most challenging and we invite you to call or email us to discuss options. We have options for the knees!

Hock Shield® are the best hock protection. Click Horse Products also makes a Fetlock Shield® and we like that it is not neoprene. Both work great in harmony with our sock bandages. EquiPro offers a very good fetlock boot. This is a neoprene boot and a good one if you use our sox between the boot and the skin.

After the sores are healed continue to use the Hock Shields®, Fetlock Shields® and fetlock boots without the sox. They will help protect these sores from reopening. Both companies are very customer-and results-oriented.

Many times you can't change the way your horse rises or lies down. Past injuries or illness sometimes make this impossible to correct. However if your horse has recovered and the condition isn't chronic, often getting your horse back over his feet with correct trimming and sessions of chiropractic can help your horse begin to correct the way it rises and lies down. Talk to your vet about bringing your horse back to full balance again so that bed sores become a thing of the past.

QUESTION #08 Can I continue to use the external medications my vet has recommended?

Yes. Topical medications prescribed by your vet should always be continued! Our socks work in harmony with prescribed medications. Our job is to partner with your veterinarian by being a part of his/her healing strategy. If they have a preparation or medication they feel necessary, it should be continue to be used.

If you are using sauerkraut, old motor oil, bacon grease, other home-made preparations, and even things like Tea Tree Oil, stop. Better here to keep it very simple and let the socks do their job. Tea Tree Oil, though good for some things is a powerful astringent and can actually cause a bad skin reaction. We have often wondered how a horse feels when the vinegar of sauerkraut is applied to raw open wounds. Often horses are so over treated that they become angry about being handled. Get with us. We have solutions to help your horse through this pain and over handling in a way that will help protect you and the horse.

Too many people confuse healthy granulating tissue with proud flesh. Be careful self-medicating. A preparation designed to eat away proud flesh can actually be eating away healthy granulating tissue.

QUESTION #10 My horse has a very bad injury on the legs. Will the socks help?

Most likely. They are a powerful bandage/barrier. SFHs offers a number specialty custom bandaging options that are not listed on our cart. The right choice will depend on the present condition of the injury. We also will work in concert with your veterinarian. Contact us via email. Send photos of the injury. Be sure to include your phone number so we can talk to you about bandaging options and discuss what has been done so far as well as assess your ability to effectively use the bandaging choice.

QUESTION #11 Can Silver Whinnys protect my horse from cuts and bruises in the paddock?

They are great as a bandage to protect injuries while they heal, however they are not thick enough to prevent every injury. From my personal experience, my own horse became tangled in some strands of barbed wire last summer. He was wearing his socks. Though the wire got tangled in both rear leg socks to the extent that the socks had to be cut off, his legs were without injury. I think that had the wire been able to really bite into his legs, I would have seen far more injury but it bit just enough to cause him to stand and wait for help. I believe the socks prevented serious injury in this case. The best answer is to make sure your pasture is as hazard free as possible. How this wire ended up in my pasture is a mystery to me.

QUESTION #12 My horses come back with scratches from the events. Will your socks prevent this?

We have competitors who use them for this purpose. Put the socks on when you arrive and leave them on unless exercising your horse, showing, or competing. As soon as you have brought the horse back into the barn, clean the legs and put the socks back on. Susanne and Scott Hassler swear by them when they have their horses in Wellington for the winter. They don't come home with the Wellington grunge.

QUESTION #16 Why do you change the sox every 24 hours when sores are present?

Bacteria, fungi, and mold propagate at astounding rates, particularly when the environment is wet and warm. The silver in the socks can only inhibit the microbe growth in the socks for a certain amount of time before the bacteria, fungi, and mold have propagated beyond the capability of the silver to control it.

In a barn environment, 24 hours is the most you can ask. If the weather is constantly wet and muddy, changing the socks twice a day is advised until the weather clears and dry conditions are present. Taking these measures protects the healing and in the case of constant, wet, muddy, weather, is essential in promoting healing.

QUESTION #18 What is your return policy?

New-unused socks will be refunded at 100% of your purchase price. You must return the socks for replacement, or refund within 30 days of your purchase. Returns must include a copy of the packing slip or purchase receipt. The cost of shipping and handling is not eligible for refund nor is return shipping costs.

Exchanges can be made with an additional payment for shipping and handling. Items that have been previously replaced because of a sizing exchange are not refundable. If you have any questions about the socks, a refund or exchanges, please call us at 850-907-5724.

SFHs recommend that you return socks inexpensively using USPS with "Delivery Confirmation". You must get the socks to SFHs for a "return" credit.

See our RETURN/REFUND/EXCHANGE POLICY page for additional details.

FAQs - Silver Whinnys