What are some odd horse treatments/cures you have heard of?

Open the mouth of a horse that like to puff when you tighten the girth. They *Can't* hold in air with their mouth open.

Diesel fuel keeps away flies and actually helps the coat (the oils in it)

Turpentine for feet

Vinegar for flies and mixed with salt for swelling.

Kerosene for cuts.

flour to stop the bleeding from a cut.

Smear fat from a salted ham on scars to help regrow hair.

I cant think of anymore but I have used a lot of them and they do work. Times were hard way back when and horses were a mainstay so they had to stay healthy.

In the olden days, enormous bits were used in war so that the rider had maximum control of the horse. However, in many cases, the rider would pull back on the reins so hard that the horses mouth was forced open. Horses can only breathe through their nostrils, and if their mouth is open, they can't breathe at all. So sometimes, if a war horse had a particularly bad rider, he might actually pass out on the battle field because he couldn't breathe. Kind of counterproductive, huh?

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't read the question right. I suppose this is more of a historical "Did You Know?" horsemanship fact, not really health-related, but it's still an odd remedy. You got better control but then your horse passes out on you.

There are lots of "folk cures" out there. Some work, but many have been proven by modern science to be ineffective at best, and dangerous at worst. Like people used to recommend putting butter on burns, but modern medicine says that not only does butter not help the burn to heal but it actually increases the chance of infection. Lets put it this way: if tobacco really worked so well as a dewormer, why would people be spending all that money on chemical dewormers?

Disreputable people used to sell all sorts of "miracle cures" and "snake oil." Many of these concoctions were just alcohol, which of course made people feel better because they were drunk, not because the medicine worked! But some old fashioned or natural remedies do work, so I'm not saying you shouldn't consider them. Just use good judgment.

Back in the day you could pack a horse's feet with sugar to actually kill bacteria. Basically it was too much sugar, it would supersaturate the bacterial cells and cause them to erupt and die. At least that is what I was told ^__^

I've heard of kerosene on a horse that gets picked on, because he smells/tastes bad and it keeps the other horses away. BAD IDEA. I know they do this in the hog industry too.

I've heard of Garlic and Onion as natural wormers.

Rubbing alcoholic for swelling if you don't have liniment available.

I once knew a man who's horse coliced and he rubbed paint thinner on the horses stomach and the horse surprisely got better. Not sure if it actually worked but it was definitely odd

Listerine is good for itchy tails. The antiseptic in it kills fungi and bot eggs and the mint helps soothe the itch. I've also heard it's good for mane and tail growth and we use it instead of MTG since it's cheaper. Our trainer also told us to use Pledge to make their manes grow more.

Scrubbing Bubbles is also good for that funk they get in their cinch areas.

I've also heard using Jello powder instead of biotin for hoof growth, but I've also heard there's not enough in the Jello to actually work (I think Gallop said that once).

Beer for colic! It surprisingly does work.

Don't know if this is "Odd" - I use iodine in my horses hooves in the spring to prevent thrush