Pin Firing in Horses

Pin Firing: Necessary or Unnecessary Pain

Pin firing is when a hot iron is used to effectively burn, sear or destroys tissue. It is generally used on a horse’s leg when it is injured such as a splint, curb or chronic bow tendon. Pin firing is often done with a pointed iron but can also be done with a horizontal bar to affect on the skin instead of extending to the tendon. The main thing that is supposed to happen after the skin is burnt is the chronic inflammations are made acute which allows them to heal. While some think pin firing is a therapeutic healing process, others think it is an unnecessary pain that is outdated and invalid.

Pin firing dates back to approximately 500 A.D. when it was first described by Publius Vegetius Renatus who questioned the procedures validity. In the older times, fire was believed to be magical and in the case of pin firing, many believe that this practice is more keeping with tradition than actually having any scientific necessity. Because there is very few things that can actually treat most lameness issues, pin firing is continued to be used.

Pin firing is commonly used on race horses but can also be used on standard breeds too. A common example of a horse that needs to be pin fired is a horse that “pops a curb”. The horse will be rested then continue to do light exercise and then back to training but the horse will “pop a curb” again. Because the issue is chronic, the horse will need to go through the pin firing process. What generally happens is the horse will go under anesthesia, be probed with the red-hot pin and then rested till the issue is healed. The pain is believed by some to be “minimal” and “well tolerated” by the patient. People believe that pin firing makes the affected skin stronger and more durable to injury. The only reason that people still practice pin firing is because there are not many other options to heal lameness and some still believe that is genuinely speeds up the healing...