Product Review: Absorbine Botanicals Rinse and Foaming Liniment

I, along with Hillary and L Williams, were contacted by Absorbine to review their new Absorbine botanicals line.  Hillary, L and I decided to release our reviews on the same day.  Go check theirs out too!

First, a shout out to Absorbine for sending us full-sized product to try.  It made a big difference being able to try the products over and over before reviewing them, and definitely gave me good vibes from the company.

First up: the body rinse.

I am not a big fan of shampoo baths.  However, I do rinse him off after every ride if the temperature is above about 65 or 70, so I was really excited to try this.

Thoughts on usage:
The bottle design is really smart, and was designed with the typical workflow of the wash rack in mind.  When I'm in the wash stall, I feel like I never have enough hands and always misplace things.  Not only does it hang in the wash rack by the hook lid:

but the lid also comes off to reveal a quick squirt lid, so you just flip the bottle over and squirt some into the bucket:

using the graduations on the side of the bottle to guide you (each mark makes a gallon per the directions.  I usually use one squirt in my little bucket, nowhere near a gallon - my pony doesn't have enough square footage to justify an entire gallon!)

The effects:
Connor stands quietly during his rinse, and usually cocks a hind leg on the side I'm wiping down with the sponge.  He seems to like it.

Rinse time.

The biggest difference I notice between a water rinse and a rinse with this is that his coat is very soft and slick when I use the sweat scraper to remove excess water from his coat after using the Absorbine.  The scraper slides over his coat much faster than usual.

Overall thoughts: I am pleasantly surprised by how much I like it.  Connor seems to zone out when I use it, and it adds an extra step to my rinsing routine that we both find pleasant.  I feel like I'm pampering him when I use it.

Now for the liniment. I haven't used liniment since we used Cool Pack Gel Jelly on the racehorses in high school, so I was interested to try this.

Thoughts on usage:

The pump bottle is outstanding for me.  I drop it in my toolbag-turned-grooming box and just pump it into my hand without taking the bottle out at all.  A+ functionality-wise.

It squirts a nice dollop of foam into your hand:

Which I was applying with bare hands when my hands looked like this (thanks to doing toes-to-bar in 90% humidity in CrossFit!) and it didn't sting:

Open wound + normal liniment would = stinging pain.

Connor and I aren't exactly running XC or jumping 3' every day, and he spends so much of his life turned out, I'm not sure I'd see an effect from using any type of liniment, but I have been rubbing it into his back and tendons after every ride to test it out - I'm amazed at how cleanly it goes on.  Rub it in, and it disappears from your hands, no mess.

Bottom line is: The rinse is a unique product that I really enjoy using, and find to add an enjoyable element to Connor and I's routine, as well as relaxing him.  It seems expensive at around $20/bottle, but I use so little per rinse that one bottle will probably last the entire summer.  The liniment is a solid choice for those looking to replace their harsh liniments with a gentler and more user-friendly one, and based on lack of mess alone will be a solid contender for me to buy in the future.

Thanks, Absorbine, for the opportunity to review your products!

*I was not compensated by Absorbine in any way for reviewing their products.*