It really shouldn’t be a question, rhetorical or otherwise. Bute (Phenylbutazone) is a Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug (NSAID). NSAIDs are useful in treating inflammation caused by a variety of injuries, they can be used to not only reduce the inflammation in soft tissues but also to reduce pain.
If your horse has been injured NSAIDs can be a very useful secondary treatment protocol to help your horse feel more comfortable while it recovers from an injury. NSAIDs, like many other drugs, are sometimes abused. Quite aside from masking an injury to allow a horse to compete when it really ought to be resting to recover from an injury there are other instances of abuse of the drug.
Masking pain can encourage a horse to move through a wider range of motion than is appropriate to its recovery from an injury. Masking pain can actually set the recovery process back by a significant order of magnitude. Sometimes, it is more appropriate for the horse to be allowed to “feel the pain” in order to slow it down during the injury recovery phase.
Excessive use of NSAIDs can have a host of side effects, mostly unintended. Yet ironically many horse owners have a tub of powdered or liquid “Bute” in their tack box, which was prescribed by a vet. I confess that I too have a tub of powdered Bute that has been in my kit for a numbers of years – and may have reduced efficacy as a result of aging.
As a former athlete, having competed in five half ironman races as well as a number of other sporting events, I am all too familiar with the slow healing process from sports related injuries. And, I can tell you that a lifetime of Ibuprofen (a commonly used human NSAID) is definitely neither a good or appropriate option for dealing with injuries. In fact, personally, being quite drug averse, I have always preferred to deal with the pain rather than mask it.
Unfortunately some vets are “treating the client“, focusing on their needs, not the client’s horse’s needs. If your vet ever suggests that you treat your horse with drugs to numb the pain of a ride, either before or after, get a new vet! That is not an appropriate use of the drug. The aid is intended to help aid recovery, not mask injury.