Copper is a well known antimicrobial metal, commonly used in hospitals on door handles to minimize the spread of bacterial and fungal diseases. Ancient civilizations exploited the antimicrobial properties of copper long before the concept of microbes became understood in the nineteenth century. In addition to several copper medicinal preparations, it was also observed centuries ago that water cont
ained in copper vessels or transported in copper conveyance systems was of better quality (i.e., no or little visible slime formation) than water contained or transported in other materials. - Wikipedia
Using Copper helps protect against 99% of disease-causing bacteria and fungus. The benefit is that when rinsing your horses legs, with the copper cuff on, copper ions are being released and run down from the cuff. This will benefit the animal by cleaning everything below the copper cuff and over time creating a protective barrier. Any horse or animal with problems resulting from bacterial or fungal infections, such as thrush, white line disease, etc, can benefit from the use of copper cuffs.
