Cross Posted from Horse Care:
Interesting in seeing people’s thought on the back on track products, such as the sheet and the open fronts. Thinking about picking one up for my sassy little pony. I’ve heard all the love people have for them and I just want to see if they truly are worth the cash, I guess. Girl in my barn just bought some of the open fronts and I have to admit they look nice and her horse isn’t getting the sweaty boot leg. So Im curious.
Have the sheet and quick wraps. Love love love them!
I love them. For myself, and for my horse. Especially here in the northern tundra, the horses seem much happier with the BOT stuff to keep their muscles warm.
I wear the long johns and have the mini blanket in my car in the winter. Makes a big difference in how stiff I get.
YAY x 100000
For people and ponies yes!!!
I have the knee brace for myself, and I definitely find it helps relieve the aches and pains. Haven’t tried the horse products. They’re so $$$$$$$$$
I have the ankle brace, and it WORKS.
Have the sheet for my horse, and a few other things I use from time to time - bell boots, hock wraps.
Bought DH the t shirt.
LOVE BOT!!
I have the ankle brace, and it WORKS.
Have the sheet for my horse, and a few other things I use from time to time - bell boots, hock wraps.
Bought DH the t shirt.
LOVE BOT!!
Sometimes the horse products go on sale on tack of the day.
My horse tends to be a bit cold backed. I find a big difference if I put the mesh BOT sheet on first. I put it on first thing when I get to the barn, pull out my tack, grooming box, put on my half chaps, then I groom him but I don’t take the sheet off to groom. I just lift whatever quarter of the sheet I am working under.
I peel the sheet back quick throw on the saddle pad/saddle and pull it right back up. When I get on in the ring I leave it draped over the back edge of the saddle and his hindquarters while I warm up at the walk and only take it off when I am ready to trot.
I may have to splurge and get a BOT saddle pad.
I’ll admit I’ve been skeptical of BOT for a long time. This fall I’ve been having lots of back issues and lately have been quite frustrated with lack of progress in healing. Yesterday, my BOT mini human blanket came in the mail - I had ordered it off of tack of the day thinking what did I have to lose. Put it under my back while I slept last night. This morning was the first morning in about 3 months I could get out of bed without pain from stiffness! I am now an absolute believer!
I am skeptical/mind’s not made up. What I definintely believe is that they are no substitute for a proper warm up and not a subsitute for finding out what about your horse’s program is resulting in a sore back.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/34497/magnetic-blankets-impacts-on-horses-studied
“An ordinary blanket probably increases blood flow just as much as a magnetic one does,” said Anna Edner, PhD, of the Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science in the University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden.:
I am skeptical/mind’s not made up. What I definintely believe is that they are no substitute for a proper warm up and not a subsitute for finding out what about your horse’s program is resulting in a sore back.
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/34497/magnetic-blankets-impacts-on-horses-studied
“An ordinary blanket probably increases blood flow just as much as a magnetic one does,” said Anna Edner, PhD, of the Department of Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science in the University of Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, Sweden.:
Back on Track is not magnetic so you link is irrelevant.
I haven’t used them but have to admit that I’m skeptical. For example … we are always concerned about pulling boots right after XC to allow heat to dissipate, and IIRC there was some actual evidence that overheated legs are more prone to soft tissue injuries … so are wraps that promote leg “warmth” really going to be beneficial in any significant way? I realize that the BOT wraps wouldn’t cause the legs to be nearly as warm as boots after XC, but is there evidence that warmer legs are somehow sounder?
I can see the potential benefit to say, keeping topline muscles warm before a ride, but is the BOT really any better than, say, a heavy fleece cooler?
I would gladly try it out, but not for the price.
Have the quick wraps for my horses. LOVE THEM.
I wasn’t sure if it was just a bunch of hocus pocus until two things happened that made me a believer.
I stalled my horse overnight at a barrel race. He is never stalled so he will stock up when stalled. I hand walk him every 2 hours. I put his BOT quick wraps on when I put him back in the stall and there was zero swelling when I came to do his walk. Didn’t put them back on and he was stocked up for the next walk. Put them back on, and next time no stocking up. Was amazing.
The following spring, he had a weird bad case of scratched (in the middle of winter … on one leg … in a weird location) that was making his entire back leg swell. On the way to the vet, I put on his quick wraps. About 45 min later when we arrived, I unloaded him and the swelling was gone.
They work amazingly well to increase circulation.
I will use them sparingly when it’s hot out, but I still love them.
Whoops! BOT supposedly works by using “the body’s own energy and reflects that energy back into the tissues as far-infrared wavelengths which penetrate deeper than just warmth to affect the tissues and the blood vessels, whereas the magnets utilize the magnetic field.”
It’s really interesting how their literature says that if it stops working well, stop using for a few weeks and then start again!
I just don’t have the time at the moment to dig around for really solid information, but I’m just so interested in recent studies about potential BENEFITS of the body’s imflammatory response. Anyone else out there noticed this shift in the literature? I know that I’ve posed links, in a thread about icing, to a summary of studies that show NOT using NSAIDS for a soft tissue injury sped healing in the end, and another related summary of recent research questioning post-exercise (not post injury) icing.
To me all these studies suggest to me that it’s time to begin to question the horse care approach of stifling inflammation no matter what.
I’m hoping there’s a scientist reading, who’s not at work, who can contribute more, but I just want to put it out there as something worth thinking about when discussing any theraputic tools for horse care.
Sorry I missed up the magnetic blankets with the BOT stuff.
I was skeptical, but I tried them once after competition instead of my usual poultice wrap. I was really surprised to find colder and tighter legs the next morning than I was accustomed to seeing after poulticing. I have been using the no-bows since, and although I don’t fully understand the mechanism, I can’t argue with the results.
We had a few horses in the barn that wore the quick wraps while stalled, and for those that had wind puffs or tended to stock up, you could always tell when they had been wearing them and when they hadn’t. My dog, who hates wearing coats, begs to have his back on track coat put on. I got a fleece blanket for myself, but I haven’t actually been able to try it out because my cat has dragged it into her cat lair and refuses to give it back!
SonnysMom, we do exactly the same thing with my daughter’s slightly cold-backed horse. Love that BOT sheet! We did splurge and bought the BOT/Thinline saddle pad. I rarely think the crap I buy makes much of a difference, but this actually does. We own several of the saddle pads because my daughter now won’t use anything else on this horse.
I use one of the longer BoT pads on my horse who can be slightly cold backed and sore over the loin/SI area while we warm up on the recommendation of the chiro, and it seems to allow him to loosen and stretch over the back easier. Caveat of N=1 and observer effect and all that. For myself, I use the ankle braces, as I have sprained my ankles an unfortunate number of times and they get very sore and swollen easily. Any brace is helpful, but the warmth from the BoT one is soothing.
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