Bandages banned on the competition grounds in the Netherlands from 1 April.
For English translation open in another browser.
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Could someone please post a link to the English version for those of us who are not so tech savvy? Thanks in advance.
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All copy/pasted from Google-translated article … fwiw, Google translate is not perfect. I don’t speak Dutch. If something doesn’t make sense, someone who knows Dutch may be able to clarify the intended meaning, from the original text.
Bandages are prohibited on the competition site from April 1
Thu Jan 11, 12:53
The KNHS rule changes for dressage, jumping and driving that come into effect on April 1, 2024 and for vaulting on March 1, 2024, state that bandages are no longer permitted on the competition site. This rule, which was already in force for eventing, has now been extended to all disciplines to contribute to the welfare of horses.
Research
The decision is based on scientific studies, which show that bandages do not provide effective leg protection and can even have a negative effect on horses’ legs. “You can’t ignore it, so much research has been done into it. It is very clear that we should stop using it. Especially because there are alternatives if you want to protect the lower legs," says Fenna Westerduin, who manages the horse welfare portfolio at the KNHS.
Protect tendon caps
Morgan Lashley, specialist in sports medicine and equine rehabilitation at the University of Utrecht, confirms that bandages do not provide effective leg protection. “It has been investigated whether bandages can prevent overextension of the bullet. The answer is no, even tape won’t help. You can only stabilize this joint with a brace or plaster, but yes, you cannot drive with it. If you want protection against tapping, tendon boots work better than a piece of cloth, which also entails other risks.
Temperature is rising
The biggest problem is that the temperature of the legs rises high under bandages, which has a detrimental effect on the elasticity of tendon tissue. It is sometimes compared to boiling an egg. The structure of the tendon fibers changes, which can damage them. It doesn’t help if you cool your legs immediately after riding. “That’s like first setting your house on fire and then putting it out. The damage has already been done.” She also points out the problems that can arise if bandages are not applied correctly. “If they become loose, a horse can become entangled in them. If they are too tight or the material is not good, pressure can occur. I have even seen abroad that tendons had suffered trauma due to bandages that were too tight.”
These new regulations, which will come into effect on April 1, 2024 for dressage, jumping and driving and for vaulting on March 1, 2024, are a new step to guarantee the well-being of horses during competitions.
Source: KNHS
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No more polos used at horse show grounds.
I think that’s a little bit of nanny-state here. Yes, I’m aware of the research that says wraps/boots/anything on a horse’s legs will heat them up and heated tendons are at higher risk for injury.
However, I am completely unaware of any “heat related” injury caused by a polo wrap or boot, worn during exercise for a reasonable period of time (45min or less). I am not a big polo wrap person; I have too many horses to ride in a day, not enough time for all that wrapping, much less laundering them. However, there are times when I need a polo; to cover an injury, for example, that a boot would otherwise rub. A small cut or scrape that needs to be kept clean. I even TURN OUT in polo wraps when it would benefit an injury.
Polos provide gentle compression that a boot does not; for a small wound that has a bit of filling up the leg.
I wouldn’t likely be riding a horse with injury on show grounds, but I won’t say it hasn’t happened. Perhaps the horse got a scrape in the trailer on the way to an event; or got a scrape on XC; perhaps I would have polos on instead of boots for SJ. It’s rare, but it’s a possibility and I would like to have that option for my own choice, not regulated by a show federation.
In my 20+ years of experience, I have yet to experience this “terrifying risk” of overheating and broken legs caused by bandages or leg protection. I have been on two racehorses that bowed, very badly bowed, during morning training. Both were caused by breezing on poor footing. Neither one ever wore bandages. I’ve also ridden long format CCIs, and groomed for same, back in the day when horses wore leg protection for well over an hour on endurance day and galloped steeplechase, and can’t attribute any tendon injuries to choice of legwear.
Do I believe that most polo wraps used are overkill and more of a fashion statement than protection? Yeah, sure. But I don’t think it’s so dangerous for the animal that it amounts to cruelty and should be banned. That’s quite extreme.
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Huh. Interesting.
Thanks for the translation!
Wow. I am right there with @EventerAJ
This is major overkill and serious micromanagement.
My horse has white legs and feet, she is shipped in wraps and stays in wraps at shows unless its 90f or we are in the show pen, so this wouldn’t fly with me. What they don’t state is there is very little to no increase in temperature when the horse is at rest. So to ban them on the grounds completely is overkill. I can understand banning them in certain show pens, but not entirely.
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to be honest I think it’s like the banning of whiskers - yes there is reasons to not do it, but in reality a pretty small problem for the horse and no effect on performance - governing bodies are going for the low hanging fruit that will give the appearance of promoting welfare but the trainers will just roll there eyes and go along with instead of going after the bigger issues that they will get serious push back on as they effect performance in the ring and winning.
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Were the studies done on polo wraps alone, or on polo wraps with an underbandage like Eskadron Climatex wraps? Seems like that would make a bit of a difference?
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Bandages have largely disappeared here in the UK. Boots are so much easier and so they are used in preference, most of the time. I actively prefer the modern travelling boots to the old-fashioned bandages I was taught all those years ago. I’m running through my mind when I would use them… and can’t really see a need to do so. I’m sure there are times when a bandage makes sense but not daily. Ah, polo! Maybe still used in polo.
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The Netherlands always seems to lead in these things, and the FEI always seems to follow, for better or worse, so I might watch for this to expand. I wonder if it includes standing wraps. Logic dictates it would, but between translation issues and poor logic in general, who knows…
In driving we are still dealing with an FEI reg that started in the Netherlands, spread to FEI and then USEF. When we used to come in from marathon most of us walk in the last 300m (time on course is ideal time, time in obstacles is fastest gets least penalties). Driving horses get really hot so we get a vet check and then go to our water station. Some of us unhitch the carriage while cooling, some don’t. All of us are busy cooling. Within 10 minutes or so we take the horse back to the vet. If it’s all clear hitch up and go back to the barn. If the horse is still warm but otherwise fine you bring him back for a final check within 30 minutes (this is not uncommon for heavily muscled pony breeds).
The new rule seemed such a minor edit with a major effect. You came in, had the vet check, sent to a cool down area where you and the crew had to stay on the box and keep walking. You could briefly stop and pull boots, apply water, but otherwise keep walking until you had to self report back to the vet in 10 minutes (or be eliminated) to be cleared. Here’s the big problem, as a lot of us knew, if you keep walking around hitched up, a good marathon horse does not think he’s done with his job, he’s got FOMO. At any moment he could be headed to an obstacle again and he’s ready. Their heart rate just stays elevated. It was a mess, the only place you could walk was in the baking hot sun, take a minute in the shade then go back out and walk. By the 2nd event our FEI vets were taking stats to submit a report with their concerns with the rule.
And the whole damn thing started because (allegedly, but good sources) some European drivers were clearing the cool down and dumping their horses in the stalls to go watch the rest of the field compete, and their horses were reheating. So, the upshot was to create a rule that was worse for the 80% so we could regulate the 20%, when I think the answer was to yellow card the 20% if they were found to do this. We are on year three and it has settled somewhat, now the walking is considered optional and most of us just park our horses by the cooling station like we used to although we stay hitched, but any time we have a new treating vet crew we are still at a loss as to how they will handle it. It’s incredibly stressful especially if you have one of those pony furnaces that comes in hot. In general I’m a big fan of all things Dutch when it comes to driving, but I made an exception for this bit of idiocy.
Tl;dr? Don’t get too attached to your polos 
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I think this is the case with a lot of rules related to horse competitions.
Although if anything, a lot of times the percentages are even more skewed. Maybe they’re only regulating the 5% or 3% or 2% who were doing it wrong, but the new rule still has to apply to everybody.
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Because it’s translated, and from a different country I wonder about their definition of bandages. I’m thinking it means the big, multi layer bandages often seem on Dressage horses in warm up and on non competition days. It’s not clear if it covers stable bandages.
I’ve always wrapped my horses overnight when they’re at a multi day event. I’ve used BoT quick wraps as well, which are more boot like in application. It seems nonsensical to allow the quick wraps and ban no bows with bandages.
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I actually took a couple screenshots of a video that kept showing up on my Facebook feed. I mean, come on now.
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That seems a little ridiculous. And also counterproductive, if the horse steps on it and pulls the wrap down the leg.
Come on, people. Just buy a pair of bell boots.
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Good, spell expensive , shipping boots that go from just below the knee,with an upward knee protecting extension front, to the bottom of the foot are so much easier to apply than the bandage, wrap shipping wrap. The little fuzzy wraps with two or three velcro straps are fairly worthless.
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I’m not convinced the people in those videos actually know anything about horses. I’m pretty sure I watched that girl walk/crawl underneath her horse’s belly during an untacking video.
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Look at how her foot is in the stirrup!
Also no helmet and no pony tail??
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And the drop noseband? If anything they could have put a helmet on her to hide the terrible bleach job…
I will put the hind wraps down to the coronary band on the hind legs to protect the pasterns/coronary bands during the lateral work. In that Instagram reel it does seem they’re being used in place of bell boots. I’ve never seen anyone do this before.
I would think the real reason wraps are banned on competition grounds is to prevent injuries or abuse from being hidden. Their reasoning is weird.
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It is not clear if bandages are forbidden while horses are being ridden or across the board, including for transport and stabling.
I do understand that the American model of a mutli-day show where your horse spends the night in show stabling is not the norm in Europe. That is more of a come that day, ride your test/s, and go back home.
But my horse, who on a normal day spends 18 hours turned out, often gets stocked up overnight in show stabling if he is not wrapped with stable bandages. I’ve done it for years and would have a serious issue with USEF if they suddenly decided that bandages were banned across the show grounds entirely. In theory, banning them for horses while under saddle could be addressed, but I look at the boots my horse is wearing and see strike marks on the fetlock makes me think boots with a decently stiff material on the inside is providing a level of protection.
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I’ve yet to see any shipping boot, no matter how expensive, that doesn’t slip, shift, and sag down. In my opinion, they are less safe than wraps for that reason, and I will not use them. Properly applied standing wraps do not shift and can be “custom fit” to each horse. They also provide a bit of compression, which is helpful for horses that stock up on long trailer rides.
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