My pony ripped her tendon last October and now HAS to wear a bandage/compression bandage all the time or her injured spot will swell with fluid, pop, and have to deal with the healing process all over again. I have been looking for a reusable compression bandage that she can BE TURNED OUT IN as vet wrap is getting too expensive. Any tips or suggestions on what kind of bandage I can use?
Ask your veterinarian for advice.
What’s your turnout situation like? In a small paddock on a dry day for a few hours when someone is going to be around and the horse doesn’t generally run, I do sometimes turn out in a regular standing wrap with duct tape over the velcro and have never had it be an issue.
Depending on the degree of healing, could you use cast padding under a brushing boot? (although that might not be a huge savings)
I’ve turned out in a true exercise bandage before. Not my favorite, but safe if done well in a safe paddock environment. You can do old school sheet cottons wrapped in cheese cloth, or a thin quilt or no-bow, covered with an elastic bandage or Saratoga wrap.
Where is the injury? Are you looking for something that barn workers can apply, like a boot?
It is on her back leg tendon.
My turnout situation is in a fairly large open pasture privately. She is the only one in the pasture.
If she is pretty sensible in the paddock and it’s a safe field, no water to walk through, etc., I would recommend a standing bandage. I know people have a lot of opinions about turning out in a standing bandage, and I definitely grew up with the mindset that they were for standing in in stalls only, but I have known several professionals to turn out in standing bandages with no problems. While initially hesitant about it, after having seen the horses wrapped in the field and managing just fine, I would definitely do it if needed. It’s not my first choice but it has its applications, and this might be one of them.
Is the tendon healed at this point? Which tendon tore?
If she has been in a standing wrap consistently you may try weaning her off slowly. Reduce the amount of time wrapped each day and her lymph system will start to remember its job. I didn’t do this after my horse’s degloving injury and it blew up and split the new skin. I have gone back to wrapping every other day and the size of the leg is slowly going down. Mine actually severed the extensor tendon in that leg. The swelling you’re seeing without the wrap is probably not from the injury swelling but from edema due to insufficient lymph function.
equicrown or something comparable
or back on track stable boots - I bought some 2nd hand, so if they are broken, I care less
Ghazzu, that’s a cool bandage option!
I’d look at the LeMieux support boot and PEI turnout boot options (as long as your vet approves).
OP, how good is the supervision?
A standing wrap will produce the best and most even compression of any bandage out there.
The danger, of course, is the horse getting the elastic bandage caught on something and pulling it tighter in a ring around the leg.
Of course, that can happen overnight in a stall, too, via the marauding teeth of the horse!
One traditional solution to this problem is using flannel wraps. Those don’t stretch, so if something pulls the bandage hard enough, it will break and the bandage will loosen or come off as opposed to constrict in that really damaging ring around the leg.
Learning to wrap with flannel takes a bit of practice. I think, too, I’d be wary of cotton shrinking if it got wet, so I’d do it the old school way: Get that a piece of heavy flannel as long as you’d like it, tear strips that will make your bandages and wash those before I used them. You secure them with a ring of masking tape laid around the leg with a little nub for a tab at the end. But it’s a cheap, tough, safe solution that I’d use in your spot.
But good supervision is key, IMO.
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I bought the hock bandage from here when my horse tore his DFT sheath. He was on stall rest, but it was a great option instead of trying to pressure wrap a hock every day. Highly recommend. They were durable and stayed in place well.
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I just saw these advertised while scrolling through my Instagram feed. It looks like someone else had suggested them, but they look handy.
https://www.equicrowncanada.com/
The US website is not working quite right for me but this could be worth looking into.
