I’d like to be a better horse person and expand my first aid kit/horse care kit.
I’ve never wrapped a horse for anything, injury, shipping, or work. I’ve never been in an environment where people wrap their horses.
What kind of wraps do you consider essential to a good kit?
Well - first, its important that some one teach you how to wrap HANDS ON. An incorrectly done wrap can cause way more harm than good (bandage bows, slipped / tangled wraps etc). Have your vet, an experienced trainer, or an upper level pony clubber teach you.
First essential “wrap” that comes to mind is a “vet wrap” that the stretchy, elastic, rubbery disposable wrap that is used for keeping wounds clean etc. It is also good for wrapping a hoof if needed. Your vet kit should have a few rolls.
I think every “horse person” should a set of “standing wraps” (also called stable wraps). These are handy for situations where you need to stabilize swelling in a leg, cover a wound, treat injuries etc. Standing wraps consist of “pillow wraps” and nylon, non stretch bandages on top.
In my opinion, that is all you need. Polo wraps don’t do much, shipping wraps need to be expertly applied, and its usually better to just go with shipping boots.
Do you have some one that can show you HOW to apply wraps? Its really an art and a science. Uniform tension is KEY and it takes a fair bit of practice to master.
Well I do own and know how to use vet wrap lol, and I would have access to loads of pony clubbers.
well there is some skill involved even when it comes to vet wrap! Especially if you are wrapping a whole lower leg, or god forbid you have to deal with a knee etc.
Find a pony clubber with at least a C rating - I am sure they would be happy to show you! Standing wraps and shipping wraps are part of the tests, and went over and over wrapping when I was a PCer!
Get an upper level pony clubber to teach you. There is a good book on bandaging recommended by PC. You want to do a standing bandage, and shipping bandage, I would say a hock bandage (that one is tricky because you have to put on a standing bandage first to make the hock wrap stay up).
I would be happy to teach you during Event Camp 2 if you will be around, I do standing wraps every night after jump schools when they are in stalls. My trainer insisted when I was a kid and I have kept up the habit. 
It is a good skill to have, but agree with others that say you need to learn hands on with someone experienced there to give you tips. My past trainer always made us wrap legs when shipping and after a hard school if the horses were staying in stalls. We were not allowed to use shipping boots. That was back in the day when we had to rip our own flannel for the stable wraps to put over the quilts…hehe(guess I have really aged myself)
Here is the link to the Pony Club bandaging book:
http://shopponyclub.org/products/the-uspc-guide-to-bandaging-your-horse
Get the upper level Pony Clubbers to show you how!
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