Leg care for the horse that won't wear wraps

[adult_ammy]

Thank you for all the advice! I think I’ll probably not wrap her, it seems like the best option to keep her happy. She gets lots of turnout and I can definitely cold hose/ice/poultice

hunterrider23 I usually pack feet after horse shows, the footing around here can get quite dry and hard when we show on grass and I find it really helps

[Lord_Helpus]

I agree with those who said at a 3’ hunter should not need wraps, or really any special care if jumping for 3 days in 1 week on decent footing. If your horse stocks up, then icing/linament etc. might help.

BUT, so will handwalking with shin boots, with rubber/neoprene on the inside. Any kind of shin boot which doesn’t breath is like a person putting on a rubber suit — they lose fluid by sweating.

My trainer back then would flat my horse in the a.m. in shin boots like that and the stocking up would go away in 20 minutes.

Of course I am an olde farte. I do not ship in bandages. Jimmy Williams did not ship in bandages, and neither did Joe Fargis (with his expensive jumpers including ToC). If I have a horse who might scramble, I use bell boots on all 4 feet, but that is it.

Those BNT’s also flatted horses without shin boots. Joe added boots for jumping, but any horse who was so crooked that he was in danger of hitting one leg with another when trotting usually did not make the cut to be in their program.

I always smile when I see small ponies in polos. The only good they do is to justify the training charges the owner pays.

[yellowbritches]

Well, I think the stocking up would go away with 20 minutes of exercise, boots, polos, or bare legs. It’s never seemed to matter.

But if a horse is prone to stocking up, it isn’t great for them to be left without something on them. But for a horse that is just fine, has no known reason for bandaging, meh. And hand walk will do just as well, and more interesting for the horse.

[Simbalism]

When my older mare was showing, she hated most linaments. I would just slap some clay poultice on her legs and wash off the next day.

[chillydc]

Not to derail, but this seemed applicable here… has anyone tried the below instead of ice (I come from work and there is no barn freezer), these seem to solve some of those problems, but seem a bit too good to be true.

https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/coldflex-vet-wrap-2279

[Denzel]

[QUOTE=chillydc;8109064]
Not to derail, but this seemed applicable here… has anyone tried the below instead of ice (I come from work and there is no barn freezer), these seem to solve some of those problems, but seem a bit too good to be true.

https://www.smartpakequine.com/pt/coldflex-vet-wrap-2279[/QUOTE]

I have a pair, and to be honest was underwhelmed at best. They are super awkward to use, and the bandage materials flake off, and I am just not super thrilled with them, and as a result only used them twice.

[cuatx55]

^^^ I hated them. Just get cold packs or ice.

[Fig]

If anyone reading this decides they want to wrap but their horse is pulling off the wraps, then you can try a bib as well.

[jlphilli]

I agree with what everyone said about just poulticing with no wrap. I do this at summer shows when it is really hot (even at night). I only do the 3’0" too, so it’s not like there is a huge risk of no wrapping. Just make sure the horse gets out more than a couple of times a day (handwalking, etc).

[Daventry]

[QUOTE=yellowbritches;8104069]
Fwiw, poultice and liniments do basically nothing except make us feel good. Poultice makes legs feel tight, but they just tighten up the skin. [/QUOTE]

Please provide the research and literature that backs up your claim that poultice doesn’t work. I can provide lots info. regarding the opposite, but have never heard of any research that has been done that states poulticing has no benefits.

For those that have a horse that does not kick with wraps on and just reaches down to chew on them, we put this on our old show gelding at the shows and it worked well to keep the wraps in place. You can get these plastic bibs just about anywhere. http://www.amazon.com/Intrepid-International-Plastic-Bib-Horses/dp/B008OLQOFW