Leg support discussion

[beau159]

@handfish

Can anyone explain the rationale for Back on Track boots?

The ceramic material is marketed as a warming/heat reflecting technology, but heat is bad for legs, then why would you want to use BoT for boots?

They don’t really “heat” the leg. They aid in increasing circulation, or at least how I understand it.

I can’t tell you HOW they exactly work, but they do indeed work. But with that said, I will personally NOT use them when it is hot out. While they don’t generate heat, you are still putting fabric/material on a leg (just like putting on a coat in the summer). You will get warm, of course. Same with the BOT.

But they have worked extremely well for me (I have the quick wraps) if a horse tends to stock up (from stalling, or otherwise), or has a random swollen lower leg injury. Only 15-20 minutes and the leg is usually working good. (Side note, when it is hot out, the Cool Aid Tendon wraps have been amazing!)

@whoops

Hello everyone, looking for stories/advice.

Right now I ride in polos on all 4 legs. While I know nothing can offer true “support”, I like to do what I can for both protection from bumps AND deep footing/soft tissue issues. Plus it’s too hot for polos in in the summer, and maresie hates most boots.

You know, for the hour ? that you have the polo wraps on while you ride, I honestly wouldn’t worry about it.

Agree with the others about proper warm up and cool down, and riding the horse on a variety of surfaces.

@RAyers

A colleague of mine who is an official of USEF did her Master’s thesis on bandages on tendon heat and protein breakdown showed that by simply increasing the temperature of the leg 6-7 degrees above body temp (101 in a horse) will breakdown the proteins in tendons and ligaments. She measured temperatures under bandages at 106.7 after low impact exercise.

Curious: I assume your friend also compared leg temperature after low impact exercise WITHOUT bandages, as a control? What was that?

[RAyers]

@beau159

Curious: I assume your friend also compared leg temperature after low impact exercise WITHOUT bandages, as a control? What was that?

She was taking tendon biopsies from cadavers and analyzing the protein denaturation and well as tendon laxity based on heating in mechanical test equipment. This was not a simple “yes” or “no” type of study. To do what you suggest requires the sacrifice of 8-10 horses to get sufficient statistics. Not cheap.

And, while surface temperature is an indicator, it is ALWAYS less than the tendon/ligament/muscle temperature below the surface. Heat is generated by the friction between proteins within the tissues, not at the surfaces. Thus, bandages etc. cause retention of internal heat generated during exercise. They don’t create the heat.

The really do what you ask, we would need to use a trocar into the tendons during exercise to measure actual temperature.

[Gumby80]

The research I saw I think showed fleece wraps to accumulate the most heat, but boots weren’t that much better. I do remember that the main issue was that heat built up mostly just after exercise. So the most important thing was to remove any leg protection promptly after working the horse, if you chose to use it.

[beau159]

@RAyers

She was taking tendon biopsies from cadavers and analyzing the protein denaturation and well as tendon laxity based on heating in mechanical test equipment. This was not a simple “yes” or “no” type of study. To do what you suggest requires the sacrifice of 8-10 horses to get sufficient statistics. Not cheap.

And, while surface temperature is an indicator, it is ALWAYS less than the tendon/ligament/muscle temperature below the surface. Heat is generated by the friction between proteins within the tissues, not at the surfaces. Thus, bandages etc. cause retention of internal heat generated during exercise. They don’t create the heat.

The really do what you ask, we would need to use a trocar into the tendons during exercise to measure actual temperature.

You said that she “She measured temperatures under bandages at 106.7 after low impact exercise.”

So did she do low impact exercise WITHOUT bandages and measure the temperature in the tendons of the cadaver legs?

Yes, of course anytime you put something physical on the leg (whether it’s polos or boots), it makes sense that the fabric itself is going to trap the heat, but I am very curious how much the leg heats up anyway from exercise. But it doesn’t sound like she checked that?

[grandprixer]

@beau159

You said that she “She measured temperatures under bandages at 106.7 after low impact exercise.”

So did she do low impact exercise WITHOUT bandages and measure the temperature in the tendons of the cadaver legs?

Yes, of course anytime you put something physical on the leg (whether it’s polos or boots), it makes sense that the fabric itself is going to trap the heat, but I am very curious how much the leg heats up anyway from exercise. But it doesn’t sound like she checked that?

Curious too, I live in similar weather to OP and have been wrapping recently to avoid nicks and bumps.

Also curious - OP mentioned something about reducing range of motion to protect suspensory? Is that a thing? Because I’m rehabbing a suspensory too.

[RAyers]

You put a thermocouple under a bandage and measure skin temperature. However, as was noted, that is not indicative the actual tendon temperature. Skin temperature is always LESS than the actual tissue temperatures beneath the skin. Then, you remove tendons from euthanized horses and place thermocouples in them during cyclic loading that reflect physiologic strains/strain rates and measure the actual temperatures developed. This way you don’t have to kill or maim the animal for this specific experiment.

As I noted a horse had a normal body temperature of 101. In MULTIPLE studies on boots’ effects on tendon heat tendons have been shown to rise up to 113 degrees F, well above the denaturation temperatures of most proteins (outside of heat shock proteins).

[beau159]

@RAyers

You put a thermocouple under a bandage and measure skin temperature. However, as was noted, that is not indicative the actual tendon temperature. Skin temperature is always LESS than the actual tissue temperatures beneath the skin. Then, you remove tendons from euthanized horses and place thermocouples in them during cyclic loading that reflect physiologic strains/strain rates and measure the actual temperatures developed. This way you don’t have to kill or maim the animal for this specific experiment.

As I noted a horse had a normal body temperature of 101. In MULTIPLE studies on boots’ effects on tendon heat tendons have been shown to rise up to 113 degrees F, well above the denaturation temperatures of most proteins (outside of heat shock proteins).

Yes, I understand everything you are saying. BUT… have there been any COMPARISONS to tissue or skin temperatures during exercise with and without boots or polos?

That’s my question. How much more do the boots/polos raise the tissue/skin temperature when compared to NOT wearing boots/polos?

If you can measure the skin temperature with polo/boots, why can’t you measure the skin temperature without them?

[beau159]

@grandprixer

Also curious - OP mentioned something about reducing range of motion to protect suspensory? Is that a thing? Because I’m rehabbing a suspensory too.

In my own personal opinion, I don’t see how any kind of fabric would be “strong enough” to prevent motion of the suspensory from the forces of a 1,000+ pound animal in motion.

Sure, plenty of boots out there promote it. One that comes to mind is Iconoclast where their website specifically says

Our Double Sling Straps ensure proper stability of the wedge insert by providing balanced, 360-degree support which prevents hyperextension or over flexing of the sesamodial region.

(regarding their rehabilitation boots)
Yet there is no link to any kind of research that I can find on their website.

I’m still going to use sport boots, don’t get me wrong, but I really question how much they are actually helping.

[PnkPanthr]

I am going to play devils advocate here…so yes, proteins break down in heat. Its why when you cook an egg you change the protein properties due to denaturing. But isn’t that true for all proteins though, even when humans exercise? Like for example, we wear clothing, wear shoes, wear protective gear ourselves…all that trapping in heat during exercise and impacting the protein structure in our own tendons, ligaments, etc. Yet, we don’t run around naked, and really don’t see any ill effects of that. So why is a horse wearing boots any different than a football player wearing protective equipment?