I have a set of really thick fleece polo wraps… I also have a 15.2hh filly and the wraps gap and fit terribly on her fairly short cannons. (and yes I am wrapping right! 
Anyone know of any brands or kinds that might work better? would I have better luck with track wraps? This fleece is just TOO thick…
Yep Velvet,
Here in Germany a lot of people put a felt or some other kind of leg wrap under their polos. I use a quilted leg wrap under my polos. I think it looks better and gives more protection from kicks.
And I have only seen that on dressage horses.
… you start in the middle of the cannon, work your way down, cross under the fetlock, and wind your way back up. That’s the way i see all over the Midwest.
With this, you start just above the joint and work on that specifically several times around and then work your way up.
Anyone else?
How about the style where you leave about 5 to 6 inches above the knee, wrap once around under the knee and put the excess down the back of the tendon, then finish wrapping your polo’s, over the excess, like others described above. I was told that this “extra” would help support the back tendons.
I’m with the track group on this one, but to be fair, that is where I learned to wrap.
The Holy Rule of Wrapping: You are ONLY wrapping the ankle joint - the rest is mostly just because you need to use up the rest of the wrap 
In fact, when done properly, you put most of the even, consistant tension around the ankle joint, and just lay the bandage over the leg firmly when working your way up.
I do agree about the longer polo wraps though - it’s tough to get them to lay evenly and pretty unless you a) do a tendon row or b) start a wee bit higher than the joint, and make “finer” rows on the way up.
VanTeal I was trying to figure out how to describe that method. That is the way I was taught to do an “active” wrap. And would you believe it was from a trainer of POLO ponies. Hence the name polo wraps I guess…duh?
That flap that laid perfectly flat down the back side of the leg was to give extra protection to the tendon. I doubt about support, more protection from grabs.
I have a question - are we SURE that “support” really does support? It seems to me that I recently read that the standing wraps don’t really support the leg (ie, decrease the tension that the tendon is feeling). If this is so, do polos really support?
(I think people like supports beause the pressure of wraps feels good; especially if there is swelling, pressure can decrease the fluid accumulation).
I guess I am asking if anyone knows of any studies done by a vet school, where someone can actually measure the effect of different support systems.
I’d just love to hear from someone who has either read a study on support systems, or who has done one.
BTW, I had been taught not to wrap a polo significantly below the ankle - I learned in the dark ages, but I thought there was something about not wanting to put too much pressure on the tendon as it passes behind the ankle, for fear of damage. Am I just hallucinating, or does anyone else remember being told this? As a result, I’ve used polos just to protect from knocks to the leg (wrapping only to the ankle). Maybe that’s why I don’t like polos.
My dressage trainier does the no ankle wrap. And he uses the padding, but only with what I call track bandages, the light weight polos. (in contrast to the thick heavy sweatshirt weight ones.)
I personally go from below knee, down, wrap ankle in a “v-lock” and then back up. Tighten against the bone, not the tendon.
Yes, nothing you put on a horses leg will prevent that tendon from blowing out from any major incident, but you’ve gotta think that there is some support from the wrap. (If done correctly.) I compare it to the ace bandage (or those elastic cuffs) that people wear when jogging or for sports. It doesn’t prevent the catasrophic problems, but it does help out.
…and back to the original question… my mare has short cannons, and I usually cut 2’ off the ones for the front. So I remeber which ones are front and back, I take a bit of colored thread and make a couple of stiches on the end. It all gets wrapped inside so it doesn’t matter if you’re neat about it. 
[This message was edited by Therese on Feb. 13, 2001 at 05:55 AM.]
I have a set of really thick fleece polo wraps… I also have a 15.2hh filly and the wraps gap and fit terribly on her fairly short cannons. (and yes I am wrapping right!
Anyone know of any brands or kinds that might work better? would I have better luck with track wraps? This fleece is just TOO thick…
And sometimes, if there is enough length, you can start on the top, wrap all the way down, do the fetlock cross business, wrap all the way back up, and finish off perfectly at the top. Am not from the track. Learned the technique from an excellent hunter barn. It works quite well, as I assume the track method does too.
Why not just cut about a foot of them?, My last horse was short through the cannons, that is all I did.
I don’t think anyone is advocating wrapping the pastern (or "ankle). Just crossing it under the bony part of the fetlock so there is still freedom, but it gives you a way to make the change and wrap back up with the layers staying flat…and it creates a neat center when viewed from the front. (You can see this wrapping technique is also used in Europe. Just look at some video or photos.)
As for any real support. Polos aren’t supposed to offer any. They protect the horse from “brushing.” They also look spiffy.
As for other types of wraps, I believe there was an expensive study done in the later 90s at the University of Minnesota that was published in many magazines (I think even the Chronicle covered it). They talk about how to wrap for any real support and what wraps actually do offer support.
The problem is that your probably got the expensive type that are made for monster sized horses! What you should do is get a cheap pair out of a catalog like Valley Vet. They are wonderful and usually the strips are just a tiny bit narrower.
Also, the only thing to do with a new set of polos is to put them on your horse and break them in. Lots of washing helps, too. Really beats them down and makes them more pliable, thus easier to wrap more tightly. Wash them after every use and you’ll soon have wraps you can deal with!
I’m with Velvet - not the entire ankle, but I hate polos when they are wrapped in this straight line at the joint - too easy to slide up and bind the tendon…
As for support, no, there is not a bandage or boot in the world that will keep your horse from blowing his tendon or suspensory. If there were, I can tell you that the trainers of multi-million dollar race horses would be using it, regardless of cost!
The reason for putting more tension/support on the ankle, as opposed to the rest of the leg is to hold the bandage firmly in place (so as not to cause a bandage bow) and to not have to put excess pressure on the deep and superficial flexor tendons (again, that bandage bow thing).
Polos are mostly for looks - they might prevent some small interference dings, but they won’t save a tendon from a serious slice by the back hoof coming off a fence. For that you need good boots - probably more than neoprene too. Fortunately that is a pretty rare occurance and generally involves a much bigger fence than my horses will be jumping!
If cutting them won’t work, why not try pony sized polo wraps - Millers carries them, I believe
I just want to clarify that with either way of wrapping, you never wrap the pastern. Just support or “cup” the fetlock with the wrap much like the Sports Medicine Boots do. But if you look at the way most dressage riders put on polo’s, they don’t go over the “ankle” joint at all, they stop above it. Take a look at most dressage photo’s where they’ve got polo’s on.
Lion is a 16hh TB but has very skinny legs! For some reason i just cant bring myself to cut the polo’s! I’m a dork! I’ve noticed that the “cheaper” polos are usually shorter. I’ve thought about pony polo’s but they dont come in a good color assortment. but another trick i learned is from my trainer who used to have race horses. She taught me the “track wrap” which is different than the way i’ve always been taught to wrap with polos. You start the polo jsut above the “ankle” joint, wrap once around, wrap in x pattern under fetlok, around “ankle”, under fetlock, under pastern, and back up the leg as normal. She says for a horse with very “fine” bone structure like Lion’s you can wrap about 3x’s and then up the leg. This supports the “ankle” joint, uses up a good deal of wrap, and also supports the joints and everything else as normal. this might be something worth trying.
the best polo’s i bought were at Rolex last year. I have no idea what the brand was but they’re not too long and the entire last 4" square of the wrap is a huge square of velcro. You never have to worry about it coming undone.
Some of the dressage people put a piece of felt or rubber under the polo’s to act as extra padding to keep the horse from hurting themselves if they accidentally hit themselves.
If you cut the polo’s to size, the scraps of fleece make great polishing cloths for shoes, tack, bits, silver and jewelry. And they come in your favorite colors!
That isn’t a track specific way of wrapping, that’s the way you SHOULD wrap polos.
How the heck does everyone do them if they aren’t wrapping just down on the fetlock making the “v” in the front? They’d look bizarre otherwise…
(Not being inflammatory…just wondering what people think is the “correct” way of wrapping. Maybe that’s what needs defining out here…)
What dressage people do that? Never seen it done in all my years of riding dressage around this country…and in some other countries. Weird.
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