What do you do post workout to your horses legs? Interested in hearing what majority does post a good flat session and a good jump school.
I hear so many different routines. Some wrap after every jump school. Some put ice boots after jumping. Some don’t wrap at all. Some just use liniment. Some do nothing at all.
What do you do post workout-why or why not?
Pre- and post-ride, I Posture Prep as much as possible. Sometimes I spray the windpuff with Sore No More.
Love this! Look forward to reading other people’s replies.
Home:
Shows:
We also use the Bemer at shows regardless of activity level for the day. I also love the equi-spa any show that it’s available, usually just on Sunday.
Winter is just now ending, but it’s not yet warm enough most days to ice. Otherwise, my barn’s routine is as follows:
Home
Shows
In general, the goal is to keep the legs as cool as possible so booting is kept to a minimum whenever possible. My girl has a yak coat so she got a modified blanket cut; her legs are still fluffy so she didn’t wear boots all winter because they’d have made her legs hot. At shows, my trainer likes to take advantage of any therapies we don’t have at home, such as Theraplates or equine spas. She plans to get a plate for the barn in the future.
When my horse lived in a stall:
Hack/flat - Nothing
Jumping - poultice and wraps
Now that my horses are not living in a stall:
Hack/flat - Nothing but turn out
Jumping - Nothing but turn out
If at a show where they are in a stall, see ‘When my horse lived in a stall’ answers.
I’m similar to many posters!
Both showing and and home,
Flatting or low cavaletti/tiny jumping: nothing
Show day or jump school: spray down with sore no more and ice boots on the fronts
I will use the Bemer after jump schools, too.
If no injury has taken place during the ride, the horse needs no special care. If an injury has taken place, you WANT to be able to see some swelling, some heat, SOMETHING that is going to let you know that it is there. If an injury has taken place during the ride the day previous, after it is discovered, you can determine the appropriate care.
The only thing that helps avoid injury is fitness and appropriate riding and training previous to asking for major performance. You can’t treat injuries before they occur.
Post - big jump school, I liniment or ice (no wraps). Small jump school, I typically don’t do anything.
After showing, typically ice and then poultice and wrap.
If I just hack I don’t do anything.
Finish the ride with a cool down which includes, if appropriate, stretching or body work; clean the legs; and turn the horse out.
Post-exercise inflammation is part of the healing process and I’m not about to get in the way of that.
If there’s puffiness 12+ hours after exercise, or if the horse has lousy circulation, I might do a brisk alcohol rub to help move fluid around.
Walk for 20 minutes post any ride and turn out for rolling. My barn has no turnout. 
I just want to clarify that my comments above are after proper cool down/walking.
I assumed that was how all the comments above mine were too.
walking and more walking, and turnout if at all possible rather than back in a stall, at least for a little while, so more movement will help keep circulation up a bit longer.
People have gotten way too concerned about inflammation, not just about this but with diets, and seem to want to try to remove ALL of it, which is worse than doing nothing about it (not that you could anyway).
Some level of inflammation is required for not only health, but life. Appropriate exercise-induced inflammation helps clear out toxins/waste that occurred as a result of the exercise. Don’t reduce that.
If the workout has caused an inappropriate micro-tear in something, you don’t want to remove the body’s ability to show you an early initial sign of that
Cold hosing has more of a place, IMVHO, than icing, as the water isn’t (typically) COLD cold, and the act of the hosing actually supports circulation to move things around and out. But it’s not practical in a lot of situations, for a lot of reasons
I’d work with ice boots if the ride was intense, and it’s hot, since hot legs have their own risks (which is why you need to be careful with boots for work).
I don’t do much for flat work unless I have a horse that has a specific issue. For example one of mine has a cyst over his suspensory and sometimes I can tell it’s bothering him, and I will ice after flatting
After jumping, I ice. I also like to apply Traumeel. At the shows I wrap ones that stock up but most of mine don’t, and traumeel is pretty effective for stocking up. If it’s hot I skip the wrapping.
I’m in a cold area and we ice frequently so I’m curious what you mean by it not being warm enough to ice!
I’m an eventer, and I will typically only ice after xc or a conditioning ride on hard ground. I almost never wrap or poultice legs. My horses live out 24/7 so go right back out in the field after a ride at home. I have also been showing/jumping at a very low level (2’6 or under) and have been riding young horses with no soundness concerns, so I’m not too worried about their legs after a ride.
I don’t do anything at home because mine are out a lot more than they are in, most of the year. In the summer they are in during the day when the flies start getting really bad, so after a good jump school I’ll cold hose their legs and slap on some arnica sauce or vetrolin. Otherwise, nothing. I board with eventers and they are the queens of leg care- none of them do anything except after XC or a conditioning ride, as FromTheGalaxy says, above.
At shows I cold hose, liniment/arnica, and wrap over night. I might also pack hooves with Magic Cushion if the footing isn’t great, but I try to stay away from those shows!
This - turnout or hand-walking, as much as possible. I might be done horse showing at 11am and graze for an hour then, but I’ll want to get my horse out and moving for at least another hour before leaving them stalled all night. The end-of-day hand walks at a show are also a great time to notice any soreness to keep a close watch on the next day.
I am an endurance rider so my horses work hard on some crazy footing. If my horse has to spend the night in a camp (they stay in an electric pen that’s a bit bigger than a stall so not much space to move around) they’ll get a rub down with sore no more, other than that they just get turnout
Normally, just hosing a few extra minutes after a proper cool out just walking. Sometimes mix a witch hazel and water brace and sponge over whole horse, especially on hot days.
At multi day, stabled on hard ground/concrete in small stall do wrap overnight (track wrap over cotton quilts) but never over any products (can cause irritation, IME, with my horses). YMMV.
Prefer a poultice like Anaphlogistine (SP?) for minor swelling/heat and just more time out of the stall for stocking up behind. Any persistent, lingering heat/swelling means backing down on the workload or maybe scratching some classes.
IMO possible to get too focused on treating symptoms and ignore the cause. IMO and IME.
Animalintex all the way around, after a show day.
Ice.
No wraps at home if possible.
Usually lots of pasture time to prevent issues. They have great legs when left out as much as possible.
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