Interesting question I’ve come across, so time and time again we have been told don’t put standing wraps on wet legs, they stretch etc cause all sorts of bad things. Then we are told wet your horses leg put poultice on it, use wet paper and then wrap it, is this not the same thing as wrapping a wet leg? If not can some please tell me how wrapping wet poultice is different then wrapping a wet leg?
You don’t want to wrap wet legs because it can cause skin issues. It won’t cause the wraps to stretch unless the wraps themselves are wet. Wrapping over poultice can also cause skin issues, which is why it isn’t a great idea to use it daily.
It also depends on what the bandages are made from. I have a fleece set that are fab for drying legs and another set that don’t wick any moisture at all. I will use the first set on wet legs but not the second.
Poultice also tends to have other ingredients (not just water) that work best when they’re kept moist.
Totally different effects, I’d think.
You don’t want to try and put poultice on a wet leg- the poultice won’t adhere to the leg, it slides right off the leg. The leg has to be dry to get the poultice to adhere to the leg. Also, poultice may be moist but it is clay and dries out over time so not the same a a “wet” leg. You do put wet paper over the poultice to keep the poultice moist as it draws out swelling in the leg. And wrap on top of the wet paper.
Because the poultice is drying, it doesn’t act like a humid, wet environment that invites fungus and such onto the horse.
i always ice then poultice on heavy jump days, and cross country days.
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Also there will probably be some antimicrobial element to a clay, whether inherent or an added essential oil or what not. Very different from letting the horse stand in funky damp wraps all night.
IME, wrapping with the old style cotton pillow wraps traps all the moisture and doesn’t let a wet leg dry, so you get skin issues. Since the advent of fleece no-bow pillows, however, I have found them to be great at wicking and drying. Granted, I’m not going to wrap a sopping wet leg, but sometimes it’s not practical to wait for the leg to dry completely before wrapping. Towel drying a leg til it is damp and using a wicking material like fleece has worked perfectly fine for me for years on many different, skin-funk-prone horses.
