I know that most of the time, poulticing and wrapping is more for the owner than it is the horse…but humor me 
I seem to remember seeing somewhere (maybe here?) that instead of using the brown paper to cover the poultice before putting on the no-bows and bandages, some people use the clear Saran Wrap…
Am I thinking this up in my head, or is this a thing?
Saran is usually for a sweat, paper for cooling.
I’ve used it before - it keeps the poultice from drying out better than the paper.
I still usually use paper so that whoever pulls the wraps in the morning doesn’t have to pull saran off, just the standing wraps. The paper falls off gradually in turnout.
Yep, Saran Wrap holds in heat and is really good for a sweat wrap. Paper over clay for cooling. I like the blue shop paper towels for poultice, they conform to the leg really well and don’t bunch like brown paper. Just had one on a filled leg today.
I agree to an extent that a lot of the benefit of a poultice is using a strong jet of cold water to remove the dried clay, thus cold hosing the leg.
I like the brown paper and poultice as it goves you an idea the next morning…if dried out or wet… how much heat the leg is carrying.
Another pro to paper is that— while you are forced to stand there and hose the whole mess off (perhaps deriving the benefit of the poultice then)— you can just hose the paper off in shreds.
Also, one potential danger with Saran wrap is a bandage bow. If you have an ambitious and untrustworthy horse who decides to use his teeth to take everything off his leg, he’ll probably pull the Saran wrap tight in a stringy band around his leg at some point. And what if he decides then to quit with his project!?!
Yes, that is an image for the pony clubber and the paranoid (I’m the latter, not the former), but you might as well know that there are people out there that worry about that kind of thing rather than having to discover yourself on your horse that it can happen. On this kind of horse who is “unconfirmed” in his bandage wearing skills, the smart money uses flannel wrap rather than regular stretchy standing wraps for the prevention of bandage bows.
Enjoy your mudding in style and safety.
Instead of Saran Wrap, I have used the gallon sized baggies. I turn them inside out, place hand in the them, scoop a dollop of “mud”, cut top and sides of baggie, place around the offending site, wrap with quilts/no bows and standing wraps. I cut the Baggie so that it just covers itself, I don’t want it to wrap around the leg more than just a bit more than fully covered.
There is NO point to using plastic over clay poultice. Clay poultices cool thru EVAPORATION of water out of the clay. Putting plastic over clay stops all water evaplration, tbe clay simply becomes the temp lf the horses leg and there is NO cooling. Early forms of air conditioners. “Swamp Coolers”, worked because of evapration of water. This is how a wet clay poultice works. Putting dampened paper over the clay keeps the clay wet for a longer period, keeps the evaporation going for a longer time hence keeps cooling the leg for a longer time. But the paper allows evaporation, plastic doesn’t. You can also use clay poultice with nothing over it. The cooling effect is much shorter but if you want to turn you horse out without being worried about wraps coming loose it is a safe way to go.
One thing that many people don’t know is tbat poultice of ANY kind needs to be in contact with tbe horse’s skin. It does absolutely nothing if it is just put on top of the horse’s hair. Make your clay poultice sloppy enough to rub it thoroughly into the hair and down to the skin. Then add more clay until hou have a lay “cast” appearance, then paper, wrap and bandage. You can slop up the clay with Sore No More liniment (my favorite method) and get a double benefit.
I saw these in COTH magazine and love them. http://absorbine.com/products/muscle-care/bigeloil-quilted-poultice-leg-wraps/. No paper needed. You simply soak the wrap in cold water for 20 seconds, put it on the leg (it sorts of sticks to the leg itself) and then put on a standing wrap. I leave the wraps on overnight and when you take the standing wraps off, the poultice wrap just comes off. Nothing to scrub or pick off. Makes life much easier, especially at a show.
[QUOTE=chicamux;8721862]
There is NO point to using plastic over clay poultice. Clay poultices cool thru EVAPORATION of water out of the clay. Putting plastic over clay stops all water evaplration, tbe clay simply becomes the temp lf the horses leg and there is NO cooling. Early forms of air conditioners. “Swamp Coolers”, worked because of evapration of water. This is how a wet clay poultice works. Putting dampened paper over the clay keeps the clay wet for a longer period, keeps the evaporation going for a longer time hence keeps cooling the leg for a longer time. But the paper allows evaporation, plastic doesn’t. You can also use clay poultice with nothing over it. The cooling effect is much shorter but if you want to turn you horse out without being worried about wraps coming loose it is a safe way to go.
One thing that many people don’t know is tbat poultice of ANY kind needs to be in contact with tbe horse’s skin. It does absolutely nothing if it is just put on top of the horse’s hair. Make your clay poultice sloppy enough to rub it thoroughly into the hair and down to the skin. Then add more clay until hou have a lay “cast” appearance, then paper, wrap and bandage. You can slop up the clay with Sore No More liniment (my favorite method) and get a double benefit.[/QUOTE]
Thank you, this was helpful!
Liniment or a brace would be good under the plastic wrap then, but I would make sure its safe to wrap over first! Don’t want any blisters!
[QUOTE=mvp;8720361]
Another pro to paper is that— while you are forced to stand there and hose the whole mess off (perhaps deriving the benefit of the poultice then)— you can just hose the paper off in shreds.
Also, one potential danger with Saran wrap is a bandage bow. If you have an ambitious and untrustworthy horse who decides to use his teeth to take everything off his leg, he’ll probably pull the Saran wrap tight in a stringy band around his leg at some point. And what if he decides then to quit with his project!?!
Yes, that is an image for the pony clubber and the paranoid (I’m the latter, not the former), but you might as well know that there are people out there that worry about that kind of thing rather than having to discover yourself on your horse that it can happen. On this kind of horse who is “unconfirmed” in his bandage wearing skills, the smart money uses flannel wrap rather than regular stretchy standing wraps for the prevention of bandage bows.
Enjoy your mudding in style and safety.[/QUOTE]
This is a good point. I will keep this in mind for sure! My mare isn’t likely to bother, she isn’t the nosy playful type and ignores pretty much anything, but good to keep this in the back of my mind!
[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;8724223]
Thank you, this was helpful!
Liniment or a brace would be good under the plastic wrap then, but I would make sure its safe to wrap over first! Don’t want any blisters![/QUOTE]
No, never sweat with linament.
[QUOTE=Laurierace;8724415]
No, never sweat with linament.[/QUOTE]
Several say you can - but if you do, don’t rub first. It’s either rub, OR wrap. Never both.
Any suggestions for what you would use under a wrap?
[QUOTE=Laurierace;8724415]
No, never sweat with linament.[/QUOTE]
This!!! Never, ever put plastic over liniment/brace. You could end up with severe skin damage.
[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;8724604]
Several say you can - but if you do, don’t rub first. It’s either rub, OR wrap. Never both.
Any suggestions for what you would use under a wrap?[/QUOTE]
You can wrap liniment with standing bandage, but never, ever plastic!!!
[QUOTE=csaper58;8724613]
You can wrap liniment with standing bandage, but never, ever plastic!!![/QUOTE]
Okay, gotcha! Now I am following - just use no-bows and bandages without any plastic wrap.
[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;8724616]
Okay, gotcha! Now I am following - just use no-bows and bandages without any plastic wrap.[/QUOTE]
Yes.
Be advised that liniments differ in strength, so how you use one brand may need to be different for another.
Vigorous rubbing will increase the heating effect of most liniments, so be careful of rubbing and wrapping.
Be very careful with a ‘new to you’ brand.
Also, be vigilant and look for any broken skin before you apply any liniment.
The absolute best preventative thing you can do is ice after a workout. If the horse will be stalled, then wrap. Poultice works well because it keeps a bit more pressure on the leg to help keep it from stocking up, rather than a soft bandage alone.
A agree you need to be really careful about what you rub into the horse’s leg before wrapping.
Also, be careful with older bottles of gel liniments. I found out the hard way that they can lose some of the water portion to evaporation and intensify the liniment portion. I burned my horse’s legs pretty badly with Bigeloil gel once, not realizing it had condensed. I have been leery of wrapping over menthol-based liniment ever since.
I had a VERY bad experience with liniment and wrapping with quilts/ no bows and standing wraps.
Terrible reaction that then got infected…
From my experience, it’s not worth the risk of wrapping over liniment. One or the other, not both.
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
