If there is a recent thread, please point me to it. 
We will be running BN next year and I’m looking to get all my supplies in order. What is your routine for pre and post ride?
I LOVE Sore No More products, so I was thinking just the liniment or poultice after XC with no wraps. I’m not one to over complicate things. Is it necessary to warm the legs up beforehand, other than the usual warm up ride?
My standard pre and post leg care is very simple: turnout.
Seriously, steady movement is the very best thing you can do for a horse’s circulation and overall wellbeing. Obviously, rehabbing an injury would change things, but for a sound horse, I really prefer to get them out and moving. Turnout before you ride can help settle the mind of a youngster, and get the creaks out of a stiff older campaigner. My horses spend as much time out as possible, during the day as weather allows, and out all night (dressed appropriately for weather).
Unless there’s an issue, I don’t wrap or do anything special for horses jumping under 3’6" so long as they are sufficiently fit for the work. Over that, or after a gallop, I may wrap if the horse must stand in a stall, and I’ll poultice after XC at events.
It makes people feel better to ice, wrap, liniment, cold hose, and fuss…but I learned from tough old foxhunters years ago that fitness and turnout is a horse’s best friend. Those hunting horses worked HARD, on all kinds of footing and terrain, doing things that would make eventers gasp in horror, and were not coddled or babied in any way. At the end of the day, they got the mud hosed off and were put back outside… By and large, they were much sounder and happier than the bubble-wrapped event horses I used to manage. 
Ditto - we live in an area very fortunate to have hundreds of miles of steep forest land to ride for 6-8 hrs a day. So my kids and horses are FIT and legged up. None of this gussy them aftercare. A cold hosing and turn-out. My DD went to a Young Riders camp when she was 12 and was amazed when she saw kids packing feet after an 1.5 hr group! jump lesson in arena footing. And our little OTTB mare was sound as a dollar, still is at age 25 now.
So then we audited a JW clinic and he said the same thing - cold hose and turnout, don’t mask or cover up any potential issues! Look the next day bc you need to know, not reduce and cover up. (unless something is obvious right off, of course).
And especially BN you don’t have the speeds and distances yet. Plan a 15-20 minute walk before serious warm-up exercises if you truly want your horse warmed up and stretched out. Hand walks during the stabling time.
After care we wrap a pair of cold water iced boots on in the stall for 20 mins or so http://www.ridingwarehouse.com/Shires_Tendon_Hot_Cold_Therapy_Relief_Ice_Boots_Pair/descpage-SEHCRB.html just to tighten up the leg. These can be set into an iced water bath to chill them. It saves on running the water.
At BN level, just walk your horse out for a long time after XC!
Pre-ride, I stretch legs front and back in all directions. Do a walk/trot/stretch your legs and neck out warm up then get off and stretch legs again then do real warm up (relatively short) and then compete. Post- ride, I do a long, cool down walk stretch legs again give liniment bath (assuming it’s not winter!) poultice legs. I don’t wrap if I’m able to put her out in the field, if she is stalled I do standing wraps.
Currently looking into BOT wraps though, so everything my change
ETA: I’m weird and over protective of my horse and I know I go way over board, but up until recently my horse had never been lame. She recently got a very minor stifle injury because I got lazy with my leg stretching, so I’m back to being a nazi and back to having a 150% sound horse! I’d rather go overboard than under.
I do long trail rides 8-10 miles and foxhunt with a farmer’s pack. I generally don’t do much with liniment, poultice, icing, packing etc… especially not after a BN run. I generally will sponge after a trail ride or event with Vetrolin since I like the smell and I think it help cuts through the sweat. Do I think it provides my horse with any benefit? Probably not. He scurfs with Sore No More.
After an 8 mile trail ride the other day I did pack his feet. We trotted and cantered a lot and the ground is really, really hard here. Finnegan is a bit flat footed. It made me feel better.
I make sure I give him a nice warm up before real work. For after jumping or XC I will loosen the saddle after I get off and walk back to the trailer as part of the cool down. If it is cool out and he is sweaty I will take off the saddle but leave the pad on while I sponge everything else, sponge under the pad last then throw on a cooler, BOT mesh or Irish Knit. He tends towards getting a tight back. I keep the pad on as long as possible so he doesn’t get that cool air suddenly on his back and cause him to cramp. I know I don’t like to have a sweaty back then get a cool breeze on the back when I take off my shirt. I tend toward a tight back, too.
I generally figure Starter/Elementary/BN is so short in distance and time compared to my normal foxhunting or trail riding and he is fit enough that I don’t need to do much with products. When I sponge him off after trailriding, foxhunting or competition I do make sure I sponge his legs well with the cold water. We have a couple of places that I trail ride that we cross a deep stream at the very end or will go stand in the lake before taking them to the trailer. My horse loves to play in the water. I figure a cool stream/lake is better than cold hosing any day.
At the BN/N level, I do a rinse with liniment and then liniment gel on the legs (tendons, knees, hocks) and then throw them out. If my horse has to stand in a stall overnight, I do wrap just to keep the stocking up down.
It depends on footing, terrain and the difficulty of the event (harder v softer BN). My horse is fit but not over fit (nothing like a young cocky TB who’s fitter than he needs to be ), so even at BN I’ll often poultice and wrap because he’s in at night.
[QUOTE=EventerAJ;8962718]
My standard pre and post leg care is very simple: turnout.
Seriously, steady movement is the very best thing you can do for a horse’s circulation and overall wellbeing. Obviously, rehabbing an injury would change things, but for a sound horse, I really prefer to get them out and moving. Turnout before you ride can help settle the mind of a youngster, and get the creaks out of a stiff older campaigner. My horses spend as much time out as possible, during the day as weather allows, and out all night (dressed appropriately for weather).
Unless there’s an issue, I don’t wrap or do anything special for horses jumping under 3’6" so long as they are sufficiently fit for the work. Over that, or after a gallop, I may wrap if the horse must stand in a stall, and I’ll poultice after XC at events.
It makes people feel better to ice, wrap, liniment, cold hose, and fuss…but I learned from tough old foxhunters years ago that fitness and turnout is a horse’s best friend. Those hunting horses worked HARD, on all kinds of footing and terrain, doing things that would make eventers gasp in horror, and were not coddled or babied in any way. At the end of the day, they got the mud hosed off and were put back outside… By and large, they were much sounder and happier than the bubble-wrapped event horses I used to manage. ;)[/QUOTE]
I like your style. There IS healthy debate about whether bandages to much more than protect and perhaps provide a bit of heat . . . when I was a youth I fussed and fussed because I thought that it equalled good horsemanship . . . not so much now.
IMO, if you want legs to last, poultice after any hard ground rides, and after any XC schooling or show.
Doesn’t matter if its SNM or uptite. Your horses legs will thank you.
From BN to Training I poultice after any hard ground outing, xc schooling or event. If I have just done a jump school on good footing or in my sand ring, I will alcohol and wrap.
If you’re going to poultice, make sure you wrap, defeats the purpose of putting poultice on if it’s going to dry up right away. Best to use soaked paper or soaked paper towel and wrap.
If the footing is quite hard, I will ice before wrapping as well. Horse just moved up to Prelim so icing is now a must after every outing of XC… or gallop or hard schooling.
I love magnets, super helpful for those tougher dressage rides and you just want to stick some liniment on them.
Definitely many options out there. If my horse is home with enough time to go outside, I will let him out and then just wrap when he comes inside. Most of my schedule results in him staying in after our outings, so he gets wrapped when he’s in his house.
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