I often use polo wraps and I thought they are for preventing tendons from over stretching. Is this correct or am I off? Also,what are different uses for ground poles? I’d like to know if I should start doing them with my lease pony
If you don’t know how to wrap/use polos you can injure your horse. I’ve honestly rarely use them and stick to protective boots. Here is a resource on some different types of leg protection: http://cha-ahse.org/store/blog/keeping_horse_legs.html
There are a ton of uses for ground poles. Your trainer should be able to tell you the best way to incorporate them with your lease pony. There are plenty of resources with pictures/videos/examples) available. There are some really cool intricate ground pole exercises out there… I mainly watch them it try to keep it simple on my own 
Here is just a simple search: https://www.google.com/search?q=ground+pole+exercises&oq=ground+pole+exercises&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l2.4639j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
I am incorporating ground poles with the current horse I’m riding to work on balance and strengthening and to get him to think about his feet. I’ve used them to help with strides, adjustability, training my eye for distances. If you have the ones that are painted in the center they can help you make sure that you are riding straight.
Ground Poles are great for a number of reasons. You can work on yourself while cantering over groundpoles instead of jumps, help train your eye. Also, to help your horse become adjustable between the poles without the danger of missing a distance if you were jumping instead. They save wear and tear on your horses legs, and keep it interesting for your horse and yourself.
Polos are for protection and support of the tendons ( which is debatable depending on who you talk to) but they do provide great protection for the soft tissues and precious leg bones. As stated above you can seriously injure your horse if applied incorrectly.
Polo wraps can help prevent superficial wounds from interfering or over-reaching at least for the area they cover. I used to use them a lot but don’t as much anymore. They probably provide some minimal support for the tendons/ligaments but they can’t prevent all injuries.
Ground rails are a great way to measure or learn your pony’s step. If you assume a standard 12’ horse stride (for a large pony) and set rails 6 strides apart you can find out whether you can get and keep a normal 12’ canter stride but you can also see by your pony’s path in the footing whether you were straight which is incredibly important. If you set ground rails on a curve then you can also get feedback on whether you have more of a problem with straightness to the right or to the left. A good trainer could help you to figure out how many feet you need to set things apart and then how many strides that’s associated with and they can also help you figure out how much of the straightness issues (as there always is one) has to do with your riding versus the pony or a combination. Many many things you can do with ground rails.
There isn’t a boot or wrap on the market that will truly provide tendon support. Polos protect against minor cuts and scrapes. They also keep the muscles warm and limber, but they’re more breathable than the neoprene boots you see so often in some areas. As others said, they can be harmful if wrapped incorrectly, though. You can bow a tendon or worse. So if you’re going to use them, make sure you have a trainer teach you how and double check them until you get the hang of them.
Ground poles accomplish different things depending on how they’re set and what gait you’re working on. They can build impulsion by encouraging your horse to step up and over them. They can help you lengthen or compress their stride if they are set on the wide or narrow side. They can help build your eye without putting the same strain as jumping does on your horse. They can help you with bending if you set them on a circle. In short, they are versatile and valuable tools, and there are a number of great exercises you can do to help build a variety of skills.
I think polo wraps are useless unless you have a horse who is prone to interference. What muscles are you keeping warm and limber?? All you are doing is keeping the tendons warm, which is exactly what you don’t want. If you have a genuine need for superficial leg protection because the horse tends to hit himself or is careless jumping (or is jumping large fences), I’d rather go with one of the many breathable boot options on the market.
13 Likes
I agree with Asterix
2 Likes
Ground poles are indespensible! Get 101 Jumping Exercises by Linda Allen. The whole first half is basically poles. It’s a ton of fun to work through this book, & you’ll learn a lot.
I agree with asterix about polos.
2 Likes
I tend to use polos in the winter when my Arabian cross is a bit fresh. He can sometimes get a bit up and stupid in the winter. I want to protect him from cutting himself if he is a bit wild but I do want him to realize he hit himself. He is 17 so not young- in other words he is too old for some of his winter antics. The polos keep him from cutting himself with his shoes but he can still feel it enough for a wake up call that he better stop being as stupid and to pay attention to where he is putting his hooves. I think the boots can provide too much protection in that instance. He just doesn’t know when he has hit himself. I rarely use the polos maybe 4 or 5 times a winter. I can generally tell when I pull him out of the stall if he is going to be a little more up than normal.
I use boots for xc jumping. I use boots on the OTTB when he was learning to lunge. I am sure when I start the OTTB over fences I will use boots until he figures out where is legs are. I prefer naked in the ring if I can.
1 Like
This exactly.
1 Like
The only thing I will add to asterix’ excellent post is a wet polo or a polo with dubious velcro stickiness is just one more way to get in trouble. That said, yeah, a hunter in 4 black polos is like a horse in a stall after a show done up in 4 snow white flannels, it makes the old timer heart in me go pitter patter.
3 Likes
Polos used to be huge - kinda the look.
More chances of accidents if not wrapped properly or secured properly.
They have a use for dressage horses who may interfere during lateral work during a moment of loss of balance.
Not used in recognized sows (schooling ok).
Are you saying horses shouldn’t be wrapped after shows/jumping?? I don’t think I’ve ever seen an experienced barn not wrap after a hard workout.
1 Like
Here’s the thing. Heat is bad for tendons and ligaments. I’d much rather cold hose or ice legs and turn the horse out than wrap their legs in something that traps heat. If that’s not an option, I’d probably hand walk if possible. Lots of old horse management traditions have been superseded by research - like withholding water from a hot horse - and the clear damage heat does to tendons has now been well documented.
3 Likes
You can’t use polos in any dressage showing, rated or schooling. You CAN use polos on an Eq horse or a Jumper, those are perfectly allowed at rated and schooling shows. It’s not seen a lot anymore, but you used to see a lot of eq horses especially in polos. Neatly wrapped, the look of a nice clean polo is lovely. I’ll put them on for dressage lessons. Like DMK said, there’s few things more lovely than a properly wrapped horse, either in perfect polos or perfect standing wraps.
But from the point of view of protection, preventing heat buildup, and not causing accidental injury to the horse, boots are easier all around. And you can hose them off when you bathe the horse, rather than dealing with a mess to untangle in the laundry.
LOL I’m not sure where you got that interpretation, but no, that is not what I wrote. What I wrote is that I like the look of a horse in polos as much as I like the look of 4 white flannels.
The fact that flannels are rarely seen these days =/= me saying that the practice of actually wrapping a horse post work, either does not or should not happen.
Also, the fact that I like the look of polos doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot better ways to achieve the same results in case that was also lost in translation.
However, there IS a growing body of evidence that suggests tendons and ligaments may be a lot better off with more icing/walking/not standing and less post work wrapping/standing in a stall, but that evidence is young and old habits are, well, OLD… so it’s anyone’s guess if what experienced barns are doing is really the best possible course of action for the leg itself…
In Canada, we can use polos for dressage schooling shows - did not make that clear. Mostly, we do not get very hot weather, but they are used less these days
I use polos every time I ride unless the footing is wet. For me my rides are no more than 30-40 minutes and usually only 20. I ride a lot in the field doing hill work and polos help keep his legs nice and tight. You do not get the same support to the ligaments in a boot as you do with a polo (when wrapped correctly). Just my opinion. I feel that they help prevent windpuffs and keep my horses legs looking young. Please do not wrap in polos if you do not know how.
