I only have done beginner novice so not a big deal for horse. I would hose her off and then sponge her down with vetrolin linament dilution. And then treats. Assuming more would be done at higher levels or for horses with issues. I’m just curious. Use of ice, bandages, poultice etc? Would love to hear from you.
If we galloped on hard ground I ice hooves (ice water in a tub) and legs (ice boots). That is regardless of the level.
For local events, I cool the horse out and turnout when we get home. Even my upper level horse. Turnout and moving is the best you can do, circulation prevents stiffness and stocking up. If it will be 6hrs before turnout (standing in trailer, or at home on a hot day in the barn) I will apply alcohol or sore no more standing wraps.
At away shows, I will poultice after XC since my horses are used to being out, they may stock up a little. I handwalk as much as possible. For CCIs I will ice after XC and then poultice wrap. I have used poultice on myself, and can testament to its cooling, soothing effect. Also can alert you to hot spots (heat, injury) on occasion.
In general, I do not ice after routine gallops, jump schools, or regular horse trials unless the horse has a known issue. I know it is common to ice after every XC, but IME horses don’t need it. Riders do it to feel good that they are doing something…but research actually indicates such icing is not helpful.
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There are changing ideas about routine icing after hard exercise for people and animals. Apparently it is no longer considered best practice. Icing for acute injury is still prescribed.
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Interesting. Years ago when I was training for a marathon. I would do an ice bath (just lower body) for about 15 minutes after long runs (15 + miles) It seemed to help. But maybe it was just my imagination.
You can find lots of discussion on this in human sports medicine.
After long-gallops, or fast work gallop work, big xc schools or xc competition, I will ice front if not all legs. I will also poultice and wrap after the above. For light xc schools, jumps or gallops, I’ll lineament and wrap front legs. My horses stay out 24/7 weather permitting to keep them moving around.
The above is for my UL horse.
For the LL horse I won’t start icing ( unless a specific reason/ needed) until the prelim level, typically the same for poultice ( again unless something changes my mind). I will lineament and wrap the legs after a big gallop, xc school.
i used to give them a lineament bath, but at the upper levels, I worry about any Knick or scratch that I may miss and don’t want any lineament to get into a wound. I will give them a bath after a big xc school, xc competition or long gallop.
i will day I’ve seen a lot of the UL riders no longer follow the practice of poulticing, which was a big surprise to me. I’m more old school and have always poultices- no reason not to especially when using a non medicated poultice ( uptite poultice). Better than just lineament IMO.
:yes: I pretty much do the same… and I’ve never iced after gallops or XC schoolings for my own horses either. I have poulticed when we galloped on hard tracks.
Even back when I was heavily competing, no special after-event care except an extra cookie or two and if it was really hot, extra soupy dinner… Mine live out 24/7 so at away shows I did my best to either keep them out with makeshift fencing, and/or walk them constantly.
This has been my routine for almost two decades. The only recent thing I’ve changed is, if it’s at an away event, long trailer ride, or they’re staying overnight, I’ll feed them Nexium a few days before, during, and after the show.
I think the icing, poulticing, and wrapping mindset is more for the human than the horse, and is usually the result of the horse stocking up because they’re stalled during these events. Best thing you can do for a horse after hard work is turn them out. I also think the care during the show is more important than the after-care: doing your best to make sure the horse is 100% ready for the level, fit and legged up, keeping the horse moving as much as possible, keeping hay and/or alfalfa always in front of them while they’re stalled, will all go a much further/longer way in preventing any sort of injury than topicals will.
It’s just my opinion that poultice/liniment won’t do anything to prevent an injury, but it sure can mask something brewing – so I skip it entirely.
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Thanks. Appreciate everyone’s input!
If you have time, this is interesting and talks a bit about how to care for horses to help them last longer https://useventing.com/news-media/eventing-tv/why-arent-u-s-event-horses-lasting-longer
I freelance groom for a BNT, and we trot up all of the horses at the end of the day and assess what they need. For regular HTs (Novice through Adanced), we do nothing special. For FEI, we do two rounds of icing on front legs and then trot up to decide if they need more. At night, we wrap with Animalintex on the front legs and an alcohol mixture on the back. We try to hand walk as much as we can in the morning and evenings.
They do a lot of long, slow road work with the horses which helps with their soundness more than any post care does.
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Thanks for posting this - I meant to listen to this when it first came out, but got sidetracked…
Interesting comment about the footing…
I still think the US’ issue is a combination of management and our laissez affaire approach to treating a horse to keep it sound… The horses are not kept in a conducive lifestyle (not much turnout). The comment some riders break horses and some don’t is so very true, and it usually boils down to a mix of how they are ridden and how they are kept – there’s a reason riders like BM and MJ for instance, have the same horses year after year after year – because they are managed very intelligently, and are also actually turned out…
Re: the comment about starts & longevity
Horses at the Advanced level (4 + 5*)
avg 3-5 starts/yr = 71% of horses had careers of 8 yrs or longer
avg 6 or more starts/yr = 22% of horses had careers of 8 yrs or longer
avg 6 or more starts/yr = 56% had careers of 4-5 yrs
^ sure seems significant to me…
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I run half marathons and it really hit home how much walking after a long hard run can help. After a marathon, I have to keep walking for a good long time, so I imagine it helps horses to have a lot of handwalking after XC on event day.
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