using poultice

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

Brittany murphytown@hotmail.com
I've been checking out the RideCamp archives for all the answers to my "rookie" questions but didn't see much regarding wrapping with poultice, so here goes...
I've been riding 50 milers since last year and have been using IceTight poultice on my horse's legs after the ride, wrapping it with saran wrap, quilted leg wraps, then with a polo wrap and leaving it on for about 24 hours. This routine was based on info from a veteran 50+ miler I met at a ride. As an experiment, I didn't use the poultice and wrap method after my last ride and noticed more swelling for a longer period of time. BUT, according to many on RideCamp, wrapping after a ride is totally unnecessary and may even be bad for my horse's legs. This excess swelling tells me otherwise tho' and it seems like I should continue to use the poultice. Can anyone out there give me some advice? I'm still new to this and am learning quickly that there is a million ways to do everything. I guess I want to try them all until I find something that works the best. Any other ideas?