Hi everyone:
This weekend Bob Morris and I got into a discussion about the merits
of wrapping the legs of non-injured horses after an endurance ride.
It seems that almost everyone does it, but why? Bob believes that the
wraps do more harm than good by holding in heat. I have also heard
vets say that leg wraps do not provide significant "support" as is
sometimes claimed. Other than providing a cushion against bumping
and banging in a trailer ride, we could come up with no good
reason to wrap the legs of a non-injured horse. This weekend after a
challenging 55-mile ride, my horse was sound and showed no significant filling.
After talking with Bob, I decided not to wrap his legs. Was I right?
I know there are alot of you out there who regularly wrap legs--why? What
are the advantages?
Karen Steenhof
Boise, Idaho
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Hi Kaqen,
I have never wrapped my mare. I tend to do the following-walking
very well to cool out, running cold water on the legs affter a
normal ride, ice packs and 1 bute after a really hard ride.
I have heard a lot of horror stories from folks that wrap too tight
or incorrectly-and I don't know how to do it right.
My mare went into Camp Far West ride with her two permanent
windpuffs. AFter the ride the vet (different vet) was concerned
about them, though they were noted on the check in. He reccomended
polo wraps and suppoprt wrap-even though I thought she was fine and
I told him I had never wrapped. So, I ignored his advice, walked my
mare, gave her 1 bute (we did do the ride fast), then went down the
the creek later and stood her in the water for about 1 hour. She
was fine!
Anyway, I am interested to in what folks have to say.
Oh, maybe the wraps are more important if the horse is just standing
after the ride (tied to the trailer?) We all put of electric
corrals so that the horses can move around more.
Karen
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