Battling the Bad Wrap

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170 – January/February, 2023

By Megan Arszman

Horses are a big investment and we will do whatever we can to keep our horse in tip-top shape from the forelock to the tip of the tail, withers to the sole of the hooves. Owners will spend thousands of dollars to prevent injury, speed up recovery and lengthen their stay on Earth with us.

When you think about the movement of the majestic horse, you envision him galloping through a field, extended stride, bearing his entire weight on one spindly leg. That’s over 1,000 pounds being held on up something no wider than your lower arm. That’s 4,000 pounds of torque pushing down his fetlock into the ground. Yet, he picks up that leg and moves on, adding that same weight to a hind leg, then a front leg…repeated over and over.
Notice nothing was said about that horse’s leg being wrapped.

But we should be wrapping our horses’ legs, right? Well, if you’ve tuned in to the latest discussion on social media, that would be a big N-O.

It turns out, those hundreds of dollars each owner spends on sports medicine boots, polo wraps, standing bandages, poultices, etc., just might be a wasted investment. And the argument against the practice has for two reasons: the wrapping can add too much heat to the horse’s leg, thus causing more harm, or the wrapping can actually cause the leg to become weaker, thus negating any “support” that you think you’re adding with those accoutrements.

Click here to read the complete article
170 – January/February, 2023