What do you do for your horse during/after an event?

[NewbieEventer]

I feel like I should be doing more for my horse during/after events. I see many people using ice boots, wrapping legs, using magnetic blankets/wraps. I've never done any of the above (granted, I'm eventing at the lower levels), but I feel like I should be doing more than just walking my horse around and cold-hosing his legs. He doesn't have any special needs or problems, but I'd like to be as proactive as possible about preventing injury and minimizing stress. With that said, what are some of the products you use and find helpful? What type of wraps do you use? Pillow, no-bow? Liniments? Ice?

[Jazzy Lady]

It sounds like you are doing the appropriate thing for your horse. If he doesn't need the extra stuff, it would be overkill.

If you want to put a brace on his legs, I'd put some witch hazel or sore no more on after the competition is over and leave unwrapped.

Walking is good! :)

[SparklePlenty]

i always feel the same way - this year i will be going novice so i'll probably do some wrapping w/liniment once i get home. but i'll ask my trainer first what she thinks is best.. ;)

[LR1976]

I think you are probably doing enough. My guy is going training. After xc I usually rub his legs down with something cooling. Usually it's just rubbing alcohol. I try to walk him enough that he doesn't get stiff and then he gets 4 or 5 days off when we get home.

[pegasusmom]

Depends on the horse, depends on the level, depends upong the footing. Know your horse. Our intermediate horse gets far different care than the novice. We always check all four legs after completing XC for heat, swelling, cuts etc. My son's intermediate horse gets iced, using a time sequence we are comfortable with worked out with input from his trainer and our vet. I might ice the two novice horses, might not, might wrap the two novice horses, might not. I do use liniament after, always. Sometimes we wrap the novice horses, sometimes not. Again, know your horse.

[deltawave]

Usually my horses work a lot harder at home than they do at shows.

I used to ice Gwen's ankles after XC, and since she was prone to stocking up if kept in a stall, I'd put standing bandages on her at night. I have no faith whatsoever in liniments, poultices or anything like that. Ice is great, everything else is worthless, IMO.

Something I like to do is keep their schedule as close to normal as possible. Since they live outside normally, I feel like standing in a stall is actually more hard on them than the hour or two they spend warming up and competing in a weekend. So I try to get them out and walk them around several times a day, but mostly just let them hang out and rest as much as possible. Shows are busy and noisy and definitely different than home, so down-time is important, too. I don't like to forever be taking them out and fiddling with them, just keep them walking and eating hay and chilling out. :yes:

Always the day off after a show, more because of my schedule (Mondays are LONG days) than anything else.

Unless the horse is doing the upper levels, the physical demands of competing are not that great. It's more then mental aspect I try to be aware of--keep 'em relaxed and happy.

[NewbieEventer]

It can't hurt for me to wrap the legs, can it? when you wrap, do you use pillow or no-bow wraps? Are some wraps better/more effective than others? leave the wraps on overnight? I've heard that some horses (with no prior leg problems) are so used to having their legs wrapped that w/o wrapping, they'll stock up...anyone experienced that? I suppose won't hurt to liniment either.

Part of me thinks I shouldn't fix what's not broken...but I'd like to prevent encountering "broken" if possible.

[Ajierene]

I have only ridden Novice level, though I have done that for essentially quite a few years (some years only one or two shows due to finances) and have never done anything to my mare. I walk her out well, sponge her off, put in the trailer as soon as possible and go home. I do not rent stalls at shows, since I only go to one day shows that are two hours away at most. She gets tied to the trailer and will eat hay, though she will not drink. She has yet to show any dehydration, though.

I like to get her home as soon as possible so that she will drink. If the other horse in her field has eaten already, she may not eat - not for lack of offering. She lives out 24/7 and eats in the run-in. Knock on wood, she has yet to come up lame after a show.

[What It Takes]

After events I usually cold hose and bathe their legs (the whole leg) with Sore No More liniment, then wrap their legs using Sore No More poultice and no bow wraps!
Good luck!

[takethestage]

I've only ridden Novice, but I generally walk/check the legs after XC and at the end of the event, rub down with liniment and wrap for the trailer ride home. If he hit a fence, or the footing wasn't great, I'll poultice overnight. Never had a lameness issue.

[Bobthehorse]

Youre doing enough, for sure. However, there is no such thing as doing too much to keep the legs cool. Granted, the horse may not need it, but the more you can keep any inflammation to a minimum, the longer your horse's legs will stay sound.

You could liniment and wrap, or poultice and wrap. I like No bows. I also add liniment to my wash water for after xc. Walk til cool, day off the next day. My horse is going Training, but I do the same for my younger one going BN. I want his legs lasting.

[TheHunterKid90]

I think it comes down to knowing your horse and his/her specific needs. I know a horse that goes Prelim and moving up to Intermediate and has never been iced or wrapped after an event and is sound as stone never had a warm leg in his life.
I consider my horse to be a bit more of a delicate flower (he goes training) and I typically ice boot him, then poultice and wrap him to really draw out any heat. I normally do a Vetrolin bath over his body too and his wraps are cereamic therapy ones. I also base my care off of how he felt at the event...if he was full of energy and came off of xc pulling on the reins and really moving forward I might not be as inclinced to ice, poultice, wrap, and vetrolin...but if it was really hot out or the course was real tough I might give him a little extra TLC. But, like I said before, it comes down to it, know your horse, know your horses needs, and talk to your trainer and vet about what is the appropriate solution for your guy. Good luck! :)

[Evntr4Life]

i think your totally right about not fixing what's not broken, however, prevention in important.

pillow wraps or no bow's? doesn't matter, they're both do the same thing it's just personal preferance and what's easier for u to use.

watch out on some liniments. some are illegal and will show up in a drug test.

also watch out for wrapping with some liniments other than poultice cuz u may cause blistering or irritation.

for example watch out for rubbing alcohol. works amazing if you don't wanna wrap but, rubbing alcohol + wrapping = bad idea.

[Wee Dee Trrr]

If you are going to wrap, make sure you know how to do it properly. Get your trainer or an upper level PCer to show you how if you don't know already.

My personal routine is to dry wrap my horse the night we get to the show. I do this because he stocks up standing in his stall all night. The wraps really help, with or without liniment. The next day, I take him out in the AM to go on a long walk/graze. Then ride once or twice. Then walk again in the PM. After all that I use Sore-no-More (RUB IT DRY BEFORE YOU WRAP!) and wrap him again. Repeat for day two.

I use pillow wraps... but I think it's more important to know how to wrap properly than which wraps you use.

[Bravestrom]

our horses get a complete sponge down, massage and stretches on all their legs.

The ones that will roll on a lead shank get a sand roll if I can find a place for them to roll. In addition, on really hot long days I also have beet pulp with electrolyte in it. Plenty of water and a good walk out.

I like them to have electrolyte before the drive home. Since ours are draft crosses they sweat a lot and I see a noticable difference in them if they have electrolyte before the drive home.

Oh - and they always get an apple and lots of attention whether it was a good day or not.

[I<3Sleepy]

I have a 16 y/o TB that I've competed at Training the last few years. I always felt like I wasn't doing enough, but he doesn't really need much. I make sure he walks A LOT...whenever I have down time he is out walking, then a graze, more walking etc. I have to dry wrap him the first night or he stocks up, I prefer NoBows to pillow wraps (less bulk). After XC I sponge him off, squeegee, towel dry, and walk until he is dry. I also make sure to give him a thorough grooming before he leaves the show, I want him to look & feel as good leaving as he did coming in! I always put liniment on his legs when I wrap him to go home (most of our events took 2+ hours to drive home from). He always gets Monday off, then a couple days of nice long hacks, then some easy flat work. Of course he gets lots of treats and love!

I've actually never poulticed or iced his legs, I never really felt like I needed to. What would poulticing do that liniment would not? I know I should know this... ;)

OH, and I also heard the other day that sore-no-more was illegal? I guess that means it would show up as a banned substance or whatever, can someone verify?

[deltawave]

What would poulticing do that liniment would not?

In all honesty, neither does diddly squat for the horse. Might help the owner. :lol:

[summerly]

"for example watch out for rubbing alcohol. works amazing if you don't wanna wrap but, rubbing alcohol + wrapping = bad idea"

I must be missing something cause being from a racehorse background for the last twenty odd years I've never heard of that being a bad idea....in fact almost every racehorse in America has had alcohol bandages at some pont in their life GUARANTEED!!! Never seen no ill side effects....??

[Bobthehorse]

I've actually never poulticed or iced his legs, I never really felt like I needed to. What would poulticing do that liniment would not? I know I should know this... ;)

Poultice draws heat for about 12 hours when wrapped. Liniment is more like, tiger balm or something, in cools the skin off quickly and under a bandage increases the circulation.

Its one opinion that neither do anything, but IME thats not true. At the very very least, liniment in the wash water helps dry the horse faster, thus cooling them faster, because it has alcohol in it. And if youve gotten it on your hands, you know how nice and tingly it is. Ive used sore no more on myself, and it does ease those sore muscles. Clay poultice does draw heat and reduce inflammation. Its hard to tell post event, because you cant be sure there was any heat to begin with, but I have used it for injuries before and it does make a difference. Hot, swollen legs that tightened up and cooled down after a night with poultice and wraps.

[Hony]

Neither poultice, nor linement are that effective. They can't be. It is more likely the pressure bandage and the massage that is benefiting the horse.
I hate poutice. It's messy and can't possibly draw out much heat since it is as warm as the leg within a very short time. I admit I will use it but am officially retiring it this year.
A friend of mine just go the back on track bandages and they are amazing. I was a serious skeptic but after seeing her horse's legs and feeling them I am no longer. They are cool to the touch, certainly cooler than poultice after an hour and they are not messy.
My routine was ice then poultice but it will now be ice then back on tracks. Ice and massage are definitely my favorite therapies. I also give a little bute when I get home from events. I take aspirin, my horse gets bute and we both feel much better the next day.

[Bobthehorse]

I got some BOTs but havent had a chance to use them much yet. Just trying to break him in on them. Maybe Ill have to get a second pair!

[Hony]

Ooooh. Try them and let me know if you end up with the same result we got on my friend's horse. I'll be excited to know if it was a fluke.

[Kairoshorses]

Which BOTs? I've looked at them at Rolex for four years now....this year I may actually get some!

[Bobthehorse]

Ooooh. Try them and let me know if you end up with the same result we got on my friend's horse. I'll be excited to know if it was a fluke.

We'll have to wait until there is less on hair on the legs haha. Right now any bandage on for an hour will make them look tighter, because it flattens the hair!

[KBG Eventer]

I event at Novice, and there are five main things I do for my horse at a horse trials.

1. Hand walk and graze him a lot but also give him time to chill out and eat his hay in the stall. He usually lies down in morning and/or afternoon as well as taking a flat out, on his side, snoring nap after he eats his dinner. :)
2. Stable bandage him at night
3. A massage with the Equisports Massager
4. A little bute on the trailer rides
5. Use ice hock boots

During the summer sometimes I will give him a liniment bath or poultice his legs, but I usually don't.

[Hony]

We'll have to wait until there is less on hair on the legs haha. Right now any bandage on for an hour will make them look tighter, because it flattens the hair!

Good thinking and good thing my friend's horse was clipped.

[cyberbay]

Well, I've been rubbing down legs with rubbing alcohol and following up with wraps for years and the legs looked pretty ok the next AM... Maybe a bad reaction could ensue if the legs were not clean, ie, had a shampoo residue or something like that??

Agree that a N event can be often less work than a schooling ride at home; the extra work of being trailered and out of a normal routine (not all horses love that), 'tho, make me add on some extra TLC. As for checking their legs, etc., well, I do that every single day... but ice is a good thing after any jump school, b/c you never know what might have happened out there on course.

Poultice is functioning as long as it is wet, so that's the trick. I've poulticed, wrapped wet brown paper and fastened shut with bits of duct tape and left them at that. And keep a water spray bottle nearby to keep the poultice wet. If the poultice is supposedly to draw heat and cool the leg, seems to me that the heat needs to be released away from the leg and a wrap would hold that pulled heat right on the leg... And if you don't like poultice, magnapaste might be good -- if anything, it makes the leg tight and it's a good way to see any swelling that shouldn't be there.

[HWilliams]

I use some sort of cooling gel with no bows and standing wraps after xc. I don't like pillow wraps... they tend to not be as secure as no bows are. I also put electolytes into one of my horse's water buckets at shows leaving one with plain water. Other than that, just try to keep your horse's schedual as close to normal as you can. if your horse doesn't need more than a cold hose then just keep it with that. I am a big fan of no bows and standing wraps though. No need to poltice or anything if you don't need it. My trainer just started to run her young horse prelim and never used poltice until now on him. Walking is great for them too, especially if they are stuck in a stall at an event. :yes:

[faybe]

It can't hurt for me to wrap the legs, can it? when you wrap, do you use pillow or no-bow wraps? Are some wraps better/more effective than others? leave the wraps on overnight? I've heard that some horses (with no prior leg problems) are so used to having their legs wrapped that w/o wrapping, they'll stock up...anyone experienced that? I suppose won't hurt to liniment either.

Part of me thinks I shouldn't fix what's not broken...but I'd like to prevent encountering "broken" if possible.

Eek! Watch out here- you CAN hurt your horse if you're unsure about how/when it's appropriate to wrap. At the BN/N level, unless the ground was very hard or you feel your horse really exerted himself/overexerted himself (deep footing b/c of weather, etc.) you shouldn't need to wrap, especially if you are able to turn your horse out once you get home from the show (walking around all night without wraps is better than standing in a stall with them, esp. at the lower levels). Before you decide to wrap, make sure you have someone who knows how show you the proper way to wrap. No sense creating a tendon issue by wrapping improperly. And don't be fooled by "no-bows"- you can still wrap these too tight and create a problem! I've seen more tendon injuries from people trying to "save" their horses legs by wrapping (and doing it improperly) than I'd have ever thought possible. Good luck!

[Bobthehorse]

Wrapping a horse unnecessarily isnt going to hurt them so long as you do it properly. And well done bandages should be fine for turnout. I turn mine out the second he is off the trailer at home, and he keeps the wraps on until the next day when I come to see him. I have never had one come undone or slip down. But they do end up really dirty and sometimes with burrs on them the next day. But then, the rest of my horse looks the same.

Id be more inclined to poultice and wrap after a day of slick or deep footing than hard footing. Deep footing is harder on their tendons than hard is. But hard sure can be rough on their feet and joints.

[NewbieEventer]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions/comments :yes:

Is there really much difference b/t no bows and pillow wraps? Seems like no bows would result in more pressure around the legs than pillow wraps if wrapped tight. (and btw, I'll definately get help from experienced 'wrappers' if I decide to wrap :yes: ). I'm tempted to try the BOT no bows, but they're so much more expensive than the generic ones :(

For those of you that wrap legs for trailer rides...are pillow wraps preferable over no-bows because of the extra padding? Or do you put shipping boots over the wrapped legs?

[Mach Two]

I feel like I should be doing more for my horse during/after events. I see many people using ice boots, wrapping legs, using magnetic blankets/wraps. I've never done any of the above (granted, I'm eventing at the lower levels), but I feel like I should be doing more than just walking my horse around and cold-hosing his legs. He doesn't have any special needs or problems, but I'd like to be as proactive as possible about preventing injury and minimizing stress. With that said, what are some of the products you use and find helpful? What type of wraps do you use? Pillow, no-bow? Liniments? Ice?

If your horse has no problems, that is probably enough. One thing I always found useful was to keep a daily log, with my own scale of leg condition...
I had a scale of 0 to 6 for heat, 0 being no noticable "extra" heat, 1 being very slight, two three being "go for a walk, but go easy" and over that, do a poultice or ice...and check it out.
I did the same scale for little puffs and filling, and did both evaluation before and after riding.
Having a baseline on what your horse's legs look like before and after work is a good tool.

I used to do a light linament rub on legs after cross country and leave them unwrapped, but on one that I felt could use some help, those would get a poultice with a splash of vinegar, and maybe a handful of salt added, as long as there were no cuts or scrapes.
Better to leave legs with no problems unwrapped, if you are not used to keeping a baseline on swelling...a support bandage overnight is terrific, but because it keeps swelling at a minimum (I know, we all want swelling at a minimum) it might hide a potential problem from you, till you get used to evaluating each leg several times a day.
When I was grooming for an upper level rider, I took horse's temperatures and did leg baselines as they came in for the show, nored scrapes and bumps, and kept all that in my own notebook, as well as checking with the rider if I saw something new on a leg.

[sharri13]

After cooling out my horses, I stand them in an ice water bucket up to their knees. For the hind, I stand them in ice boots. If there is a cool stream, I stand them in that as well - hydrotherapy has proven to be more effective then standing ice water. I also massage them throughout the competition (Thumper Massager). Over night, I wrap them with Back on Track pillow wraps and they have their BOT mesh sheet as well. I too like to be as proactive as possible!

[Bobthehorse]

I just dont like pillow wraps because they are so puffy they tend to slip down or shift. I guess I cant manage to wrap them tight enough.

Now bows just go on nice and smooth, and the fine fleece makes them easy to wrap without wrinkles because they almost stick to themselves.So when you go to wrap the bandage over top, the quilt is already tight and you wont get big creases from wrapping the bandage tight, if that makes sense.

I trailer in 16'' and 18'' no bows, and for all other stuff I wrap with 12'' and 16''s. But I guess if I have a fat or cut pastern Ill also use the longer ones to cover it.

[VCT]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions/comments :yes:

Is there really much difference b/t no bows and pillow wraps? Seems like no bows would result in more pressure around the legs than pillow wraps if wrapped tight. (and btw, I'll definately get help from experienced 'wrappers' if I decide to wrap :yes: ). I'm tempted to try the BOT no bows, but they're so much more expensive than the generic ones :(

For those of you that wrap legs for trailer rides...are pillow wraps preferable over no-bows because of the extra padding? Or do you put shipping boots over the wrapped legs?

There really is no difference between pillows and no bows. Either is fine if wrapped properly, either can cause injury if done improperly. I don't know why you'd think no bows would result in more pressure but that is not true.