Bandaging

[pnap]

My horses back legs tend to swell around his fetlock if he's been standing in his stable for a time - they come down after about 10mins of walking and are never hot. He's never had them bandaged before so should I bandage them everynight or is it okay to leave them?

 

[Tanta]

Personally I wouldn't start bandaging - as once you start you have to keep doing it, and always a risk with bandages in case they slip or something.

My horse, who is 15 now, has back legs that fill a bit - mainly the windgalls - but like yours it comes down with exercise, so I just leave them...

 

[Loupride]

How old is your horse??

Once they come down with exercise they should be fine, the only thing with bandaging is once you start you tend to be stuck with it

Having said that my lad is nearly 17 and wears stable bandages at night in this weather.

 

[davisn]

My new 6 year old suffered from flled legs when I stated stabling her at night. All 4 filled (although 1 hind leg was worse than the others). I got the vet out, just to be on the safe side. She couldn't find any cause & put it down to her not being used to standing around for hours on end. Vet advised against bandaging, but advised me to try a supplement to improve circulation & to ensure that she got plenty of exercise.

I started giving her Naff D-tox in her feed & almost immediately 3 of the 4 legs were back to normal. The worst hind leg took a little longer, but is now clear as well. It might be coincidence. It could just be that she got used to being stabled, but I will continue with the supplement for a while & then perhaps ween her off & see how we go.

Good luck.

 

[pnap]

He's around 13 and you've pretty much confirmed what I thought about having to do it all the time if I start - he's managed for years without me being there to bandage them afterall. In the summer it's fine but the fields are sooo muddy at the moment I decided the little bit of swelling if he's in overnight is much better than mud fever. Would obviously get them checked if they were hot or seemed painful but it's probably the equivalent of humans getting swollen ankles if they sit for long periods of time. I might try the DTox though just to see if it helps any. Thanks

 

[Sparklet]

I used to use stable wraps on my horse whose legs filled.....Colin Cook Aerborne ones are brilliant because they have elastic velcro so are a fab fit.....the main reason I used to bandage was because when I put her boots on filled legs they would end up slipping down after 15 mins of work which I thought was potentially dangerous.

The filling is purely cosmetic so I wouldnt have bandaged for any other reason.