Cooling legs

[Mollyjordan]

Hi, my horse is rehabbing from a hind suspensory ligament injury and we want to do everything to try and prevent it from coming back. After riding at home we use the hose to cool his legs down for 5-10mins as have purchased ice vibe boots which seem to work too. I was wondering what people recommend for after riding when we’ve gone for a lesson or to a competition and don’t have access to a hose and don’t have anywhere to keep the ice boots frozen for long enough by the time we need them. I’ve read a bit about the Equi-n-ice bandages and know people also use clay/gel, what are peoples experiences with these?

 

[Cragrat]

If you pack the ice-vibes in a decent cool box with other icepacks, they will keep cold quite a few hours - we did this before I got a lorry and put a leisure battery in for a travel freezer.

 

[TheMule]

Gel only cools for a very short period of time and clay is an insulator so actually increases the heat. You'd be better off taking ice packs in a cool box.

 

[dottylottie]

i usually travel mine in brushing boots if we’re going to the gallops etc, when i’ve sponged off/offered a drink i just pour the water down their legs obviously i wouldn’t want wet boots left on for a long period but i figure for 15 mins home it’s better than nothing! then just whip them off and hose at home

 

[mini-eventer]

a cool bag with bottles of frozen water and keep your ice vibe boot in there, nothing beats ice so I would 100% find away to take them

 

[TheMule]

i usually travel mine in brushing boots if we’re going to the gallops etc, when i’ve sponged off/offered a drink i just pour the water down their legs obviously i wouldn’t want wet boots left on for a long period but i figure for 15 mins home it’s better than nothing! then just whip them off and hose at home

Not a great cooling strategy and probably not better than nothing in all honesty- using water for cooling only works when that water can evaporate as that’s what takes the heat away. If you add a brushing boot then you are massively reducing the evaporation and you risk ending up with a wetsuit effect, where the water actually becomes an insulating layer between the skin and the boot

 

[Squeak]

I use icevibes for after eventing and find if I put them in a cool bag with ice packs all round the outside and the ice vibe in the middle then they stay cool for hours. I also have two sets of ice packs (they're fairly cheap to buy just the ice part and put one set on as soon as I've finished xc and then once I've untacked and horse is ready to go on the lorry I swap to a new set and leave the vibes going while I go to get scores and dressage sheets etc.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

The le mieux arctic ice boots are amazing at staying frozen in a decent cool box! I put them in the cool box with a few ice packs and they’ll stay frozen enough over a full days eventing in the summer to ice legs for 20mins after XC, and if it’s not to hot can do a second 20mins when we get home

I had cryochaps before and they were much less bulky but also awful at staying frozen…

 

[Mollyjordan]

Thank you all! I’ll try to find a decent cool box and see if that works with the ice vibe boots