Legs/Bandaging after hunt

[paddi22]

After a long break (20 years) from hunting I'm back at it this year. I was just curious what best practice was for leg care these days. I event normally and use ice boots after it. But from what I can see ice boots don't seem to be used after hunting? I have a very twiggy legged horse and I just want to make sure her legs stay in good shape.

Would it be a thing to 1. feel legs and if they have heat use the ice boots while untacking and checking over? Then would people normally bandage or use boots for support? or just dry legs with a towel and leave them?

We used to just throw a rug on and chuck out in the field to walk off lactic acid for a few hours. is this still done? Would people normally bandage at night or just leave?

I'm just curious how the routine would differ from eventing? When eventing i was down and check legs with a muscle wash, then boots for 20 mins and then dry off. I just want to make sure I'm providing the right support for her after the days hunting and avoiding and swelling or puffing up. .

 

[be positive]

I think everyone has a different routine but the big difference between eventing and hunting is that after xc you will get tack off water on, aggressively cool them including the legs in as short a time as possible often in hot weather, whereas after hunting you usually have a cool down on the way back to the transport, may leave the saddle on to travel home and everything cools down more slowly in part because the effort has been over a long period of time and also that the weather is generally much colder, there are always exceptions though.

I remember leaving a hunter with damp legs and going back to check at 9pm to find the hair frozen solid, it was extremely cold weather but I never expected to find icicles, so from then on I always bandaged overnight, I think you do what suits you, your facilities and your horse, some benefit from time in the field others would prefer a decent bed and a belly full of hay being left to relax in the warm and dry, half the battle is getting them fit enough to cope, being flexible until you find out what suits the individual and using common sense.

 

[paddi22]

any kind of bandages/wraps you find particularly good?

 

[be positive]

any kind of bandages/wraps you find particularly good?

I haven't had hunters in a long while but if I were buying wraps for the purpose I would always go with Thermatex as the best option, number 1 choice for an after hunting/ hard work rug as well.

 

[spacefaer]

We wash bodies off with warm water and shampoo, legs with cool/tepid water and put thermatex leg wraps on to help them dry without getting chilled.

Go back out later - check that they are warm enough/not breaking out. If they are warm and toasty, we tend not to disturb them, otherwise I'll swap them into dry/warmer/cooler rugs, as appropriate. My OH's best horse has Premier Equine magnetic pads and stable wraps on, as he's 16 and fragile and I put them on later, once his legs are dry. If I have a horse I feelt the need to bandage, I will do it later, once they've dried off. I don't like bandaging wet legs.

Do what suits you and your horse - just remember that the hunting day is a lot longer and a lot colder than an eventing day - she probably wouldn't appreciate ice boots in January!

I try not to fuss around them too much, just let them settle and eat their tea and hay. Make sure they have drunk enough too.

ETA if you have done your fittening and conditioning properly, you shouldn't get swelling and puffing up!

 

[CrazyMare]

I untack, wash off and rug to travel home. Try and get them in the field for an hour or two, then bring in, brush off, rug up and bandage with stable bandages.

That works for me including with the one that ties up.

 

[I.M.N.]

When I get back to the lory tack and boots come off and thermatex gets thrown on and I head back to the yard. There I hose and dry legs as best as possible and then cover them in a cooling gel and chuck the horses out till late. I tend to just give their bodies a good brush rather than wash. That's the basic plan it varies a bit depending on what sort or day is was.

 

[spacefaer]

For those of you who turn out when they get back - what time are you getting back?

We're very rarely home until after dark - (something has gone wrong if we are back in daylight!) and the last thing I or my horses want to be doing is trudging around in yet more mud in the dark.

And for those who don't wash off, when do you then bath them to get the sweat and dirt out of their coats? I'd rather do it then and there, so that they are clean and comfortable, ready to rock and roll for the next day! For me, it's like not having a bath myself after hunting ......

 

[ester]

I've always had to be home in daylight if hacking . I always preferred to wash off, rug up and turn out even just for a short time (YO would let me use field closest to yard as everything else would have come in at 2pm) to chill and partly because after a wash he will roll and roll and roll- and I'd rather he did that in the field rather than the stable!