ok so what is best for legs after hard work/gallops/xc

I think tbh, unless your horse has an existing condition then you don't really need to buy lots of expensive stuff. Just wash off at the event, travel, maybe cold hose again when you get home and then imo, the best thing you can do is turn them out overnight.

And with hard/rutted ground, either don't run, or just do it carefully. I ride according to the conditions, and whilst i do want to get round inside the time, if the ground is deep, or rock solid, I just take it easy - my horses long term soundness is far more important to me than getting inside the time.

I understand for people riding for owners it will be different, but most of us aren't I don't think, so just look after your horses legs whilst riding, so you can prevent it happening in the first place, rather than trying to deal with the symptons imho. :)
 
I must admit i am with mike on this one. a normal novice course and good to slightly firm ground wont really do damage to a horse. at three days the case is different as the distance is longer and there is a need to perform again next morning. then the advice goven by the vet article posted earlier is very good.

I have run my little TB in a number of novice events on varying ground and i have yet to automatically apply cooling agents or methods after. a good cool down with a lot of walking until cooled is good enough and a check on the legs later just in case. i dont travel far to compete admittedly and the horse gets at least an hour in the field after his run. I also work on the same type of ground that i compete on. mostly grass, good in spring getting hard in summer. the work isnt long but i think it helps that the surface is consistent. he is also out for 6 or 7 hours a day and i think all of that helps keeping legs as natural as possible.

My horse also has a splint on one front leg that came up over a winter break and i have yet to get heat in that either. i think there is more to it than just cooling after work, the type location and intensity of work are as important and building up to competition situations so that there is as little shock to the legs as possible.
 
i guess i work on a prevention is better than cure basis, and i have never heard of cooling agents or icing masking a serious problem.

one of those things, where people will always do what has served them well, people who have never used anything and never had a problem will continue to use nothing, and those (like me) who have always used something and never had a problem, will continue to buy and use cooling products.
 
magic14339 said:
they vary in price depending upon what combination of leg wraps you get but are in the region of £3-4K.

The system can run on batteries or mains. The batteries last for a good few hours.

PM me if you want any more info :-)
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its a fab system and vets highly reccommend them as the new way forward i think, but its a little out of my price range but its on my lottery win list pretty much at the top!!!! I do think times are really moving on and we are looking after our horses after work, like an athlete has an ice bath to cool the body aid muscle ectect i thnk the same is being done for our horses as we evolve and learn more scientifically about prevention being so much better for them in the long run!!!!
 
Surely cooling legs is all part of the bigger picture so there's no black and white about it, as it will depend on the age, conformation, work level, way of going etc etc?

I always think that from being fully grown/matured, horses are thereafter "wearing out", so it's up to the individual to find whatever methods of maintenance are necessary to keep the horse in full working order. If I went running with Prince33Sp4rkle you can be damn sure the next day she'd be fine and I'd be crippled,:p so an older horse with wear and tear (me:() will need more than a 5yo (PS:)), for them to look the same the following day.
 
nah im an old crock Baydale, i wouldnt trot up sound on a circle thats for sure!!!!one bust knee and the opposite ankle, running is something i now avoid at all costs!

but i know what you meant!
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
nah im an old crock Baydale, i wouldnt trot up sound on a circle thats for sure!!!!one bust knee and the opposite ankle, running is something i now avoid at all costs!

but i know what you meant!
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Ditto, but I'm an older crock so relatively-speaking you'd be more sound than me if we trotted up (and I'd rather chew my own arm off than go running...;))
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
so,between us, we'd have 0 working legs and only 3 working arms (if you chewed one off)..........im not sure running is going to be our forte!!!!!!
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your both broken then and need plugging into the ice machine 4 times a day!, then hosed (with a yellow hose pipe) then bandaged with layers of crushed ice then covered in clay!!!!!!!!!!
 
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