what an over-tight tail bandage can do (warning, gruesome pics)

Seahorse said:
OMG that is awful.
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Isn't it just. And 100% preventable, some cretin was totally responsible for this. I don't want to think about how painful that must have been, poor horse.

Fairynuff posted it in Stable Yard but it wasn't getting looked at, so I grabbed it and stuck it in here and CR, the more people who see this and spread the word the better imho.

I've seen an Advanced eventer's career ended by over-tight stable bandaging too, I happened to be on the yard in the morning when the owner/rider took the bandages off and burst into tears when she saw the state of the horse's legs... :( :( :(

Bandaging should come with a health warning...
 
OMG that is truely horrific - I mean I knew you should be careful about not doing them too tight, but I never realised it could be that bad...

How tight must they have been done? Makes me worry about bandaging at all now!

x
 
Kerilli yes it should come with a health warning.

I also think that things like Vet rap shouldn't be sold to the general public unless their vet is happy the know how to apply it properly, its constricting properties are terrifying.

I can't watch other people bandage my horses, and will take them off and re do them if someone has tried to 'help' me by doing it (not saying I am perfect just that I know how I want them done and I know the tension I have applied).
 
A friend in Ireland bought a very expensive sj stallion from Germany, for a reason known only to the previous owner they badaged the horse for the 3 day journey, when the horse arrived and the bandages removed both front tendons were badly damaged. The horse spent 6 months on box rest and was never right, being retired to stud after another 6 months. A lenghtly liability case ensued through the courts, the old owner blaming the transport company for not removing the bandages, the transport company stating that they travel the horse however it is presented, the only people who won in the end were the laywers.
 
Goodness, poor horse, that must have hurt so bad... Makes me worry about bandaging - that must have been done so tight though, poor thing. Awful about owners stable bandaging too tight, such an avoidable mistake...
 
This is why boots and tailguards etc are so brilliant - not trying to be snotty (OK, then, I am) but unless you have actually learned to bandage (and I would suggest that a wee course does not equate to learning to bandage. Ideally, about six months working for a European Dressage trainer with an incandescent temper and no clue about the human rights act) then please, for the sake of the horse, use the lovely velcro alternatives now available.

Bandaging done properly is indeed very big and very clever. This, clearly, is neither.
 
I am paranoid about tail bandages....I always use an old one which most of the stretch has gone out of, and never wet either the tail or the bandage.
Those ones with the strands of elastic in should be banned! Far too easy to put them on too tightly.
I have heard of a nasty accident with a child's first ridden pony going mental and rearing/bucking/throwing itslf on the ground (Pony had been to many many busy champs and hadn't batted an eyelid) Even when they removed child/saddle/bridle it was still going mental having previously won it's class and behaving beautifully.(they were warming up for the Championship I think). It wasn't until someone thought to remove the tail bandage which had been put back on (far too tight, obviously!) between classes that the poor thing was calm :(
 
A horse i know has a stub for a tail as he had a bandage left on for too long years ago,he does look a little odd and would look fantastic with a tail but it didn't take long for the damage to be done. He was in an awful state and apparently to this day has no feeling in his stub at all,poor boy.
 
I know somebody who did this, horse was very lucky to keep her tail! If you looked underneath you could see the insides of her tail and dock!

It had been left on all night and the only reason she had it on was because she had some hair sticking up!!
 
I know of one who was bandaged too long and lost part of his tail, he's called Dock :eek::D
It isn't very aesthetically pleasing to look at but it doesn't cause him any bother now and on the plus side, he never has a muddy tail as it stops just above his hocks.
 
I remember when I was in Pony Club there was a girl who lost her pony coz she bandaged its tail, not realising it was too tight, and the circulation to the tail was cut off and the pony got septecemia (sorry don't know how to spell it) and died, it was awful.

It wasn't deliberate, the pony had the best of care in fact the girls father was an MFH, but she just put the tailbandage on and didn't realise it was so tight.
 
I personally know a horse this happened to. She had her tail bandaged for a journey home, and my friend and her sister both thought that the other one had taken the tail bandage off, but neither of them had, so the tail bandage stayed on til the following day when it was noticed and removed. Poor mare lost her tail and only has a tiny stump now :(
 
I have a really old tail bandage that has lost its stretch and falls off after about an hour, so if I ever bandage Axels tail after washing I always put that one on as I know it falls off.
But really, how tight would you have to do it to damage a horses tail so much?
 
kerilli said:
Isn't it just. And 100% preventable, some cretin was totally responsible for this. I don't want to think about how painful that must have been, poor horse.

Fairynuff posted it in Stable Yard but it wasn't getting looked at, so I grabbed it and stuck it in here and CR, the more people who see this and spread the word the better imho.

I've seen an Advanced eventer's career ended by over-tight stable bandaging too, I happened to be on the yard in the morning when the owner/rider took the bandages off and burst into tears when she saw the state of the horse's legs... :( :( :(

Bandaging should come with a health warning...
Click to expand...

You're right it should, it amazes me the amount of people that think they can bandage and you see them putting them on wrong :(
 
hellspells said:
I also think that things like Vet rap shouldn't be sold to the general public unless their vet is happy the know how to apply it properly, its constricting properties are terrifying.
Click to expand...

How would any one ever put on a poultice though? I don't want to be phoning the vets over an abcess!

I don't bandage because I don't think I'm good enough. It's velcro all the way for me.

How long would it have to be on for to do damage like that though?
 
I have to teach people to bandage at college and for exams, and I always tell them that I NEVER use tail bandages and would never let anyone else bandage my horses' legs either. If you really must use a tail bandage, never wet the bandage or the tail, and do not leave it on longer than an hour, absolute maximum. Old fashioned tail bandages were not stretchy. Nowadays there are so many tail wraps and guards available, why risk your horse's tail by bandaging it?:confused:

I grilled my latest pc exam candidates on tail bandaging before their exam, and the flipping examiner told them their tail bandages weren't tight enough:mad:
 
In the days before docking was banned some breeders would place a tightly bound rubber band at the point they wanted the tail to fall off. The band killed the blood supply and killed the tail, which would drop off after a few days. I gather shepherds do the same to Lambs. Both groups would argue the process is entirely painless.
 
In the summer Gings tail bandage was done too tight with horse transporters, not my bandage, wasn't supposed to be done. It was on for a day of travelling, sat down when it was taken off, blistered pretty much all over the dock and under the hair, if the tail coming right off is painless then this surely wasn't. He now has indents along his dock and permanent scars, same as 2 others of ours got from the same thing before we got them. The first few days after it was done it was pretty grim- a tricky area to keep clean. When I'm home I'll put up pictures of it a few weeks after. If he wasn't so honest he could easily have been out of work from it- not what you want 2.5 days travelling away from home to an event. Nasty things tail bandages- clearly the transporter thought they knew how to bandage. The bandaging may have been OK- it was basically an elasticated excercise bandage.
 
omg, thats horrendous.
As well as being put on too tight, you have also got to be careful of friction burns! Friends horse. puts his weight on his backend, leaning against the wagon side when travelling and got friction burns on his tail off the tail bandage. This was a journey thaty was an hour long. Wasnt sure how it had happened the first time, so next time did the same and he got it again. She now uses a tail guard instead and hes fine.
 
Don't think many people really realize that that part of the tail is not just hair-it's flesh!

There is a lot of emphiasis on pressure being evenly spread out, but i think many like to keep them tight to keep them from slipping down. :(

That damage looks horrific, poor horse. :(
 
I never wet tail or bandage! My tail bandage is an ancient loose weave cotton one with no stretch and ties. I think I have owned it for around 20 years!

I did buy an elasticated, padded tailguard but my mare got really offended by it and practically sat down when I put it on. I tried a few times but she genuinely objected to it for some reason so I'm back to the bandage.

Those pictures are horrific :(
 
omg poor horse. I cant understand why you would wet the bandage anyway. I bandage for tail but its never on tight and its only on for about an hour. I never bandage legs tho I always use leg wraps or travelling boots.
 
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