The other day a woman called me over and ask, "Would you check this bandage and see if it is right?"

"Why are you bandaging the horse?" I asked.

"She’s kind of sore, and I want to work her."

I didn’t ask why she wanted to work a sore mare. I looked at the bandage.

It was a shipping boot applied over cotton.
"This is not an exercise bandage," I said. I took off the bandage from the left leg, and my gosh, what a surprise, the mare had a small bow. I
took the bandage from the right leg. Same condition. I suggested she call
her veterinarian before working the mare. "There could be a problem here,"

I said.

I’ve found that bandages, such as bell boots and splint boots, are often
used for no specific reason other than "they look good."

A professional bandage doesn’t have a "look" unless it’s one of neatness.

A professional bandage is not there to be seen; it’s there to prevent
bumps, nicks and scrapes, to protect an injury, or help a healing process.

It is not necessary a bandage always be started in a certain place, or
that it end in a certain place. What is necessary is that the bandage
stays on and it does the job it was intended to do.

The biggest danger with bandages is that they are misapplied--so tight
they cut off circulation, or are not flexible enough to give with the
movement of the horse.

Bandages put on by the novice horseman are often quite neat, and just as
often serve no function.

The shipping bandage is the most common. The handler usually wraps the
bandage neatly, (and, of course it matches the color of the horse’s
blanket, the trailer and the gate post to the side paddock) but fails to
cover the area most frequently injured--the pastern and coronet. Shipping
boots are fine if they are pulled down over the pastern and coronet.

The best materials for wrapping the leg are heavy cotton sheets and heavy
flannel strips. The strips should be about six inches wide. A good knit
bandage can also be used.

It isn’t necessary to wrap in a certain way, but the preferred method is
to always wrap from the inside out. Start by placing the cotton on the
inside of the leg in the groove between the tendon and cannon bone. Then
bring the cotton forward, across the cannon, then around the leg. Do the
same with the flannel strips. When pulling the bandage snug, pull across
the cannon bone not across the tendons.

Many old-time horsemen finished bandages with safety pins. While this has
been done for years at race tracks, I’m thoroughly modern and like Velcro.

Some horsemen still use tie strings, but there is a danger since they don’t
"give" with movement.

If the horse is being bandaged with braces or sweats, the same bandaging
materials are normally used. (It is often common to cover the sweat with a
plastic wrap, then cover with cotton.)

When medications are being applied, it is the wise horseman who checks
carefully on the proper use of the paint or ointment, the need for
additional protection and the length of time the bandage should be left in
place.

I like to remove a bandage both morning and night just to make sure
circulation is good, and that the leg remains clean and is progressing as
expected.

An exercise bandage should have some elastic properties so it can be
pulled tightly enough not to slip. If cotton is used under the exercise
wrap, then it must be thin sheet cotton. If the padding under an exercise
wrap is too heavy, it can lump and cause excessive pressure in specific
areas. Bowed tendons are caused by bandages, hence the name "bandage bow."

There are special bandages for special problems, such as the spider
bandage for use on knees. Such bandages have very specialized uses, so be
sure you know how and why before applying.

Before applying a bandage, ask yourself--will it protect the leg, prevent
against cuts, scrapes or bumps, or help the healing process? If it hasn’t
got a specific purpose, it doesn’t look good, it looks "out of place."

As for the bandage used to work a sore horse--it’s not the bandage’s fault
it is being used incorrectly and there is so much ignorance.