Things You'll Need
- 4 bandages: polyester or flannel, 12 to 16 feet long.
- 4 leg pads (long enough to cover the leg from knee or hock to the ground)
- 4 Bandage Pins
- Masking tape.
Instructions
Travel safety.
Shipping bandages must cover the heels, coronary band, pastern, fetlock joint and all tendons to the base of the horse's knee or hock. They must be applied snugly so as not to slip but not so tight as to cause injury. You should be able to slip two fingers underneath the bandage. The fasteners must be used on the outside of the leg so the horse cannot pull the bandage loose by striking it with his other leg. A bandage that comes loose can trip the horse and cause unnecessary injury.
Start to wrap the edge of the leg pad next to the cannon bone on the outside of the leg. Wrap smoothly from front to back and from outside to inside. Once you have the pad firmly in place, start the bandage on the outside of the leg, near the middle of the cannon bone. Tuck a small amount of the bandage under the padding and wrap once to anchor the bandage. Again, wrap from outside to inside, in the same direction as the padding. Spiral the bandage down toward the hoof, overlapping the bandage by half as you wrap downwards and keeping the bandage parallel to the ground.
Spiral slowly. Keep the tension evenly spread across the bandage to prevent the padding getting bunched up in one area, under the bandage. Make sure the bandage is tight enough to hold the padding firm but you should still be able to get one finger underneath the bandage.
Make several turns around the coronary band and the heel, bringing at least half the width of the bandage under the heel to keep the bandage from sliding up. Half an inch of the padding should extend under the bandage at its lowest so as not to bind under the bandage. This means your horse will be standing on part of the bandage and padding on the back end of his hoof.
Wrap the bandage back up the leg, again keeping the bandage parallel to the ground and with even tension. Stop just below the knee or hock, leaving half an inch of padding so as not to bind at the top. With the remaining bandage, spiral down again and end the bandage on the outside of the leg, above bone and not tendon. You can fold the end of the bandage under itself to achieve this. Pin the bandage with two pins, overlapping in an "X". Apply the masking tape to cover the pins and spiral around the leg at least once. Do not place it in a circle, be sure to spiral up or down around the leg.