How to Put a Dressing on a Horse Hoof

Be aware that wrapping a horse's hoof requires a great deal of patience, a lot of skill and a little luck. Horses are not likely to stand for a long period of time while you try and figure out what you are doing, so if this is your first try, don't be surprised if you end up having to do it again. The purpose of a hoof dressing is to treat a wound, crack,or other injury that requires the foot to be kept clean and medicated. First, get your supplies together.

Clean the hood thoroughly and then dry it. This means you will need the horse to be on concrete or able to place his hoof on some surface that is clean and dirt-free while you are applying his bandage. Pick up the foot and apply a liberal amount of your medicine to the wounded area. Don't set the foot down. Slap the baby diaper over the hoof and press it into the bottom of the foot, making it cling.

Take your Elasti-wrap and carefully cover the hoof and the diaper. This is the really tricky part, as you do not want to make it too tight so that it will cut off the blood supply to the horse's hoof and you will end up with a dead horse. But you need it tight enough to hold the dressing firmly on the hoof itself. Use common sense. Not loose, not tight. Test the tightness as you wrap. One trick to not wrapping too tight is to take out a longer section of the Elasti-wrap and then make your loop around the hoof. A constant pull on the bandage as you wrap will make it too tight.

Make sure that the Elasti-wrap covers the entire foot--the bottom all the way up the pastern to the fetlock. Otherwise it will come right off and you will be doing this again tomorrow.

Take your duct tape and follow the pattern you just took with the Elasti-wrap. To make a really secure dressing, cover the entire area you wrapped with duct tape, and secure it at the top, near the fetlock with a separate piece like a "belt". Again, you must make sure it is not too tight. Since the duct tape is sticky, it will stay on pretty well, even if it is looser than the Elasti-wrap. This dressing will last at least a couple of days and will keep the dressing fairly waterproof as well as clean.