How to Knit Legwarmers for a Horse

Many fine-skinned horses such as thoroughbreds benefit from extra warmth in very cold conditions or when recovering from injury. It is not possible to fit a conventional human-style knitted leg warmer to a horse, due to the conformation of a horse's leg. As a horse has no muscles below the knee, only tendons and skin, it is not possible to fit a tight elasticated cuff around the leg without damaging the tendons. Equally important, if the legwarmer were too loose it would slip down around the horse's fetlock and cause it to panic. The only safe way to provide lower-leg warmth is with purpose-made boots, or by adding a bandage over a knitted legwarmer to hold it in position.

Things You'll Need

  • Measuring tape
  • Yarn
  • Knitting needles
  • Scissors
  • Transparent tape
  • Four stable bandages (also known as standing wraps)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Measure your horse's legs. Measure around the circumference of the leg just below the knee, then measure the length from under the knee to the coronary band (hairline above the hoof). Add 2 inches to the width and 1 inch to the length to find the finished size of the leg warmer.

    • 2

      Take the loose end of the yarn and make a slipknot. Start the casting on process by slipping the knot over one needle, then take the needle in your left hand. Push the other needle through the back of the knot. Pass both needles into your left hand and use your right hand to wind the yarn around the back of the rear needle. Pull the rear needle toward you, hooking it through the yarn to create the first stitch. Lift the right-hand needle up so you have one stitch on each needle. Push the left-hand needle into the stitch on the other needle, and slide the stitch across onto the left needle so you have two stitches on the left needle. Repeat these steps until you have cast on enough stitches to reach the required width.

    • 3

      Hold the needle with the cast-on stitches in your left hand. Holding the other needle in your right hand, push the tip through the first stitch from front to back, keeping the right needle behind the left needle. Make a loop by wrapping the yarn around and under the right needle. Use the right needle to pull the new loop through the stitch on the left needle to make a new stitch. Slip the original stitch off the tip of the left needle to finish the stitch. Continue knitting until the leg warmer reaches the required length.

    • 4

      Finish the first leg warmer by casting off. Push the right-hand needle into the first stitch as though you were going to knit it, but instead slip it off onto the left needle. Knit the second stitch normally, then insert the point of the left needle into the stitch on the right needle, keeping the left needle in front of the right one. Slip that stitch over the second stitch on the right-hand needle then slip it off. Continue casting off in this way until you reach the last stitch, then cut off the yarn to a 1-inch length and slip the end through the loop of the last stitch, pulling it taut. The first leg warmer is now finished. Repeat the process to knit three more leg warmers.

    • 5

      Take the first leg warmer and wrap it around your horse's leg, using a little Scotch tape or other transparent tape to hold in place temporarily. The more you use the leg warmers, the more they will mold to your horse's legs and be easier to put on. Starting at the top of the leg, wrap a bandage around the leg keeping an even pressure. Overlap the bandage by about a third of its width on each turn. When you reach the bottom of the leg, work up again until you use all the bandage, then fasten, with the knot on the outside of the leg. Test the tightness of the bandage by checking if you can insert a finger between the leg and top of the bandage.