There are any number of reasons you may need to wrap your horse’s legs with standing wraps, but one thing is for certain – you want to be sure that you’re helping and not harming your horse’s legs with your wraps. To that end, Dr. Jeff Beshear has provided his list of best practices for bandaging your horse’s legs.
Dr. Beshear moved to Charlottesville, Virginia from Lexington, Kentucky in 2000, married three-day eventer Emily Mastervich (now Emily Beshear), and co-founded Old Dominion Equine Associates in 2002. His interests focus on sport horse lameness and diagnostic imaging.
1. Roll your wraps under tension (tight) so you can just lay them on the leg and keep equal tension.
2. Use a good thickness cotton to prevent differences in pressure (I like No Bows).
3. Always wrap from outside to inside across the back of the leg.
4. Avoid wrapping the knees or hocks.
5. Use an adequate length of cotton to extend from just below the knee or hock to just below the fetlock.
6. Lay wrap on evenly with no ridges.
7. If you're not comfortable wrapping or if your barn help isn't, try Quick Wraps (Velcro)
8. Avoid wrapping wet legs.
9. Never turn out in standing wraps that don't tear. If needed, use sheet cotton and Vetrap for turnout wraps.
10. Always use a clean cotton.
Check out this video on how to properly bandage a leg!
Oliver Townend, who has never made any secret of his desire for another MARS Badminton Horse Trials victory, is now at the head of the leaderboard at the conclusion of the dressage phase.
Are you following along with the action from home this weekend? Or maybe you're competing at an event and need information fast. Either way, we’ve got you covered!
The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is excited to head to Area V this Dec. 11-14 for the 2025 USEA Annual Meeting & Convention in the vibrant city of New Orleans, Louisiana! Known for its rich history, world-class jazz, and electrifying Mardi Gras celebrations, New Orleans will set the stage for a lively week of discussion and education on the most important topics in the sport of eventing. Gather your fellow members and meet us to celebrate the last year of success in “The Big Easy!”
The Olympic gold medallists Tom McEwen and JL Dublin lit up the arena at the MARS Badminton Horse Trials with a stunning performance and took the lead after the first day of dressage with the excellent mark of 22.4. They have almost five penalties over second-placed Emily King and Valmy Biats on 27.3.