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Is this just a look? Is there a purpose? Will Courage be automatically fancier if I do this to him?
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Teach Me Tuesday: Dressage Horse Wraps
Let's play this game again. I am completely baffled by the trends I see in wrapping dressage horses.
I get that the horse on the left has bandage liners on. But the one on the right? I'm very confused. I certainly don't mean to pick on this particular poster, either--I see this all over on all the fancy horses. Wraps halfway up the horse's knee. Extravagant bandage liners.
Is this just a look? Is there a purpose? Will Courage be automatically fancier if I do this to him?
Is this just a look? Is there a purpose? Will Courage be automatically fancier if I do this to him?
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I'm glad you asked because I thought (and always use) a nice set of polos to wrap for our rides.
ReplyDelete**was sufficient.
DeleteMy friend rides with a reining/working cow trainer and they use no bows half way up the horse's knees when riding and showing instead of SMB boots. I don't get it at all!
ReplyDeleteMany times, the awards ceremony happens at the very. very end of a show. When I was at the National Dressage Pony Cup, many ponies were wrapped for the trailer. Everything possible was loaded up so that after the awards ceremony, ponies just needed to be unsaddled and loaded for the trip home.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if that is the case here, but that would be when I wrap like that.
That was exactly my thought too, that they were planning to pop the horse on the rig right after the awards. Those look like shipping wrap jobs.
Deletehttp://www.eurodressage.com/equestrian/2015/02/24/boots-or-bandages-what-best
DeleteYou may have to copy and paste the address to get it to work. Towards the bottom of the article shows pics of people riding in bandages. The article is from EuroDressage, so maybe it's more of a European trend?
Most dressage riders with upper level horses use bandage liners to school, from what I've seen. It's something about improving air flow so the legs don't get too hot like they might under regular wraps, because there are channels in the wraps. For awards ceremonies where the horses will be galloping and may get a little animated, I think they use the extra long bandage liners and sometimes four bell boots so they don't clip themselves.
ReplyDeleteI mostly just see this with really too horses, and I do think it's a euro trend. I also think they are trying to minimize any injuries these extravagant movers nights obtain during the shenanigans of the awards ceremony.
ReplyDeleteHonestly? It's because high dollar dressage horses are owned by super neurotic people who are terrified that the horse might do something to itself in the 5 seconds it might be unwrapped for while ridden. Big, huge moving, hotheaded dressage horses can get stupid when doing a victory lap, so they pad them up to the eyeballs to protect them.
ReplyDeleteAs a side note, they are usually the same horses that live in stalls 24/7 with no turnout ever whatsoever (literally none, not ANY), and only leave their stalls to go on the Eurociser or to the arena to work. They are wrapped in their stalls, wrapped in the walker, wrapped for riding. Their legs never see daylight.
Obviously not every top upper level barn is like that - think Valegro, who actually gets turnout! - but many of them are. Totilas, last time I had checked, has not left his stall in several years.
It's not just the "high dollar dressage horses owned by super neurotic people."
DeleteI started out in the show barns with Arab's (halter and performance horses) and some of the owners there are just as bad if not worse. Their horses may not be super high dollar, but they'd like you to think they are.
We always wrapped when the horse was out of the stall- splint boots for protection in turnout, polo's for support for work. Wraps in the stall were usually only if the horse was injured.
Not a helpful comment, but they remind me of ballerinas with tall legwarmers, esp with the one on the left wrapped low around the heels. I think Courage should model for us. :D
ReplyDeleteOh wow, I've never seen this! So weird. I agree that they look like leg warmers.
ReplyDeleteYou cannot use leg wraps when riding in FEI dressage competitions, except, perhaps in a costume class. These horses are wrapped either for traveling after the show or for stabling purposes. Might even have some kind of cooling wraps or treatments on their legs.Quite typical of horses that have worked hard and are bandaged after exertion. Definitely not standard riding "apparel," just for an awards ceremony at the end of a long day of real work.
ReplyDeleteI 'm at a loss on this one other than what others have noted about it being possible the horses are pre-wrapped for travel, but then I use green wraps (which match the manure if it happens. And let's face it. It always happens!) and the wraps themselves are different than standard polo's, with padded wraps under those as well.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like the horse on the right is also wrapped under the pastern for added support which is how/why I have always wrapped that way too. I can remember one trainer though telling us Not to wrap the legs that way. Thankfully he has since moved on to another profession.
I lived in Europe this is a common wrapping method. First part is protection, wrapping with liners and with an elastic bandages offers up a lot of support and protection. We usually bandaged from knee to fetlock plus Bellboots. Daily training wraps came in multicolors.
ReplyDeleteThe white wraps are reserved for sales and victory laps. The reason why is that white is traditional and highlights the movement, which makes for better photos and tape.
Unlike Andrea's claim that they live inside 24/7 many of these guys are turned out actively for at least five hours, sometimes with companion, sometimes alone. Stallions are usually under supervised time.
Yes, Courage will be fancier if you do this to him. It is known.
ReplyDeleteActually, I have no clue. I haven't wrapped a leg in at least 10 years. I'm the worst DQ ever.
I was thought by multiple trainers that you are never supposed to bandage a horse without using liners - especially when you use elastic bandages. With liners, the pressure is spread more evenly and basically there is no chance of wrapping the bandage on too thigtly.
ReplyDeleteMost of the European competitors bandage their horses. They use colored bandages for training and white ones for competition warm up and award ceremonies. I used to find it too much of a hassle for the warm up since you need to have somebody on the ground to unwrap the horse, but i do use boots now as the horse could nick his leg and with the blood rule - you are automatically out from competing. And there is no point in risking that if you can easily prevent it from hapening.
But some international competitors are using brushing boots and even regular jumping boots for warm up as they are more easy to remove before the start. I just actually witnessed a young horse being unwrapped after the warmup and getting caught in the loose wraps. You can imagine the outcome, lukcily no one was hurt.
TBH I love the look even though I'm puzzled by the functionality/purpose part.
ReplyDeletelol i'm sure they can come up with all sorts of reasons why (probably what everyone else has suggested above), but i'm sure a big part of it is getting the right 'look'
ReplyDeleteQuarter horse circuit has horses school in standing bandages. Lunging and riding... This looks sorta similar?
ReplyDelete