Racing in vet wrap
Moderators: Roguelet, hpkingjr, WaveMaster, madelyn
Not to hijack the thread but it's along these lines. I ordered new figure boots today and am going to start ice skating again. My old boots killed me, the new ones should be better but OMG the guy says I'll want to wear "Unga Pads". They are a $17 ankle sleeve with gel padding. I tried them on alone and I have a feeling these pads are going to become a permanent part of putting on any boots. I need to get some for my knees too.
Some words from my experience on banages and race horses...polos suck on the racetrack for anything except a dry track, and bang protection (great for horses that are ponying, or tend to jack around) but not much else. They tend to slip and sag with any moisture. Boots like SMB are ok for the ponies, but not so good for the racehorses due to sand, abrasions and also dependancy issues with frequent use. Aces are great, as are trace bandages. I had one gelding that trained and ran in aces all round, what a pain that was!
I love the vetwrap, it's very supportive, very flexible, relatively easy to work with. Hard to learn to put on correctly but I have seen many horses go to the paddock with vetwrap so tight it scared me to even look at it. That being said, they are a very short term wrap. They get put on minutes before paddock time, and come off immediatley after the race or work usually, which may be part of the reason there are not more bows associated with it. A bandage bow usually take s some time to create. You sure can mess with a horses stride if they are too tight though.
There are some trainers run and train everything in bandages, and some that never do; it's all personal prefference and experience. I've heard a lot of discussions regarding dependence on bandages, that they weaken the natural flexion and strength in tendons and ligaments due to them never being stretched fully and building strength, losing their "memory" of safe zones and self protection when naturally going without bandages. Then when a horse trains or races without, they have a higher tendancy to injure them. It is a similar situation in people, you come to depend on the bandage or support to tell you when your limit is reached, and if it isn't there, you tend to over reach and injure. It is also similar to drug therapy such as hormones...you supplement and the natural process eventually ceases and dependency arises.
I love the vetwrap, it's very supportive, very flexible, relatively easy to work with. Hard to learn to put on correctly but I have seen many horses go to the paddock with vetwrap so tight it scared me to even look at it. That being said, they are a very short term wrap. They get put on minutes before paddock time, and come off immediatley after the race or work usually, which may be part of the reason there are not more bows associated with it. A bandage bow usually take s some time to create. You sure can mess with a horses stride if they are too tight though.
There are some trainers run and train everything in bandages, and some that never do; it's all personal prefference and experience. I've heard a lot of discussions regarding dependence on bandages, that they weaken the natural flexion and strength in tendons and ligaments due to them never being stretched fully and building strength, losing their "memory" of safe zones and self protection when naturally going without bandages. Then when a horse trains or races without, they have a higher tendancy to injure them. It is a similar situation in people, you come to depend on the bandage or support to tell you when your limit is reached, and if it isn't there, you tend to over reach and injure. It is also similar to drug therapy such as hormones...you supplement and the natural process eventually ceases and dependency arises.
A woman needs 2 animals in her life-the horse of her dreams, and a jackass to pay for it!
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doublete
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Definitely in the camp that if they don't go with polos in the am, they don't go in the race with vetrap either. Personally LOVE saratogas. Those can also be royally messed up when applied as well.
I still have to laugh- the first race I ever won as a trainer... I had a filly that had a bow. So I ALWAYS trained/raced/anything her in support of some kind. It was a slightly suspect track that day and I was nervous as all heck, so I used the white "special" vetwrap... Can't even remember what it was because I have never used it since. It was way harder to put on and a different texture and feel. Needless to say, I failed because I was ponying my filly and looked down to see her wrap on her good leg (without the bow), down around her ankle. I looked over to the jock (who was the leading jockey at that track) and said "umm we gotta go behind the gate and fix something"... Duhhh.. so my win picture shows my horse with ONE wrap on. Jeez.
Ever since the end of december when I had a serious injury to my ankle I can no longer squat. So putting on wraps, bandages, anything is a real pain in the butt. If they won't stand still for it I simply can't put them on because I can't maneuver quickly. and dont have the flexion in my ankle to push myself up to a standing position quickly. Pretty awful for a 27 year old.
I still have to laugh- the first race I ever won as a trainer... I had a filly that had a bow. So I ALWAYS trained/raced/anything her in support of some kind. It was a slightly suspect track that day and I was nervous as all heck, so I used the white "special" vetwrap... Can't even remember what it was because I have never used it since. It was way harder to put on and a different texture and feel. Needless to say, I failed because I was ponying my filly and looked down to see her wrap on her good leg (without the bow), down around her ankle. I looked over to the jock (who was the leading jockey at that track) and said "umm we gotta go behind the gate and fix something"... Duhhh.. so my win picture shows my horse with ONE wrap on. Jeez.
Ever since the end of december when I had a serious injury to my ankle I can no longer squat. So putting on wraps, bandages, anything is a real pain in the butt. If they won't stand still for it I simply can't put them on because I can't maneuver quickly. and dont have the flexion in my ankle to push myself up to a standing position quickly. Pretty awful for a 27 year old.
Racing and retraining.