There are times in your horse’s life when his legs experience more than the normal amount of stress. Maybe you worked him a bit harder than you usually do. You could be competing at a multi-day show. Perhaps you moved from a cool, dry climate to a hotter, more humid one. You may want to have a way–with or without liniment–to provide his legs with warmth and promote circulation. Or maybe you just feel that he needs a little protection against stall injury.

Whatever the problem, the solution is a standing wrap–a dry bandage that can provide warmth and support to the tendons and ligaments, cushion against dings and bumps and help to prevent “stocking up”–the accumulation of fluid due to inactivity, often following work. Download the article PDF below where I’ll give you some general wrapping guidelines and show you how to put an effective, safe and secure standing wrap on your horse.

How to Apply a Standing Wrap

(The article is in PDF format. If you have trouble viewing it, download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader program.)

This article originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of Practical Horseman magazine.