Looking after your horse's legs
- Petplan Equine
- Aug 25, 2015
- 1 min read
Petplan Equine have teamed up with Charlie Hutton from the renowned Talland equestrian to produce a series of videos to help dressage riders care for their horses, prevent illness and injury where possible and to help them achieve those extra marks
Looking after your horse’s legs
Regularly check your horse’s legs for lumps, heat, swelling or sensitivity.
Common injuries include:
Tendon and ligament strains and tears. The tendons and ligaments mostly run down the back of a horse’s leg.
Over reach injuries where the horse kicks his front heal with his back hoof.
Splints, a hard bony swelling to the splint bone which is located on each side of the cannon bone.
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With bandages ensure there is an evenness of pressure, visually there should be the same amount of bandage at the top and bottom. The bandage should start just below the knee and and continue down to just above the fetlock.
When fitting brushing boots, you should be able to insert a finger between the boot and the horse’s leg to check that they are not too tight but snug enough to stay in place. Like bandages they should cover the area just below the knee and down to just above the fetlock.
In 2014, Petplan Equine paid out an average of £1,500 for each tendon injury related claim. Early identification of an injury and therefore veterinary intervention is more likely to result in a favorable outcome so Petplan Equine encourages all horse owners to check their horses twice daily and call the vet at the first sign of trouble.
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