How to Place a Standing Wrap

To place a standing wrap on a horse's leg, first roll the cotton bandage tightly into itself, start with one end on the front of the leg, and wrap it tightly around in a counterclockwise direction. Add a stretchy bandage on top to hold a standing wrap in place with helpful advice from a veterinarian in this video on caring for horses.

Hi I'm Dr. Joanna Robson. I'm a doctor of veterinarian medicine with Inspiritus Equine Incorporated. I'd like to teach you how to properly place a standing wrap. Now a support wrap or a standing wrap may be used if your horse has an injury to its leg, if it has wind puffs or swelling or if he's been working or exercising hard and you want to provide him with some extra support. The first part of a standing wrap is what we call a cotton bandage or a No Bow wrap depending on the size of your horse's leg, these wraps come in different heights and different lengths. You want to roll your wrap as tightly as possible before placing it to minimize the risk of wrinkles or gaps when you place the wrap. Bowed tendons are the number one common problem from incorrectly placed standing wraps. So there we have our tightly wrapped No Bow bandage. The second component is our stretchy standing bandage, and this is what holds the first part in place. When I'm placing the standing bandage, the first thing I want to do is make sure that my horse's leg is clean and dry. Don't want to place the wrap over any dirt or particles or if I've just bathed my horse I'd prefer for the hair to be dry first. I want the direction of my wrap to start at the front of the leg and wrap around the rolled edge of the tendon and back around towards front. This is in a counterclockwise direction from the front around the back again making sure that I keep it level and even but not pulling so tightly that I put too much pressure on the tendon. Then I take the tail end of my standing wrap, place the tail beneath the quilted cotton, it's OK if the horse moves a little bit and follow the same line rolling around the front of the cannon bone, around the back of the tendons and continuing with about a 50% overlap from each wrap as it goes around the leg. When I come to the bottom I roll underneath my fetlock, make a crisscross pattern in the front and then continue with my 50% overlaps back up the limb making sure that I keep steady and even pressure without cinching it down or pulling it too tight. Continuing up my leg until I finally come to my Velcro which secures my wrap in place like so. The key to properly wrapping a standing wrap is to roll from the outside to the inside, counterclockwise direction at the leg so that we follow the line of the tendons and to make sure we don't have any wrinkles or debris beneath our wraps and finally that we use just gentle steady pressure without cinching the wraps down tight so that we avoid complications such as bowed tendons. And that is how to properly place a standing wrap or a support bandage on your horse's leg.