Is this cause for worry?

[Johnnie]

Should one worry about a horse that bare-legged exhibits no lameness, shortness of step, head-bobbing ---- basically the horse is sound with naked legs--- but when you wrap him or put SMBs on him, his movement becomes more. It's bigger, it's more relaxed, it's more fluid, etc. The horse just blossoms on the flat with some sort of support there. Anyway, should this be cause to worry that maybe something isn't right, even though he doesn't show any lameness?

The horse is a 13 year old TB ex-racer if that helps any.

[Big Tee©]

First off, no boot, wrap, or anything you put on a horse is going to support anything; I don't care who makes the fancy Take Your Dough boots, or the Fad of the Week Pokeydotted-Tigerstripped Fancy Wraps, you just cannot pull them tight enough to support anything, no human can, no matter what the instructions say.

Now to WHY the gait changes: you are adding weight, plain and simple. Adding weight to the 'feet' is an old harness and gaited horse trick - add weight to the hind end of a horse that won't pace 'right' and he widens behind, and paces fluidly. Add weight to the front end of a bad gaited trotter, and you have a better gaited trotter. In the days of my starting with harness horses, it was not unusual to see a trotter wearing 20 ounce shoes in front, or a pacer to wear 10-12 oz sideweights behind; and if that was not enough, toe weights added to the front toes of trotters, or the outside of the pacer's rear feet. Another old trick with trotters was to soak bell boots before putting them on - before rubber pull-ons bells were leather with sheepskin lining - and that would add a pound or two to the front. Other things that can be done is find weighted bells, or even a light set of rattles.

If this horse does not need protection, don't start wrapping him. All the wrapping does is prevent the tendon vibration from dissipating, and will cause long term tendon damage. Shoe the horse, and shoe him in heavy kegs. See if you can find an old set of toe weights and put those on too, if need be.

[Johnnie]

We don't normally wrap the horses on the flat, but when we are going to school XC, we put boots on them. This is when we first noticed the difference (with SMBs). Then today we were playing around taking pictures and put some wraps on the horse just to make him pretty (It was Pony Club day) and we noticed the same thing. I asked my trainer why and she said it was because of the support which made me ask my question to you guys.

Our farrier uses a wide web shoe because he likes it for the natural balance type of trimming he does, or at least that's what he told me when I asked.

No thanks to the weighted shoes, but thank you for the explanation.

[Einstein]

This may be a dumb question, but wouldn't weighted shoes cause tendon/ligament/bone damage in an eventer or race horse? I can see it in a gaited horse that just goes around the ring, but one jumping at speed or trotting/pacing at racing speeds, aren't you asking for trouble?

I only ask b/c I have no idea!

[Katie Jo]

I kinda disagree with the weight.. For the standardbreds it makes perfect sense, but for the riding horses, no. For QH hunters and WP, we put aluminums on, to DECREASE weight and make them move better.
Don't ask me Johnnie.. Sounds odd though, good luck figuring out why!. ;D

[Big Tee©]

Remember, a pair of shoes will weigh at least a pound, most shoes weigh in around 10-11 ounces each anyway. We are talking adding a couple of ounces, not pounds of weight on a 1000 pound or better horse. A set of toe weights starts with the plate at .25 oz, and frequently that in and of itself is enough to balance a horse. The add in parts are .25, .50, .75, 1 oz, 1.25, and so on, in 1/4 oz increments to 5 oz. A horse that is balanced by adding extra weight is going to damage tendons and ligaments far less than an unbalanced horse with less weight on his feet, no matter what you are doing with him.

Johnnie - your trainer better do some checking, as no human can pull anything tight enough to support anything on a horse. In any case, polos (shudder) only weigh a few ounces each anyway, but those few ounces can make a world of difference, so see if the shoer has the same style of shoe, but an ounce heavier. Strange how the addition or subraction of weight in the increments of less than an ounce can balance any horse, or turn him into Captain Klutz.

Katie - weight added to any horse will make him pay more attention to his feet, and after a couple of shoeings the new flight path of the foot becomes habit. We only use aluminum shoes on horses that are easy gaited, since they are not very durable, two races and they are toast. I do know that with jumpers, etc they add weight by adding and removing plugs in the caulk holes of the shoes - so someone that shoes jumpers once told me.

[Johnnie]

Ok, well, I've thought about it, and I'm not trying to be argumentative or anything, but I have to disagree. Chalk it up to ignorance or naivity, but I think you can offer some sort of support. If there is no support given to tendons/ligaments when wearing boots and wraps, then how is that you can injure them by wrapping improperly? In my opinion, that obviously means that wrapping does have an effect on the leg whether negative or positive.
Also, then why do vets tell you to wrap certain leg injuries for support, or to be sure to use a wrap when bringing a horse back into work? Wouldn't they know? Didn't they go to college for a million years to know this?

I'm not saying anyone is wrong, I'm just saying that I disagree.

[Luci]

This is totally interesting. I'm in a "wrapping" stable. Since I began doing the wrap thing, I never thought that it wouldn't give support.

However, back in my Western days I never wrapped and never had leg problems and my big ot1/4 (mostly tb) could really rip around when he was burning off steam. Hmmmm. Who else has opinions?

Maybe when I call my vet tomorrow to ask if maybe disolveable stitches are not a good idea on my wild boy, I'll see if they have an opinion.