How to Bandage Your Horse's Foot

In this video, Dr. Kayla Ross-Bitticks of the Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center (LBEMC) and Amador Equine, located in Northern California, discusses why we use ball bandages and shows the correct way to apply a multi-layered ball bandage to the foot of a horse.
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#horse #equine #veterinarian #emergency

[@sactopyrshep]

Easy step-by-step instructions. All the vets in your video series are such good, confident speakers. And your horse models are saints ! How about doing a video on creating the equine perfect patient ?

[@LBEMG]

cathi cline what a nice compliment to our staff of veterinarians and our horsey models. That’d be an interesting topic! We will see if we can work that one in, in the future. Thanks

[@alyssaturpin121]

this was a great refresher!

[@LBEMG]

Thank you! We’re so glad you found it helpful!

[@Moonlily108]

Very helpful. Thank you.

[@LBEMG]

Savannah Morgan thank you! Thanks for watching!

[@lenjoplus]

Great video, very informative and detailed. The Dr is a magician also- she made an entire cat disappear!

[@lenjoplus]

and reappear elsewhere!

[@LBEMG]

Leni Johns haha!! Fear not... Roger, the cat, is still alive and well :-) We’re glad you enjoyed this video and found it helpful!

[@lenjoplus]

They have in uncanny ability to know when an activity is important to humans.........

[@williamh123456789]

Thank you for such content

[@LBEMG]

You’re welcome. thanks for watching.

[@robynrajkovich4458]

Fantastic video and detailed explanation! I love Loomis Basin Equine Medical Center! Thank you!

[@LBEMG]

Thank you so much for the great review. Glad you enjoyed it!

[@chewar7537]

This is awesome! My horse has an abscess in the hoof, and keeping the poultice on is hard. Love the diaper!!

[@LBEMG]

Sorry your horse is dealing with the pain of an abscess but so glad you found our video helpful!

[@CanadianCowgirl1955]

Excellent!! Thank You!

[@LBEMG]

Thank you! The more knowledgeable we are as horse owners the better we can care for them ❤️

[@victoriaalvarez502]

Great explanation👍

[@LBEMG]

Thank you. Glad you found it helpful!

[@carolmacgregor6242]

This was just great to watch and see all the steps for making this "ball bandage" on the horse"s foot. I will keep this in my email file so that I can refer to it if/when I need it. Thank you!!

[@LBEMG]

Carol MacGregor that’s a great idea! We plan to add them to our equine education library on our website in the near future! www.lbemc.com

[@akojiodinaka5042]

I love this content

[@LBEMG]

Thank you

[@franciscocordobacaldas702]

Thanks so much.

[@LBEMG]

Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed it!

[@azharuddin2351]

My horse have hoof problem can you help me doc?

[@mousenmick]

Very impressive!!! I just did my first abscess bandage, it is much harder than it looks!

[@LBEMG]

Congratulations on giving it a go! They are not the easiest bandages, they take some practice… but they are a great bandage for many applications.

[@lauramonahan9343]

Appreciated by this small small animal vet with an accident prone OTTB. Back feet seem more difficult and I'm covered in duct tape bits 🙂

[@LBEMG]

Haha! Hopefully this video will help you become a pro at ball bandages... though we hope you won’t need it that often!

[@lauramonahan9343]

@@LBEMG I'm well on my way to becoming a one-horse equine vet, thanks to my gelding and his antics. We've had dorsal wall keratoma surgery, arthritis, mild wobblers, sleep deprivation, choke, and all the wounds coming from sleep deprivation and wobblers. We've done joint injections and cervical facet injections (well, not me anyway, until you make a video for that too - kidding!). But he's a big love, so we carry on.

[@laurienunnally1202]

This video has been my lifesaver over last 2 1/2 weeks, OTTB suffered a very nasty heel bulb laceration, (tried slide stopping down hill in pasture). Heeling nicely so far, however developing a pressure sore on other heel bulb at coronet band, is this from wrapping too tight? Last bandage change added extra cotton over area for padding. Any tips, greatly appreciated and thankyou so much.

[@LBEMG]

Happy to hear that this video has been helpful. Sometimes the hair will get rubbed off after several weeks of wrapping. You might try applying some ointment and placing a nonstick telfa over the heel bulb that’s getting rubbed.

[@sharondellinger1656]

My LBVC doctor showed me this process. But we use two steps: First an Animalintex pad to soften the hoof, second a sugardine poultice to harden the hoof. Question: Do you need the ball bandage (the white cotton roll, wrapped up to create the ball) with the second (sugardine) poultice?

[@LBEMG]

Great question! Yes we use the full ball bandage in both stages (softening with poultice) and drying with the sugardine.

[@BayArmourLLC]

I found roll cotton sheet that are 36x30....for the newbie, can you please tell me is the 30" the final length of the applied cotton that then is folded together and folded back to form the ball? Or is it the 36" dimension that hangs off the hoof before bunching and folding back? Thank you for the excellent video...but for well over 70 years when I guess at such things I am always wrong.

[@LBEMG]

Great question! The length that will hang off the toe and will be folded back is the 30” side. Hope that answers your question clearly. Thanks for watching and glad you found it helpful.

[@BayArmourLLC]

@@LBEMG yes, that clarifies it perfectly. My veterinarian is impressed with my new found bandaging skills, but more importantly my severely injured horse is far more comfortable now. Thanks again!

[@LBEMG]

Great! So glad we could help and we hope your horse heals quickly.

[@BayArmourLLC]

@@LBEMG Ha, I knew I would find a way - I tried what I thought was what was being suggested, but mystified as to why I had 20 inches hanging off...I rolled it under and finished, but clearly was not correct. I went back to your video and estimated that the rolled cotton sheeting resulted in a roll that was 18 inches wide....and then zoomed in to see that it had been folded in half resulting in a 30" long roll of 4 layer 18" wide sheeting. Doubt anyone else had this issue, but in any case, the next attempt went perfectly though I needed to modify the layers to provide more air access for the dressings over the nasty bulb injuries. Think I've got it now! Thanks again - he's MUCH more comfortable with a properly done ball bandage.

[@desertrose2085]

Is the diaper and duct tape boot only for injuries to the hoof, such as abscesses? My horse has a gash on his heel bulb. Do I stop at the point where you applied the diaper, or is the full ball bandage for any injury from the fetlock down?

[@LBEMG]

Great question. This bandage is great for protecting and keeping wounds clean from the pastern (under fetlock) down. You will need the full bandage for a heel bulb wound but be careful to clean the hoof well before sealing it all in together. You could gently wrap a non stick telfa over the heel bulb with cling/white gauze then wrap your ball bandage. Hope that helps!

[@jamiehoffman351]

My goodness that's alot of bandages!

[@bethpost1012]

Awesome, very helpful video! Question: any comments or pro tips about best way/tools to removing this (really thick!) bandaging? I'm sawing away forever, it seems, to get the bandage off. Thanks again.

[@LBEMG]

Haha! So glad you found this video helpful. To remove these bandages you can use a box cutter or some of our drs use a scalpel blade… with that said, be sure to pull the bandage away from the horse and cut through each layer except the sheet cotton! If you leave the sheet cotton layer you should be able to safely cut everything away. Cut from the top of the bandage straight down all the way to the ground before attempting to pull the cut bandage and cotton off. Hope that helps!

[@Jes-Lynne]

What kind of ointment if any would be placed on the Telfa before wrapping for a heel bulb injury?

[@LBEMG]

Great question! We usually recommend SSD (silver sulfadiazine) or a triple antibiotic ointment for those types of wounds.

[@Jes-Lynne]

@@LBEMG Awesome, thank u! I was thinking Silvadene or Furazone. My horse has a pretty good heel bulb wound from an overreach and I'm in Alaska, so not ideal for vet situations, especially on the weekend. I'm wondering about sutures if recommended or possible, because A. It's been 24 hours or close to it. And B. The top of the flap is very thin and friable. Flushed with Betadine last night and this morning the flap was trying to snug back up the flesh underneath, so that's good. Going to see about getting it wrapped here shortly, to either get it sutured tomorrow, or just to keep it clean while I tend to it at home. Would you recommend this method in your video for that? Or just a Telfa + Silvadene with white gauze and vet wrap over, just around the heel? Only worry with that one would be keeping it dry, but we only have a light dusting of snow right now, no mud or deep snow. I think my biggest worry is keeping it clean and preventing infection at this point. Sorry to leave such a long comment but I'm not getting much help given my location and would hate to haul him so far after hours with the roads so icy just to be advised to keep doing what I've been doing at home 🤦‍♀️

[@Jes-Lynne]

Very much appreciate your channel!

[@LBEMG]

Jessica McGinnis yes keeping it clean and wrapped is very important until your vet can see it and advise. The ball bandage will keep any moisture, dirt, etc from getting in. Be sure and clean and dry the hoof well before wrapping it all up.

[@LBEMG]

Jessica McGinnis so glad you’re enjoying our channel and it’s been helpful to you! Hope your horse heals quickly.

[@dogmom7698]

Here is a tip. Unroll the vet wrap a bit before using and it will unravel much better, especially if your patient is not as cooperative as this one was! Vet wrap often is a nightmare to find the end or get it moving to wrap.

[@mahanehsani1246]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@LBEMG]

Thank you. Glad you liked it!

[@mahanehsani1246]

@@LBEMG beautiful!

[@matthewhardin1615]

Can't stand the wrinkles when she put on the elastaband

[@LBEMG]

Thank you for your thoughts.