You’ve wasted time and energy at the disadvantage of a race when you see your choice set foot on the race track, whether in person on television. To your horror, or bewilderment, your horse sports bandages on its front legs. Does this mean that you immediately change your choice? Does it mean proceed with caution? Or does it mean nothing at all? One thing is certain: frontal bandages mean something, to both Thoroughbred and standard-bred competitors.
Not a big deal if you’re looking at worn bandages. Tours are often used on the hind legs of sensitive Thoroughbreds on deep sand tracks. The surface can irritate the fetlock, the joint that connects the long cannon bone to the shorter, more sloping pastern that leads to the hoof. The abrasion that results is called “wear,” hence the bandage’s name. Consisting of a normal elastic bandage covering a protective pad, with an additional sticky pad sometimes added as a top layer, rundowns are used so often on the hind legs that you will see races where all horses have rundowns. butts.
Far less common are frontal hauls. It is rare for a horse to run forward and it is not ideal for a horse to need worn bandages as completely free movement in the fetlock is best. But the Vetrap tape used is light and flexible and has a negligible effect on the horse’s gait if applied correctly. Frontal sweeps can only indicate sensitive skin or some type of minor fetlock sore, not necessarily lack of solidity. This is a “proceed with caution” situation, if in fact the problem is the horse’s tendency to run forward.
The difficulty arises because the front worn patches are usually covered by full Vetrap below the knee, and it’s hard to tell the difference between a racing bandage meant to support questionable ligaments and tendons and a simple worn cover. There are trainers who use front running bandages as a precaution on a completely healthy and well-conformed horse, but most trainers prefer the freedom and flexibility of an unencumbered leg. Frontal wraps are rarely there unless there is a problem (or the belief there might be a problem) with two exceptions: a trainer may bandage a healthy horse to prevent a claim or to increase his odds. A horse that appears with front end bandages may be perfectly healthy, may not be healthy but fast enough to win anyway, or may be too sick to compete.
The situation in harness racing is a bit different. Instead of wrapped bandages, trainers are more likely to use the orthopedic bandage, a device made of synthetic material or leather that protects the bones of the legs, usually from interference from other legs. Worn on the back of trotters, orthopedic bandages can also widen and improve your stride. Used on the front legs of trotters or pacers, they provide tendon support and typically only appear in horses with pre-existing health problems. Standardbreds generally don’t suffer the catastrophic failures that Thoroughbreds do, but a sore Standardbred is no more likely to win than a sore Thoroughbred.
The bottom line on frontal bandages is this: they may or may not indicate a problem with potential lameness, but they usually indicate that someone is concerned about it. Plenty of horses win on them, but as a runner or casual bettor, you don’t know what’s going on in the trainer’s mind, making a front-bandaged horse a dubious bet unless everything else seems right.
