Equiline Grip Bandages are designed to provide support while maintaining breathability. Photo by Kate Samuels.
As horse people and owners of equine athletes, we are positively bananas about our boots, wraps and bandages. I’ve never known a rider who didn’t harbor a secret obsession with accoutrements for the legs of their horse, and I am no different. I have boots for cross country, boots for hacking, boots for jumping, wraps for dressage, and wraps for the horse that rubs.
I’m always interested in the new technologies that are coming into the world of tack and accessories, so I was intrigued to try these Equiline Grip Bandages.
These bandages are designed to work the same way that polos would, as support bandages for training work with your horse. You can use them plain on the leg, as I did, or you can use them over an under-wrap, which provides extra protection and support for a horse that might be coming back from an injury or have an extremely unusually shaped leg.
If you have a horse with lots of splints or a horse coming back from a tendon injury, you know how important it is to find a good workout wrap that won’t chafe, but will also provide support. Here it is!
The Equiline Grip Bandages have a nice feel to them, with neoprene inside and a soft cloth on the outside, which comes in blue, black, brown and white, so you can customize it to your liking and to match the color of your horse.
The bandages are very lightweight, but do not mistake that to mean that they are not durable, because they have so far proved to be quite hardy. The light weight is advantageous though, because as we all know, you don’t want to be weighing your horse’s legs down any more than necessary when working them.
The Equiline Grip Bandages have a neoprene inside that doesn’t rub the horse, and a lot of little holes that add to the breathability for the leg. Photo by Kate Samuels.
The coolest and most obvious feature of these bandages is the addition of tiny holes throughout the material. These holes are intended to increase breathability and circulation while on the horse. The bandages are made of stretchy material, but the holes do not make them weak in any way when stretched to roll them up or apply to the leg.
Equiline is known for their technology in fabrics, as the founder was originally involved in the fashion world before delving into the horse world. The Equiline Grip Bandages have benefitted from some of this knowledge, as they feature something called “graduate compression”.
This is a system that Equiline loves, and they consider the secret of well-being for the horses’ legs. The way that the bandages are constructed, and the way that the slight stretch works when applied to the leg offers a compression and support like no other bandage.
These bandages also shed water in a really effective way, so they officially become the first bandages that I can take on a hack and cross a river with! That is exciting to me, because there are many times that I want to do some flatwork followed by a hack, but can’t go anywhere muddy or with a water crossing because I’m wearing polos. I know this is a first world problem, but it’s an issue nonetheless, and I’m glad to have found a solution by wearing these Equiline Grip Bandages.
The Equiline Grip Bandages come in white, blue, brown or black, and look pretty stylish when applied. Photo by Kate Samuels.
I used these bandages recently to do some trot sets in the snow, because that is all that I’m relegated to right now. Nyls, unfortunately, believes that one must high-step the entire time through the snow, which makes me pretty nervous for his tendon health, and I was looking to provide a little more protection and support than just using a brushing boot. These bandages worked great, and they didn’t hold any moisture from the snow at all!
They are also super easy to clean, and you can brush all the dirt or hair off them with a stiff brush, and even squirt them off and they dry in a cinch.
As previously mentioned, the bandages come in navy blue, black, brown and white. They usually retail at around $33.00 and you can find them at a variety of U.S. dealers for Equiline products.
