Tuesday, September 29, 2015

The Miracle of the Elastikon

My love for Elastikon is well-documented. I firmly believe that at least one roll of this miracle substance should be in every equestrian first aid kit. I could not begin to estimate how many rolls I have gone through in the last few years.

On Sunday, I returned to see Tristan for the first time in nearly two weeks after the wedding + mini-honeymoon. Before I left, I did my due diligence and had conversations with the vet and the barn manager about our tail protocol.

The plan was that his tail would stay wrapped as long as the wrap held. He could then keep it unwrapped as long as he was not rubbing it. If he was rubbing it, the wrap would need to go back on. Since the first wrap lasted about two weeks, I expected that the wrap would come off while I was gone and we would see whether or not he rubbed his tail. I didn't hear anything while I was away - the barn manager was very firm that she would only call or text me in case of actual emergency, since she wanted me to be stress free.

I arrived Sunday...


Whaaaaaaat.

Let me contextualize this for you.

Tails are notoriously difficult to wrap, right? We've all been there. They are slippery and if you do them too tight it's super dangerous. So you have to strike an impossible balance on being snug but not tight, sticky but not anything that will actually damage the tail irreparably.

This wrap has lasted almost four weeks. I thought two weeks was an extraordinary gift. Four weeks!!!

Lest you think that the tail is damaged underneath, I checked carefully for chafing and rubbing, and found none. I'm not saying it will slide right off with zero problems, but I don't anticipate a complete mess when it's time.

Here's what it looked like after I took the old wrap off. Not too bad, huh?



In conclusion:

BUY ELASTIKON RIGHT NOW.

4 comments:

  1. I am impressed. Houston had 2 sets of stitches and had an elasticon bandage for both. I didn't have to reapply myself though. I want to keep some of this magic on hand though!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for commenting! It's great to hear from you.