Do The Back On Track Products Actually Work?

One of my horses has a club foot. The club foot places a large amount of strain on the body, causing muscle imbalances and pain. I would say the two things that make the most difference with maintaining a club foot would be proper shoeing and quality arena footing. Both I try to practice, but I am looking for a little extra something to increase mobility, especially in the shoulder.

I see people using Back On Track products all the time...but do they work? Are there studies?

Back On Track claim: Back on Track's joint and muscle support are all made of functional textiles with heat reflective properties. The textile is a synergy of ancient Chinese experience and modern scientific textile technology. During the manufacturing of polyester- or polyester fibers, the ceramic particles are fused into the fibers. When heated, the ceramic particles radiate a heat back towards the body. This reflected heat is long-wave heat radiation, which is also known as long wave infrared radiation.

Most of us know heat does decrease pain and help loosen up joints. I use heat all the time and it does work. Being an athlete, one thing I do to help recovery is take a super hot bath and then elevate my legs...you can feel the blood flow. Increasing blood flow helps remove toxins and deliver nutrients to muscle, tendons, and ligaments to help with recovery. I am pretty sure sticking my horse in the hot tub and hanging him upside down isn't an option! lol. Do Back On Track products get hot enough to really help blood flow? Do they penetrate the muscle deep enough to make a difference?

The Back On Track website includes studies and veterinarian recommendations on the product. Even Olympian McLain Ward supports the product:

"Everything has been excellent, by using the Back on Track leg 
  wraps. We do a better job of the horse’s legs and we’ve stopped
  using poultice so it cuts down on the problem of drying out the   legs and skin irritation. When using the Back on Track
  blankets, we’ve noticed a great difference in the horses’ backs.
  We can go longer between the chiropractic treatments. This is a
  wonderful product that keeps our horses in great shape."

Other top rider recommendations may be found here: http://www.backontrackproducts.com/Testimonials-15.html

I do realize though that some of these people may favor the product because they are receiving free products in exchange for using them (or perhaps money). It's called being sponsored...but I also see a lot of normal, paying customers liking the product.

Average (ie paying customers) rider reviews:

"I purchased this for my 5 year old OTTB mare who has had a lot of body soreness over the past year since she started eventing after the track. For just the couple of days that she has worn in, she feels much looser in her body and her back and shoulders do not feel as tight or restricted during flatwork."

"She has been wearing the sheet now for about a month and half. After the initial two weeks of weaning her on to it, she has been wearing it every night. I have noticed that she is more willing to move forward when working and has a more pleasant demeanor in her stall.
She still needs regular visits from her vet for chiropractor appointments but it seems to have added another "tool" to managing the inflammation from her Kissing Spines. I'm thinking of getting the neck cover to go with it."

A lot of riders have good things to say and the fact that I cannot find any of these products on ebay used makes me think that many people don't give them up. Another sign they work. But what about veterinarian and scientific studies? There are some of those too...

Using thermography studies, there does appear to be a large reduction in inflammation. http://www.backontrackproducts.com/Clinical-Studies-14.html#vets

All their products..

One thing I am skeptical about...the product not being able to provide enough heat to penetrate deep enough to make a difference. Superficial heat helps calm nerves, but heat that goes deep into the muscle actually helps relieve muscle pain. I have heard (and experienced) that water heat therapy works best. Perhaps trying a damp, wet, towel application would be beneficial in combination with Back On Track products.

Brace yourself though, these products are super expensive! It's worth a shot if you can spare the money. Back On Track does offer 100% satisfaction and it seems like you can re-sell these things very easily so it is relatively risk free. If you want to try a cheaper version first, try the heated moist towel or the IR wand (you can get a human version for $25!) I may try these too.

 

Riding on hard ground

Living in Colorado there is some hard ground around here and that hard ground may lead to horse injury. My barn does not have an arena, so riding in the fields is mainly what I do. Here are some tips to keep your horse's legs going strong.

Check if your riding surface is really as hard as you think. Can you hear hoof beats? Maybe sometimes you are able to hear them and then other days you hear nothing. That should be a good indication on the ground surface condition at the time of your ride.

If you have field options, choose a field that has irrigation. The ground may be more soft and easier on the horse's legs. I have 5 pastures and I only ride in the 2 pastures that were at one point used for haying.

Tall grass isn't always a bad thing. May be hard to see hazards, so check it out first on foot. Once you go around a few times, the grass lays down, adding a little extra cushion.

Change pace and terrain as much as you can. On the hard ground it's important to shift weight to avoid overworking muscles, ligaments, tendons, or bones. This may be achieved by changing pace frequently or changing terrain. For example, two trot circles followed by a trot up a hill and then a trot down the hill.

Try Magic Cushion, it's a hoof pack that is easy to apply. Acts as an anti-inflammatory to help prevent hoof pain and heat.

If the ground is frozen consider just walking with short bursts of trot or consider riding down a quiet dirt road. The traffic of cars keeps the road somewhat warm and the ground will likely be less frozen.

Condition your horse to hard ground by slowly introducing the horse to the terrain, adding a little more time or a little more intensity each ride.

Shoe the front feet to get the soles off the ground and add more comfort. If you already have shoes, consider asking your farrier to review the shoeing.

Consider pads or rim pads if you horse appears foot sore after a ride.

Warm up properly, with lots of walking on a free rein, collected, extended walk, before going right into trotting. In the arena we do a lot of trot warmup, but on hard ground you should do more walk warmup.

Listen to your horse. If they move lame or sore after your ride try something different. If you have tried everything, it is likely that the horse just is not built for hard ground riding or needs a few down days.

Turn your horse out on that pasture. This naturally conditions horses to the ground at their own pace, which is typically the best way.

Add water. Perhaps there is a small 20 meter circle flat area in your field you ride often, hose this area before your ride.

Stick to small jumps and ground poles. Instead of raising the jumps, consider making the exercise more complicated. Save your horses legs by not overdoing it, once he performs the jump as desired tell him good job and move on to something different.

Consider wearing sport medicine boots. Honestly, I think these boots are more important for arena riding because they provide tendon and soft tissue support which may be needed when the horse sinks into soft ground. However, I see how these boots could benefit field riding because of this support, especially if the horse trips. Professional Choice boots claim is that it absorbs 26% of the impact from the hoof and as much as 45%. The testing was performed at Oklahoma University. I have successfully used sport medicine boots after my horse's torn suspensory (an injury result from sinking in deep sand footing when landing from a jump), it seemed to help with recovery.

Consider cold hosing or wrapping after a really hard workout. This may help in recovery. Just like people who train for triathlons or running whom religiously do hot/cold treatments and compression socks. There is actually compression socks for horses!

Another human athlete practice is stretching and application of pain relief ointments for example using icy hot on humans (don't use on horses). A similar practice may be performed before/after on your equine athlete. Vetrolin is similar to the human version of icy hot. Post workout stretching is the key to any athlete and I am surprised not more horse owners stretch their equine friends. Here is an extensive list of stretching techniques.

 

 

Ask your horse to move round. Don't let him invert and load his front legs with shock. Again, just like human runners, you want to practice good form to prevent injury.

Horses are different, my older gelding likes the stability of the hard ground. He has arthritis, a coffin bone chip, and an old deep flexor tear all that happened in his earlier life of being an arena horse. Since he has been out on hard ground he has not had one lameness issue and goes great. He doesn't have any major structural abnormalities though, where my other horse does. The younger horse has a  club foot and sometimes working him on the hard ground intensifies the short stride of the club foot. The intensity of riding on the hard ground really depends on the horse's body and it's condition overall. Young horses should be especially careful as their bone structures are still developing.

I think arenas are great, but I do think they may be overrated at times. The best asset of an arena is not having rocks or uneven terrain. Many people create an arena that is too deep, which may cause lameness due to stress on ligaments and tendons. The horses that need to be most careful on hard terrain would be those that are use to living and being worked on soft ground. Horses that are conditioned for the hard ground usually do okay. I believe to some level horse's were built for riding in a grassy field, it is their natural environment. We have conditioned them to ride in arenas, but we are also doing more then what they are built to do, like jumping. Bottom line is listen to your horse, support him the best you can, and be reasonable about the workload on hard ground.

Compression for horsies

How a human athlete recovers from hard work-out is an insight as to how we should care for our athletic equine partner.

I run and cycle, among other sports I have tried, compression socks are amazing! They work especially well when you are on your feet all day so consider for post-horse show work.  People use them during their workouts as well and boost their athletic performance, however, I think the key time to use is post-exercise to assist in recovery. 

Compression Socks Benefits:

• Improve circulation, therefore, improving recovery time
• The microfibers support the muscles in the leg, offering support and giving your muscles a break 
• Helps relieve pain
• Helps with edema and swelling
• Reduces the risk of blood clots and Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) 
• Helps with fatigue of muscles

2XU would be my choice in human compression socks, also they have compression items for other body parts like arms, full upper body, shoulders, full legs, and thighs.  Same with Equifit, which has compression items for other joints of the horse.

Human compression sock, comes in cute colors buy here

So if it helps with all that on humans, why wouldn't it help our best equine friend?!  Equifit seems to think so, they have a huge product line of compression type items that also emit mineral oil. Some riders use it after heavy work or during.  (people also wear compression socks during workout, but I personal feel like the difference is recovery so just throw them on after your ride).  It's the same thought concept as a standing wrap but these socks are more advance and will yield better results.

Another use for these would be to place under your brush boots to add extra protecting out on the cross country course, fox hunt, or hack through tall grass.  Also great for bed sore protection!

Gel Sock by Equifit

Recovery compression pumps would be a step up from just the compression socks, they provide all the benefits of the compression socks plus some.  In addition they assist in removing waste from the body (free radicals that form after heavy exercise) to aide in recovery.  Most pumps have a hand held or electronic piece that actually pumps you or your horse's legs.  They kind of slowly compression until hey are squeezing your left for about 1-2 minutes then release, then repeat again.  Very effective and relaxing.  

Recovery Pump For People

And the equine version, which also provides ice therapy (feasibly you could buy the equine version and use it on you!)

Equifit has ton's of other recovery and support products, so check it out.

Who uses these horse compression items, well some big names like Karen O'Conner, McLain Ward, Phillip Dutton, and much more!