What is strapping? you may well ask. Well, I wasn't too sure either. I had heard about it, but still I wasn't sure exactly what it involves. In reading David Stubbs's book, In Tom's Footsteps, I was fascinated by a story he told about strapping:
"We boarded the Windsor Castle in April 1956. Willie (David's horse, Willie Waterloo), in his small crate that he could not turn around in, was hoisted on to the ship's deck. I kept Willie on a diet of tef and an occasional bran mash, and spent a good hour twice a day giving him a good old-fashioned strapping with a straw whisp."
The method
"Starting from behind the ears," writes David, "I worked down the neck, shoulders, forearm, across the back to the quarters, second thigh and gaskin. I lifted and stretched his legs. This routine kept me very fit and I am sure it did Willie the world of good. He lost no muscle – in fact he put it on – and we jumped at our first show two weeks after arriving in England."
If one considers that those trips by ship lasted a minimum of two weeks, it really is rather incredible to think that a horse could arrive on the other side, after such an extended period in a space where he had no freedom of movement, without muscle wastage. What is more unbelievable is that he should do so with even bigger muscles than he left with!
I was determined to learn more about strapping, what it involves and how it is done, as in my mind I could see endless possibilities for maintaining horse's muscles during illness, injury and periods of box-rest. I spoke to David when I next saw him and asked him a little about strapping.
Stroking and beating
In days gone by, when people had more time to spend with their horses, "strapping" a horse after exercise was common practice. It involves twisting a "whisp" out of straw (a folded towel works just as well) and rhythmically beating a horse's muscles, putting your weight behind it. This is followed by a stroking action, before starting the rhythmic beating again. Gradually move along the horse's body, rhythmically working his neck, back and quarters.
This action causes the muscle being strapped to tense, or contract and relax. It is a little like those machines that are advertised on TV to build your body without exercise! It works on the principle that an electric impulse is sent to the muscle, causing it to contract and relax in a rhythm. This helps to strengthen and build muscle tissue, tone it as well as keep it supple, just as when that particular muscle is being exercised.
In the case of strapping, instead of the muscle reacting to an electrical impulse, it is merely reacting to the manual stimulation. Apart from working on the muscles themselves, however, it also improves blood flow to the skin, keeping the coat healthy and glossy.
In practice
Afraid that some horses may not like the slapping sound and become frightened or panic, I tried it on a few horses, including my own. None of them seemed upset by it – in fact, they really seemed to enjoy it! And as David said in his book – it gives you a good workout too.
Some people even claim that if a horse has muscle wastage somewhere in his body, due to an injury or some such, that strapping can be used on just that particular muscle to help build it up. For instance, if a horse has had a leg injury and he has constantly favoured the one side of his body, it may very well be that the muscles on the other side have become atrophied.
Together with exercise, strapping can be used to help build that muscle faster than only exercise would.
