HI,
I used to not believe in wrapping at all, even when traveling. But as I started talking to more and more people (mini and big horse people) I kept hearing about all the leg problems people got while trailering, and even while being worked (just even on the lounge). One horse I remember cut himself almost all the way to the bone because he just did one simple buck on the lounge and stepped on himself with a hind leg. My roommate has a Fresian stallion in training for dressage, who has tough legs, but his problem is that each leg goes every which way when he moves. He is outside in a huge pasture all day with hills and such, and he still has balance problems and knocks himself with his legs. While I do agree, keeping them inside all the tme or in a small 12 X 12 turnout is counter productive, and doesn't help them at all one bit. When I look at the mini world, yes, we don't have as many injuries regarding pulled suspensories and such, I also look at how 95% of these guys go -- on their forehand. Hardly any of them actually are trained to use their hind ends correctly, and so while they are stressing their front legs more, they don't have enough impulsion to really cause problems. With the ones that are working off their haunches, and overreaching with the hindlegs, AND pulling at the same time, I really hope that some measure is being taken to protect the legs. What really bothers me also, is that these little guys are asked to pull us around on uneven grass/dirt/sand or whatever, unbalanced and sometimes at a speed in which all they do is throw their little legs around in order to be either "high stepping" or "flashy". While I know there are a lot of people who are learniing to do the dressage, and how to balance the horse correctly, there are still all the trainers who just go for flash. Looking at all of our national winners, and how so many of them have poor leg confirmation (i.e. cow hocks. sickle hocks, toed out/in), which also adds stress to the legs and tendons.
Sorry for going on about this. I just wanted to explain my reasoning for wrapping and why i think it's so important. Not trying to say that anyone is wrong, and like i said, I used to not wrap my minis at all, but the more I read, I just do it for protection. I have seen a few minis who just had that one day where they were a little fresh out of the pasture and really smacked themselves on their legs, and have hurt themselves pretty good.
Anyways, again sorry for it being such a long post.
amanda