I took a train journey this morning and noticed some horses in a field that were wrapped in cloth from head to hoof. Eyes and ears were covered and they were kneeling/lying down, while other horses in adjacent field were not wrapped and frolicking around, as you do.
What was that about? Were they new additions to the herd that needed to be protected from sensory overload or was there a proper reason for wrapping them up? This was in North Yorkshire, in case it makes a difference.
Maybe this explains it. Seen it, but don’t know why it’s done.
Without pics, it’s hard to say what you saw. Some body coverings are used to keep flies off. The un-covered horses could be animals that were ridden more recently, for example. Sometimes people cover horses that are clipped and don’t cover horses that are clipped.
Or it could be that sensory thing, which I have to say I have never come across in 40+ years of dealing with horses, and that includes knowing people who used horse psychics. Which isn’t to say it’s not a thing, because clearly it is. :dubious:
I found a picture. Seemed to me like the wraps were even tighter, but this was pretty close to how they looked:
Sorry, for some reason the link only works if you copy the whole address and paste it into your browser.
Maybe it’s a cult thing. Were the horses… Arabians? shh-boom
Googled horse body wrap and found this… perhaps they’re fans of Mexican wrestling?
This link should work: http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb22/robsissons/Kent%20photos/WrappedUpHorse.jpg
and it is quite similar to Ethilrist’s image, so I guess the Mexican Wrestling connection is my current favourite explanation, closely followed by the cult thingy.
In Canada, a horse with eyes and ears covered is probably wearing a fly mask to keep flies from landing on their face and bothering the horse. The masks are mesh and the horses can see through them.
Body covers may also be to protect from biting flies, or keep the coat from getting sun bleached, or keep the horse clean if he rolls, or to keep him warm/dry if it’s rains.
That looks like fly protection. The head covering is definitely a fly mask, and the neck/body cover look like a flysheet with a neck extension. Horses generally do a pretty good job of keeping flies off of themselves, but if there are a LOT of flies or if the horse is really being annoyed by flies or if the horse is abnormally sensitive to fly bites, it makes sense to use some protective gear. There are also leg coverings available for horses who need even more protection.
It could also be for sun protection. Horses with pink-skinned and light-colored hair are susceptible to sunburn. Some breeds (Arabians in particular) are susceptible to melanoma, and sun protection may prevent the onset or progress of the disease.
ETA: When you said “wrapped in cloth from head to hoof” I thought you were going to describe something like these. They’re popular for keeping a horse’s coat neat and clean between the time you prep it for a show and the time you actually show it, since most horses are masters at getting themselves filthy when it’s most inconvenient.
Yeah, you’re seeing a rugged horse wearing a fly veil or mask. These don’t impede movement. You could just as easily have seen the naked horses “frolicking around, as you do.”
Yup, fly sheets and masks. And the wrapped up ones were comfortable enough to want to lie down for a snooze, which only happens when a horse feels safe and un-bugged 
Supposed to increase your or change your kinesthetic sense and change your biomechanics. For example if your prone to hamstring injury they would tape you one way, knee injuries a different way.These wraps were very popular in pro football for a season, half the team would wear them down in Australia.I’m not sure about the effectiveness as most players don’t bother anymore.
The brightly coloured kinesthetic tape has probably placebo benefits as part of an athlete’s preparation but I’m not aware of any studies that show substantial beneficial effects over and above standard techniques.
Of course athletes are superstitious and the tape is brightly coloured so they’ll likely give it a go and confirmation bias takes over from there.
