LED treatment points, poll to hoof
Knowing where to place the system is most of the skill. A horse's body is a chain: tension in the poll shows up in the shoulder, a sore hindquarter changes how the back is carried, and a leg that has been protected for a fortnight has already sent work somewhere else. Treating the area that hurts is a reasonable start. Treating the area that is compensating is often what actually helps.
This is a zone-by-zone guide to the nine areas we are asked about most — what each one does, what tension there tends to look like under saddle, and how LED treatment is applied. It is not a diagnostic tool. It is a way of reading your horse more precisely before you decide where the light goes.
Reading the horse before you treat
Spend a minute with your hands before you spend ten with the system. Run both hands down the neck, over the shoulders, along the back and down each leg, in the same order every time. You are not looking for a diagnosis — you are looking for asymmetry, heat, and the places your horse would rather you did not touch today.
Then watch the warm-up. Where the horse is short, stiff or reluctant in the first ten minutes tells you more about where load is landing than any single palpation does. If something is consistently sore, involve your vet rather than treating around it.
Treat the area that hurts. Then ask what has been quietly doing its work.
Nine treatment zones, poll to hoof
Each zone below contributes something specific to movement, balance and comfort — and each shows tension in its own way.
Poll
Just behind the ears, at the top of the neck. A sensitive area containing nerves that influence head and neck carriage and suppleness through the whole body. Tension here restricts movement and shows as resistance to flexion or a horse that will not soften.
LED treatment helps release tightness and supports a more balanced, relaxed posture. Wrap72 · 5–10 min.
Neck
Connects head to shoulders and governs balance, alignment and flexibility. Tension here limits the horse's ability to engage and flex through the body, and often appears as a one-sided stiffness the rider feels long before anyone sees it.
Supports reduced muscular tightness and smoother, more elastic movement. Wrap108 · 5–10 min.
Shoulders
Essential to stride length, mobility and balance. Tightness or soreness restricts forward motion, and because the shoulder has no bony attachment to the trunk, it absorbs a great deal of what the front legs meet.
Supports release of tension and a freer, more comfortable stride. Stifle Wrap or Wrap108 · 5–10 min.
Chest
Supports the forehand and the mechanics of breathing. Tightness affects stride rhythm and symmetry and tends to create compensatory strain elsewhere — often in the neck or the opposite shoulder.
Supports muscle relaxation and freedom of movement through the front end. Stifle Wrap · 5–10 min.
Topline
Runs from poll and neck through withers, back and loin to the croup. A strong, supple topline is what allows a horse to carry a rider and engage the hind end. Tension here shows as stiffness, poor posture or work that has quietly become flat.
Supports relaxation, better engagement and posture. Wrap108, Pad or Sheet for full coverage · 10 min.
Hindquarters
The engine — propulsion, power and balance. Strain or tightness limits performance and creates uneven movement that the rider often reads as a front-end problem.
Supports muscle recovery and more powerful, balanced movement. Pad, Sheet or Wrap108 · 10 min.
Stifles
Complex joints central to hindleg movement and engagement, and prone to strain, inflammation and locking. Problems here limit stride and power, and often appear first as a horse that struggles to step through behind.
Supports joint health and smoother, more stable hindleg movement. Stifle Wrap · 5–10 min.
Legs
Bear weight and absorb impact, which makes them the most exposed structures on the horse — tendons, ligaments and joints all take repeated mechanical load, session after session.
Supports circulation and tissue recovery. The everyday zone for performance horses. Wrap72 · 5–10 min.
Hooves
Everything above them depends on them. Bruising, abscesses and laminitis cause significant pain and limit movement quickly, and hoof balance quietly determines how the whole limb loads.
Supports circulation around the hoof structures. Wrap72, positioned low · 5–10 min.
Session lengths are general guidance. For a specific injury, follow the routine agreed with your vet — see LED treatment for horse injuries for condition-by-condition detail.
Where to start
Most owners try to treat too much at once and stop within a fortnight. Two zones done daily beats six done occasionally.
Choose the zone that carried today's work, and one that is compensating for it.
Position the system directly over the area, with the straps snug enough that it stays put through the session.
Five to ten minutes per zone. Longer is not better — repeated is better.
Before work for circulation and suppleness; after work for recovery. Both, if the routine allows it.
Keep the same order every day, so a change in how the horse responds registers as a change.
The same principle in every zone
Wherever it is applied, LED treatment does the same thing: red and infrared light stimulates cellular activity and supports local circulation in the tissue beneath it — the biological processes involved in recovery and tissue maintenance. What changes from zone to zone is depth, and depth is governed by wavelength.
Shorter red wavelengths act on more superficial tissue; infrared reaches deeper structures such as muscles, tendons and joints. Our systems carry both, alternating, so a single session covers surface and depth together.
Every second row emits infrared to ensure deeper tissue penetration. No blue light. Adjustable straps hold the system stable on the target area, and the modular design lets multiple systems be connected to cover larger zones such as the topline.
Matching the system to the zone
Which system fits depends on which zones you treat most often, and how large an area you want to cover in one session.
Wrap72
Legs, joints and hooves — fetlock, knee, hock. The everyday choice for the lower limb.
Wrap108
Neck, larger muscle groups and extended coverage where one wrap is not enough.
Stifle Wrap
Stifle, chest and shoulders, and back — shaped for the areas a leg wrap cannot follow.
Pad
Large-area coverage across the back and hindquarters when the topline is the priority. From 18 990 kr.
Sheet
Full-body coverage in a single session, for yards treating several zones daily. Purchase only.
For output power, LED counts and the technical comparison between systems, see the guide to choosing the right system →.
You don't have to buy to begin
Our rental programme lets you start with the right system and see how it fits your horse and your routine, with no deposit, no minimum period and no binding commitment. If you decide to keep it, up to three months of rental is credited toward the purchase. Rental is available for the Wrap72, Wrap108 and Stifle Wrap.
This guide describes where LED treatment is commonly applied and what it supports. It is not a diagnostic tool. Persistent soreness, heat, swelling or lameness in any zone needs veterinary assessment — LED treatment supports natural recovery processes and does not replace diagnosis or treatment.
Common questions
How many areas can I treat in one session?
As many as you can do consistently. In practice, two zones treated daily achieve more than six treated when there is time. If you regularly need to cover large areas such as the topline and hindquarters, a larger system covers them in a single session rather than several.
How do I know which area to treat?
Start with the zone that carried today's work and the one compensating for it. Hands first — asymmetry, heat, and areas the horse would rather you avoided — then what you felt in the warm-up. Anything persistent should be assessed by your vet rather than treated around.
How long should each treatment point be treated for?
Typically five to ten minutes per zone. Larger muscle areas such as the topline and hindquarters sit at the upper end; joints and the lower limb at the lower. For a specific injury, follow the routine agreed with your vet.
Can the systems be used on the head or near the eyes?
The poll is treated behind the ears, at the top of the neck — not on the face. Keep the system away from the eyes, and if your horse is uncomfortable with anything placed high on the neck, build up to it gradually rather than insisting.