am i the only one who...

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buckybee

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doesn't put boots on my horse?? I'm starting to feel a bit crual!

I understand that sime horses do need boots but i think they are very over used. Knee boots are the worst, all our hunt wear them, knock all the walls down and then leave them for someone else to build back up! My horse has managed to hunt all season and team chased last week without a scatch so they can survive without being wrapped up in cotton wool!

So just wondering what people boot up for and what boots they have on and why?
 
Not all the time, but to be honest I do prefer them for lunging. They do wear the Hi Viz ones for hacking out when we remember to put them on. Also they wear them out SJ & XC.
 
I don't put boots on OH's cob. The old hunting mare only has boots on the front as she brushes but nothing on behind as she's wide. Ernie always has a set of boots and/or bandages though!
 
I have Tendon boots that I use when jumping, simply because April has had a tendon injury in the past.

Prior to that with all my others I just used over reach and competition boots for x-country.
 
Very rarely use boots, only for XC really and occasional for SJ if the ground is hard.

I used to be religious about it though and even T/O in boots but I can't be bothered now and i think it helps toughen up their legs if they are naked for hacking.
 
No i don't either! I hack, school and jump without.
I use brushing boots for xc in case he gets a scrape and i put tendon boots on show jumping depending on the surface we're on.
But generally, no i don't.
 
I guess it depends on the horse and it's build and amount of bone. I have never used boots but then I go for cob types with sturdy legs...one at each corner! My current horse is a Welsh D and he has megga strong leg with lot's of muscle covering them so I would not contemplate bothering with boots.
Some people have critisied me because I do all hacking and do not put knee boots etc on but I feel with my boy it is stuff a nonsence. He was not paying attention one day no matter how much I asked him to and he fell over on the road and went onto his knees on the tarmac road...I panicked but there was not a scratch on him and he just carried on as normal! When I started doing pleasure rides with varied going...stoney tracks, rutted, tree roots etc...he tripped up a couple of times and banged his knees, but soon learn't to pick his feet up as it hurts and did not do it again!
But that is just my horse and I have to admit some of these people that ride these horses with spindle like legs (no offence)...I can understand them needing a bit of protection because there is nothing there!
A friends TB horse fell on the road like mine did and completely mashed his knees..took ages to heel...perhaps that was bad luck, who knows...perhaps it is down to the type of horse and strength of it's skin and legs....
 
I put tendon boots on for jumping as I've seen a couple of horses (and owned one) that ripped the back of their tendons out whilst jumping, so for the strike pad at the back I'll keep wearing them.
 
I wouldn't even think of putting boots on for hacking or T/O, that is far too much effort!!

I does make me chuckle when i see people plodding along the road about 2 MPH with the whole lot on, knee boots, brushing boots, over reach boot....
 
Chloe has never worn boots - we can't get any wide enough to fit her legs anyway.

I always put over-reach boots on Meg, as she over-reached badly last year, and I'm terrified of it happening again. She wears brushing boots on her front legs when hacking and schooling as she's still very green and not sure where to put her legs sometimes.

Having had a horse in the past with a broken knee, if Meg did start stumbling then I would put knee boots on straight away. I even used to do equitation classes with my old mare, wearing her knee boots, much to the disgust of the judge
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Not as a rule but try to for lungeing if legs clean and dry - in winter don't like to boot up over gritty/muddy/wet legs and in summer don't think it is good to add to heat factor over the tendons. However, may get some new breathable boots for summer if can afford, for sj comps and ODE.
 
Mac wears medicine boots on his front legs as he has arthritis. Not sure wether they help him or not, but certainly haven't done him any harm. Dolly has never had any boots (apart from travelling boots) on.

Edited to add TB on my yard had a fall quite a few years ago and badly cut both knees. Ever since then, she has worn knee boots. Last year, she had another fall and as she fell she kind of slid on her knees. Knee boot shifted and she ripped open her knee again.
 
Yes it certainly depends on the type of Horse. Mine is an ISH and isn't really "Chunky" but he's got a fair amount of bone and lots of hair which i think gives him a little bit of protection.

If I had a TB I think i'd wear boots for hunting and maybe XC but they would have to manage without for everything else!
 
Most of mine don't wear boots. One pony has brushing boots and over reachies, but she is a clumsy clutz! If they go hunting they wear boots, but as a rule, no.
 
We don't normally put boots on but having just watched an acquaintance lose £8K on her horse through a tendon injury I am now more worried about it - to the point of changing his open-fronted tendon boots and brushing boots which he used to wear for XC for a set of Prolites which should be arriving shortly (open your wallet and repeat after me . . . . . )
 
For general exercise I used to only put on hind brushing boots - until last summer when I was doing a bit of fitness work and she struck herself on her (unprotected) foreleg and developed her first ever splint!

I used to think the less bootage the better as I don't believe in wrapping them in cotton wool. Now though, its brushing boots all round as I may have put paid to our showing chances by not bothering in the past.
 
I boot blossy up for everything. She brushes behind so they protect her legs. Also shes in medium level dressage training, so knocks are inevitable when asking for harder movements. She only wears over reach boots in the field tho.

Archie also wears boots for everything, including over reach boots (blossy only wears these in the field) same reason as bloss, because hes a competition horse and is training at around medium level at the moment. he wears over reach boots for schooling/hacking aswell because hes got a very big stride.
 
Eskadron tendons on the Front for schooling, hacking and turning out in. If a £40 pair of boots save a scrape I am happy.

Hb
 
[ QUOTE ]
Edited to add TB on my yard had a fall quite a few years ago and badly cut both knees. Ever since then, she has worn knee boots. Last year, she had another fall and as she fell she kind of slid on her knees. Knee boot shifted and she ripped open her knee again.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's similar happened to my horse, except the first time she fell on a stony track 3 miles from home. We were just getting going again, and she fell again due to an unrelated hind leg issue caused by her 2 months box rest.
She wasn't wearing a knee boot at the time because she was walking round the school, and 'what are the odds of it happening again'
crazy.gif

She was a TBxID, so had quite solid legs as well. It made a real mess, and she was lucky not to have been pts from it.
I was paranoid about using knee boots for any sort of ridden work after that
frown.gif
 
I always boot for much the reasons P_G has already said.

He wears eskadron wraps and polo bandages all round for schooling as their is always a risk of them banging themselves or brushing in some movements.

For lunging its either bandages again or brushing boots all round. He can be silly on the lunge and has an active hindleg so its a precautionary measure.

Sometimes he's turned out with boots on... sometimes not.
 
I have never ridden either of my 2 current horses without boots except during a dressage test. They wear woof boots with relfective straps for hacking, woof boots for general schooling, prolites with over-reach boots for hunting and xc, and tendon and fetlock boots for sj.
 
Can't be bothered with boots for everyday - they are nasty & muddy, & they must be irritating to the horse. You know how irritating it is when your bra strap falls down - I've always thought that wearing boots must be a bit like that. I've only used boots for everyday on a horse that brushed really badly.

I use open fronted tendon boots in front for sj with the ankle boots at the back. Hi viz wraps for hacking. Always baffled by xc - don't do it much as no brakes, know my sj boots aren't adequate but don't know what else to use!!
 
I put them on for hacking, only because I usually jump solid jumps on hacks and do some fast work. I will put them on for jumping aswell. Also put them on in the summer if working on hard ground.

I believe that using them all the time can weaken the legs so more chance of injury if you forget to put them on.

I think it depends on the horse, my old horse would be lame if he had the slightest knock so used to always wear them.
 
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