Anyone else use knee boots all the time for hacking?

Always. Always always. It's not worth the risk. Prevention is better than cure and a horse with broken knees is not worth a fat lot. Not to mention it looks weird where the white hairs grow through :/ You yourself have experienced it now, if you are doing a lot of roadwork, see if going barefoot is an option (I'm aware its not for every horse) but they will have more grip without shoes on, even more than with road nails - never once have i had a barefoot horse slip on a road/concrete.
 
I have a h/w cob with very chunky knees, does anyone know if the sizing of the Westropp boots are 'true to size'? He does tend to bumble along at times & could trip up over a daisy so think knee boots may be a good plan!! ;-)
 
Always. Always always. It's not worth the risk. Prevention is better than cure and a horse with broken knees is not worth a fat lot. Not to mention it looks weird where the white hairs grow through :/ You yourself have experienced it now, if you are doing a lot of roadwork, see if going barefoot is an option (I'm aware its not for every horse) but they will have more grip without shoes on, even more than with road nails - never once have i had a barefoot horse slip on a road/concrete.

We already have no shoes - it was more of a trip over her own feet than a slip - but you're definitely right - my TB who is also barefoot and much older and more balanced has never slipped once. She can march down hills leaving shod horses behind! :)
 
I read this post yesterday and then went out for a ride.

My 5 yr old hasn't been out for a hack without his Westrop knee/brushing boots for over a year, he has had one fall in them, he is just abit of a stumbler.

I will never ever ride a horse on the road without knee boots. A lots of people laugh at Bud's 'Pvc thigh boots' but I dont care, they are for a reason.

Coming back to yesterdays ride, my horse wheres boots all round, westrop knee/brushing and over reach on front and brushing behind. My companions horses wear no leg/knee protection.
My y/o horse tripped coming down a hill, he slammed into the ground knees and chest got back up and went again onto the left knee.

Both knees gaping torn holes, horrible and will be awful to heal, plus the horse has black legs and the chance of white scaring is high.

Knee boots would of lessoned/avoided all damage to his knees, yet they 'look stupid' so owner wont put them on.

Well I think a horse with broken scared knees looks horrendous so much prefer mine wearing the boots.

Accidents happen, horses trip or are spooked or the tarmac is slippy and they can come down. Its like any safety precaution, we put our horses in situations that could cause them harm the least we can do is use simple steps to protect them!

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He has had the westrop ones for a year and they are going strong still, bought the caldene ones in a sale, they are fine and very smart! But Westrop ones fit better and are more padded I think...

Buds Mum you have made my final decision - knee boots for every hack from now on! :) I hope your YO horse's knees heal well.
 
I never ever hacked out without knee boots fitted (Westropps, the only ones that actually stayed where you put them) and had a couple of occasions to be grateful for it. I remember a friends pony being found in the field with a serious knee injury which wasn't a kick. We never did work out what he had fallen on but if a surface of basically rather long grass could produce damage like that, what is tarmac going to do? It just isn't worth the risk IMO. Incidentally, after my horse was retired due to arthritis she always wore them when turned out on frosty days, just in case she slipped on the frozen mud and went down (she couldn't bend her knees much so couldn't save herself).
 
Nope. Not used them once in over 40 years of hacking all sorts of equines over all sorts of going. Did have one pony trip and cut its knees when I was about 8 but to boot up incase one should trip again in another 38 years from now would (for me, personally) be a bit OTT.
 
I ALWAYS hack, school and jump in knee boots.

My boy's knees are basically just scar tissue from 2 previous falls so I vow never to ride or lunge without them. Mind you here in Australia they are virtually unheard of. I've never seen anyone else wear them at all. I had to shop online from the uk to find them. I'm planning to start a trend over here though! We get lots of comments and questions wherever we go.
 
I've never hacked in knee boots and I don't know anyone now or in my entire life who does but I have never had a horse go down onto his knees.

However I will now feel paranoid that perhaps I should put knee boots on................
 
I always hack out with knee boots. (I use Jeffries Knee Boots)

The SMA tamac that has been used for re-surfacing road surfaces can be extremely slippery for horses.

My horse once went down when they re-laid a zebra crossing with a new plastic surace and my horse slipped on them and went down.
 
I also love the Westropp ones, my old boy wore them all the time out hacking, and he was barefoot I just didn't want to take the chance after hearing about someone else's horse who went down on the road and destroyed its knees. He never went down, but I was happy in the knowledge he was safe if he did. They have lasted well and they will go on my baby wb when he starts hacking out.
 
Buds Mum you have made my final decision - knee boots for every hack from now on! :) I hope your YO horse's knees heal well.

Good i'm glad, I really do not think they are OTT, yes i am used to having them on for every ride, but I really dont think they look abnormal or strange...

Hope your girly heals soon too!!
 
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