Anyone else use knee boots all the time for hacking?

Holly Hocks

Holly Hocks

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I had a nasty incident today when my 14hh NF x cob went down on the road. She had a little spook on a downhill bit of road and she ended up skidding on both knees, taking the hair off both knees and grazing them. I've cold hosed and put antiseptic spray on and turned her out to keep her moving. No immediate lameness but I suppose I'll know more tomorrow.

This has spurred me on to buy some knee boots (I ordered some Caldene ones) as I'm worried about it happening again. I never ever use boots on my horses, but I don't want this to happen again. Does it seem excessive to use knee boots all the time for hacking or do others do the same?
 
Have never used knee boots on any of my horses and we do a fair bit of road work. My horse is 22 and in 18 years I think he has stumbled (forwards) twice on the road. Only once ever coming down. He has come down sideways when I didn't realise I had lost a road stud in one hind shoe. That was not nice and resulted in a broken collar bone for moi!

Unless your horse stumbles/slips a lot (in which case I'd want to look in to the reasons why) then I wouldn't dash out and buy knee boots. However, each to their own and some people boot up all round for the steadiest of hacks.
 
I never hacked my boy out without knee boots in the 7 years I had him. I was taught to always use them when I was a child and always vowed I would use them when I had my own ! Lots of people thought I was nuts but I don't care.
 
ladyt25 said:
Have never used knee boots on any of my horses and we do a fair bit of road work. My horse is 22 and in 18 years I think he has stumbled (forwards) twice on the road. Only once ever coming down. He has come down sideways when I didn't realise I had lost a road stud in one hind shoe. That was not nice and resulted in a broken collar bone for moi!

Unless your horse stumbles/slips a lot (in which case I'd want to look in to the reasons why) then I wouldn't dash out and buy knee boots. However, each to their own and some people boot up all round for the steadiest of hacks.
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That's the thing - I'm not a boot person at all. I have a very spindly legged self-harming TB and she has never worn any boots either. However I think I might use them for a while, just in case it happens again. It's got to be cheaper than a vet's bill!
 
I always tend to ride out with knee boots with youngsters when they first start on roadwork as they are more likely to slip. But then they come off after a few weeks, once they have learnt to keep their footing and their balance improves, etc.

With your horse, this sounds like it might have been a one off - apologies if I'm wrong. I wouldn't worry about riding out in knee boots all the time as your pony is probably not likely to fall on a regular basis and you don't want her to get reliant on them. If the slipping/tripping becomes a regular thing then it's something to look at as there could be something underlying causing the problem- I'm sure it's nothing though. But for now, I would carry on as you always have and maybe use the boots if you know you'll be going somewhere that she's like to slip.

Hope she's right tomorrow :)
 
It's a golden rule that ours never go on the road without knee boots, especially with the advent of this new 'tarmac' that is very slippery.

We had our biggest lad go down on his knees after losing grip on this surface when he spooked. The damage to one of the boots was unbelievable, but both knees were undamaged and all he suffered was a degree of stiffness for a couple of days and a few grazes where he went onto his side.
 
Holly Hocks said:
Does it seem excessive to use knee boots all the time for hacking or do others do the same?
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???????

Of course it's not excessive, our horses always use knee boots when they're hacked out, it prevents or minimises serious injury should they stumble & go down. It matters little if the horse rarely stumbles, they've only got to do it once & the damage has been done. I've seen horrendous knee injuries on a horse who stumbled & that owner said that he's never done it before. Expensive vet bills, horse being rested, worry etc all because knee boots weren't worn.........it's not worth not having them.
 
A horse will never become reliant on boots. They either move well and correctly or they don't. The most balanced, schooled and attentive horse can still trip or be spooked and end up skidding across the tarmac.

None of mine leave the yard without knee boots. If a horse is unfortunate enough to stumble on the road it is highly unlikely his knees will escape unblemished for life. Broken knees immediately wipe a lot of value off the horse and are unsightly. Serious damage is likely and big bills.
 
Ladyinred said:
It's a golden rule that ours never go on the road without knee boots, especially with the advent of this new 'tarmac' that is very slippery.
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Have to say I totally agree with the above - going out hacking without knee boots to me is like going out without wearing a hat.

A really decent pair of knee boots costs far less than a vet bill for injured knees, they take two seconds to put on and never get in the way.

Why would you not use them
 
Prevention is better than cure. I hack my horse out with boots all round, she has brushing boots behind and the Westropp Brushing/Knee boots in front. She was only 4 in May, here she is sporting her usual hacking get up

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I'm another who never leaves the yard without knee boots. It simply isn't worth the risk.

I can't understand why you wouldn't wear them for road work.

Our lanes are steep and can be slippery I have seen what can happen if a horse has a simple slip or trip and don't want that to happen to mine. It is a total no brainer to me, like wearing a riding hat when you ride or a seat belt in the car.
 
I always always use knee boots!

Why? Because knees are not only so easy to damage BUT also the simplistic of slips can cause horrendous damage to the knee and as its the knee joint it is impossible to keep straight to allow even simple cuts to heal well

I've seen horrible knee injuries from a simple slip that have then taken 12 months or more to heal
I've also seen simple scrapes take several months to heal. Leaving nasty scaring

Just not worth the risk
 
Thank you everyone - I don't feel so silly now. The pony is young (4) and unbalanced still. She was backed last year, given a few months off and is coming back into work now. I want to spend the summer/autumn hacking out and then start schooling over winter when I can't hack out. Our lanes are also quite steep in places. I think it's important to get her out hacking and she happily goes out alone or in company - a real little honest sort. Hopefully the boots will arrive early next week and I will start using them. I might even use them on the TB even though she has never slipped. Yesterday really opened my eyes as to how vulnerable they really are!
 
I had a horse go down on the road on her knees, over one month box rest and very big vet bill. Knees are very hard to heal as you cant stitch. She had never stumbled before or since and now I would never go out without them. It only takes a few seconds to put them on, and like wise it only takes a few seconds to slip on the road and do serious damage which is completely preventable with knee pads
 
I hack without knee boots but only if I'm not doing road work - if we're on the roads then she has knee boots on every time. She has stumbled once or twice although I've been lucky enough that she's never gone down completely but it's simply not worth the risk to ride on roads without knee boots
 
Well, each to their own I guess. Non of ours have ever worn knee boots and that's over 20+ years of hacking horses out (regularly) on roads. we have lots of hills etc round us and no incidents of them falling on their knees. As said, my horse did a couple of stumbles (for various reasons) but didn't actually land on his knees. I do now ask to have road nails put in (fronts as well) and my horse has always had road studs in behind. I find road nails do make a difference and had them put in my youngster's fronts when he first started hacking out (he doesn't have shoes behind)
 
ladyt25 said:
Well, each to their own I guess. Non of ours have ever worn knee boots and that's over 20+ years of hacking horses out (regularly) on roads. we have lots of hills etc round us and no incidents of them falling on their knees. As said, my horse did a couple of stumbles (for various reasons) but didn't actually land on his knees. I do now ask to have road nails put in (fronts as well) and my horse has always had road studs in behind. I find road nails do make a difference and had them put in my youngster's fronts when he first started hacking out (he doesn't have shoes behind)
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Yes I always had road studs put into my last Tb's shoes as he was a nightmare slipping and they really helped - in fact I often wondered how I had managed for so long without them once I had them done. However this pony is unshod so can't do it. You're right, it probably was just a one off - unbalanced youngster incident, but I've bought these knee boots now, so may as well use them, just in case. In a way I feel the same as you in that I've ridden for 30 years and never had an incident where one has gone down on the road, but I think for the time being I might just feel a bit safer using them :)
 
I keep thinking of getting a pair of knee boots for Boyo, as he has stumbled a couple of times on the road - I think this thread had spurred me on to stop dithering and just get some!
 
I never go out without knee protection. I've seen an older horse go down once and literally had holes for knees, she wasn't ridden again. I use the combined knee brushing boots, as they don't slip down as unfortunately if they don't stay up they can become a hazard. Westropp are better (and cheaper) than the Caldene ones I find. Just not worth the risk for the price of the boots.
 
Had the same experience as you!! Terrifying.

Bought some knee boots but the horse hates them so going to get brushing boots with knee guards instead.
 
I also boot all round , Jeffries knee boots and premier equine sports boot on the front and brushing boots on the back .
but my horse is a unbalanced 5year old , I had a friend who competed big time in show jumping and she never wore boots at home
 
OP you just do what makes you feel comftable and at ease. knee boots wont harm your horse and you feeling uneasy hacking "waiting" for another slip will be picked up by your horse. another oerson hoping it was just a one off for you :) x
 
My bigger younger horse never hacks on Tarmac without his westropp knee/brushing boots. Older boy I must confess doesn't - he's generally very sure-footed and also had peculiar sized legs and they just don't fit - cob size slide down and pony are too short!
 
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...
 
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