Booting up for exercise :-)

SavingGrace

SavingGrace

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Do you boot up your horse for ridden work?

I boot up all round with premier equine sports boots and overreach boots on front. I add on knee boots to that if I am doing roadwork.
 
I dont do for the 3 welshys but as Goli's still unbalenced and a bit gangly he has bandages for flat work (doesn't jump yet) unless v.muddy then has boots on front.
For road work he has tendon and knee boots
 
I boot up youngsters for their first hacking, lunging and jumping experiences - just in case (and also good to teach them to carry stuff on their legs; you never know when you might need it), but then never boot up except for hi viz when hacking.

My reasons for not booting up are that I hack on variable terrain (good for the structures of legs & feet) and I don't jump high enough (over 3ft) or ride to a high enough level of dressage to require extra support.

I don't want to overheat fully functional structures!

I will boot or bandage an older horse if I feel extra support would be beneficial; e.g. for jumping or very long hacks and I also bandage with fleece for a while if a horse throws a split, mostly to prevent additional knocking.
 
i only really boot up if im hackingout or jumping, over reach boots and tri-zone brushing bootss for hacking and over reach boots and tendon boots for jumping. dont really bother for general schooling :)
 
yes, always over reach and fetlock, in the field both wear field wraps, no way in hell will or have i ever risked me horses legs just because i can't be bothered to put boots on or because i'm to ignorant to think nothing bad will ever happen.
 
I boot up when jumping. Depending on the terrain when hacking I will use knee boots but otherwise not usually.

Hi vis out hacking. :)
 
stroppy said:
yes, always over reach and fetlock, in the field both wear field wraps, no way in hell will or have i ever risked me horses legs just because i can't be bothered to put boots on or because i'm to ignorant to think nothing bad will ever happen.
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What an arrogant, ignorant and insulting post that is!
 
Depends! One of my horse's isn't the most careful when it comes to showjumping, so when i'm at home I never jump her with any boots on (although I use tendon and fetlock boots at competitions). On the other hand my other horse will turn himself inside out to leave the poles up, he is always jumped in tendon, fetlock and over reach boots (he has a big scar on his bulb of heal from a nasty over reach before I bought him). For flatwork I use brushing boots on the youngsters if they are unbalanced, but once they are established I tend to leave them off. For hacking I use brushing boots all round, and will put over reach boots on if i'm doing fast work. For XC I use Dalmar air cooled XC boots, with over reach boots.
 
Sanolly said:
I only boot up for XC and fast hacking. Otherwise no, and Stroppy nice to see you live up to your name :mad:
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Doesn't she just, Sanolly!

Stroppy, Dear. May I suggest you take a few minutes out of your life to watch this most amazing piece of film which another HHOer posted online.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj6ho1-G6tw

You might then appreciate what it's like to LIVE and take risks!

We're a long time dead....
 
My young lad has brushing boots on the front with over reach boots and sports boots on the back whenever he is ridden. He brushes his front feet, clips his back feet together and over reaches all the time and these are the only reasons he has boots on. We went out once in a bit of a rush with no back boots or over reach boots and he pulled a shoe off and cut his heel at the same time and had scuffed all his back feet. The boots fix these problems so he wears them.

Agree that life is for living ! We love galloping around a field with no breaks and then coming to a sharp stop when a duck flies over head :rolleyes:
 
stroppy said:
no way in hell will or have i ever risked me horses legs just because i can't be bothered to put boots on or because i'm to ignorant to think nothing bad will ever happen.
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Actually, some owners make a conscious decision not to boot in certain circumstances not because they are lazy, but because boots and bandages can cause their own problems. It is a case of wearing up the pros and cons for each individual horse.
 
I always boot my guy. I use the Equilibrium Trizone All-Sport boots, which are all meshy so no overheating, don't provide support, but protect against general knocks and bumps :)
He wears those for hacking and road work (they have reflective bits on them). For flat schooling and fast work I add over reach boots.
For show jumping (schooling and competition) he wears veredus or leather open fronts and fetlock boots, and over reachys.
For xc (schooling and comp) N.E.W fleece xc boots, or Premier Equine Air-cooled Eventing Boots all round, with over reachys. :)
I don't boot in the paddock, he is turned out 24/7.
 
Schooling - occasionally I will put bandages on
SJ - Tendon Boots
XC - Currently just use brushing all round
Hacking - knee boots, full set of brushing boots and obligatory hi viz leg bands.

I don't turn out in boots, I'd worry about over heating, rubbing etc and my horse is sensible when turned out.
 
depends entirely on individual horse~~is it unbalanced, does he brush or anything like and also type of work doing. fast,turning any work likely to risk striking into self then need protection. one of ours with old tendon injury is always bandaged but would never bandage others. another with an old over reach nasty scar always over reach boots and being a bit on clumsy side big boots all round. pony who forges and has over reached has her specially shortened over reach boots (otherwise she may tread on them). so it goes on~we work out who needs what and never use anything for sake of it or just for show except my daughter and her pink milton boots!!!
 
Niagara always has tendon and fetlock boots, bandages for dressage but I mostly hack so that's it. He has tendon/fetlock boots on for everything: general riding, hacking, schooling, jumping etc.
He has 3 sets, 1 for hacking etc. (so used and dirty), 1 set for lessons (nice pair) and then a leather set for competition.
Oh, and when hacking he has reflective spats around his tendon/fetlock boots :)
 
I used to have to boot up my SJ mare for everything, even on a sedate hack! I also had to put on her over reach boots for the field as she was always catching herself or pulling her shoes.

Then I took her barefoot.

Because of the ice on the roads, I did pop on some Westropp knee highs on her today as a preventative, but other than that, I have never had to boot her since she went barefoot and she no longer over reaches either.
 
I don't generally boot.

My horse isn't most careful jumping, so I don't always put boots on as when she did have them on, she taught herself that they don't hurt. She now gets them on occassionally so it's not a shock to have boots on at a comp.

When we finally go XC, she will have over reach and brushing boots on - as a precaution until I know how she'll go.

Hacking - I put her hi-viz boots on but nothing else as she doesn't need them!

It's all about what each horse requires, and I found Stroppy's response very uneducated in this to be honest!
 
No never, that's not to say I wouldn't with an accident prone horse but my reasons for my horse are

1. I find boots irritate legs espcially when hacking and conditions are muddy or gritty. Again for going through water and in sandschools with that silica surface that sticks to everything (seen some horrific mud fever type scabs and sores from boots and silica surface)

2. I belive in her learning not to knock into her self or brush. HOWEVER if she was prone to brushing or striking into herself of course I would boot accordingly.

3. she lives out and I would rather leave her legs alone (touch wood doing this, inc never brushing them in winter, has resulted in healthy legs). The last thing i want to do is put boots ontop of wet or muddy legs.

4. They often slip on my horse despite them fitting properly, generally this has been out hunting the first few times I tried them. I have again seen boots do more damage from slipping and the horse tripping, slipping or the boot cutting into them.
 
i put brushing boots and over reach boots on for my boy when hacking, schooling and for jumping he gets open front tendon/fetlocks on for jumping.)

Mostly because he is spooky and had clobbered himself leaping about before.

And he is very close behind, really base narrow and brushes a bit. When he was a youngster i had to put over reach boots on his hinds because he used to brush his back legs really low down, almost on the coronet band. I tried a sausage boot but it didnt work and only thing that did was over reach boots. So many people used to stop me and tell me i had them on the wrong feet!! I got sick of explaining!

But if he wasnt so spooky and didnt brush behind i wouldnt boot them up.
 
I boot up all round with brushing boots and over reach on the front , i look at it that for a few more mintes it could save an injury and as mine are all youngsters there legs are sill al bit all over the place, so boots for me are part of the course.
I dont on the couple of older ones.
 
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At work we boot up all round for everything down to going on the horsewalker!
At home, we boot up the pony because she brushes as shes unbalanced and green. My babies will be booted for the same reason and so they know what its like to have them on. All mine are booted for jumping.
x
 
My tb has woof wear brushing boots all round and over reaches on the front . Brushing as if he has a strop he tends to forget where his legs are and bashes himself and the over reaches are for the same reason when ridden but he also has them on in the field as he has a history of dismantling his own feet even though the new fabulous farrier says he doesn't need them anymore I can't quite bring myself to take them off :D
 
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