Boots for big lads and ladies?

[Hovis_and_SidsMum]

For those of you who have bigger horses can i ask where you get boots etc from?
Hovis is a Clysedale X and his legs are HUGE (with the feathers taken off)!! We managed to borrow some boots this weekend for when we put him in with the boys but they belong to someone else, are years old and they can't remember where they got them from. Not another pair on the yard fitted!
He is an extra full in his bridle, will be a wide / extra wide in his saddle and has feet like soup plates.
Any ideas for boots for elephants?

 

[Honeybee]

Does he/she need boots?
Sorry not much help x

 

[fairhill]

Does he really need to wear boots?
If his legs are that big, they're probably very solid. We've never booted chloe (clyde x shire) partly because we haven't found any that fit her, but mostly because there is no point in using them on her.

 

[Hovis_and_SidsMum]

The lady we bought him off suggested when we are teaching him to jump it might be a good idea. He's only 4 and a bit clumsy and had kicked his own legs a few times. He's got such lovely clean legs I didn't want them marked up!

 

[Bettyboo1976]

I used to own 2 clydesdales and 1 was 18'2 and the other was 16'3 the best advice boot wise was to bandage, you can buy long bandages.. when travelling i used to use 2 bandages per leg..

 

[Fantasy_World]

I would most certainly ride and school him in boots regardless of his size and breeding. I have a clydesdale cross too ( bay in picture, stands at 16.3 hands and has a huge amount of bone). I can understand you wanting to protect his legs and even though your horse has a lot of bone too I think protection now when he is younger should help in the long term. Heavy bred horses are not light on their feet and despite having a good cannon bone circumference and strong legs they are not immune to leg problems in later life so I would always err on the side of caution.
I got Doug last year on loan ( permanent) and he is 16 atm. He came with a set of 4 brushing boots that do struggle to fit him as I don't clip his feathers. He measures around 10 1/2 inches around the front and 11 inches around the hind legs, or at least I think so from memory as I posted his sizes ages ago on here on another thread.
I have struggled to find boots for him to be honest.
He is also clumsy as well and has stiffness in his hind quarters at times especially now it is cold.
The boots that appear to fit him best are a pair of plastic padded and neoprene brushing boots that have an elasticated with velcro fastening. I think I got them along with another item for about £7 including postage from ebay. They offer protection against brushing but would not I imagine be very good for offering leg support such as tendon boots do.
I do have some tendon boots though which I got this year from ebay. I don't think they were a specific make.
The NEW make of boots seem to be fairly big, but sadly they didn't fit Doug, maybe because I don't clip feathers though as well.
Woof Wear xl boots also appear to be a generous size as well.
My tip would be to ask the manufacturers or people on here that have certain makes of boots what the internal and fastening measurements are so you can work out if they will fit his legs or not. Those with elasticated fastenings and or velcro seem to be a more generous fit that buckles and slide fastenings and I have yet to find a large pair of leather boots although that said I'm not prepared to pay a fortune for them.
Most of the boots I have bought and tried have been from ebay and luckily for me those which have not fitted the big lad have fitted Mcfly the cob because he has nearly as wide legs as Doug lol.
Before bidding on any boots on ebay I have always asked for measurements if not listed and asked for the maximum width they would fit, it does help. Also if you are looking for any hi vis boots for larger horses I can't recommend Airowear limelite boots enough. The fastening system is great because there is a large width of area for the velcro fastening to attach too. Easy to wash and can be wiped clean too. There was a lady on ebay selling them which I got 2 more pairs from ( already had one). They are called Airowear limelite endurance spats
But yes I agree not easy at all. You could try asking jessrulestheworld on here as she has a clydie cross called Pickle and may be able to offer advice as well as lady called Theresa F? I think?
good luck
Caroline

 

[Marnie]

I have terrible trouble getting boots to fit my mare, if they go around her cannon bones, they are too long for her. I recently bought some Sportabac ones - HERE - and these fit her really nicely and were fairly reasonable price too. You can also get them plain black.

Good luck!

 

[Blizzard]

I had a bit of nightmare finding boots to fit mine!

Beau has 10 and a half inches of bone, but the extra large size in the Equilibrium stretch and flex boots fit him, and they are long enough, most boots come up too short for his 17.3hh frame LOL:

Ive tried many other brands and hardly any were wide or long enough.

the WW 5 strap ones are also good!