Boots or bandages for dressage, or nothing?

tobiano1984

tobiano1984

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 February 2012
Messages
1,017
Visit site
As title really! I'm thinking of getting my horse some leg protection as we're doing more lateral work and fancy stuff in our schooling now, but not sure what's best or if its necessary at all! He's barefoot so not so worried about shoe related injuries. He's also quite chunky and is cobby so has hairy-ish legs (not traditional, just not a warmblood) so I'm thinking that sports boots/wraps won't fit and bandages will hear his legs too much?
He does have massive movement so my instructor thought it would be worth protecting to be on the safe side...
 
i tend to use bandages for dressage arm ups but more to keep her legs clean! i don't tend to use anything at home, sometimes a pair of brushing boots if i feel inclined to at the time of tacking up - sometimes tendon boots for jumping for the same reason as above!
 
Dan's legs are super woolly at the min as they aren't clipped & he's grown a coat fit for an ice age, but don't overheat in either boots or bandages. I use bandages most as they're easy to wash. I feel it's important to boot or bandage him even though he is barefoot, as he's very narrow & has always struggled a bit to keep his legs out of his own way. It only seems fair that I keep schooling as comfortable as possible for him & that means making sure he isn't constantly hurting his legs if he does knock them. It only takes me an extra 5 minutes so I can't grumble.
 
If he is inclined to brush or knock his legs then ventilated boots are the best of a bad bunch really, boots and bandages are both going to heat the legs and there is no avoiding that. If he doesnt brush then continue without anything - over-reach boots are the only thing I'd use if he has big movement.

A lot of dressage folk use bandages as they look pretty - I was at a clinic at Gareth Hughes' yard the other day when someone asked this exact question, he admitted he only uses bandages if he is trying to look fancy (i.e. in the warm up at a comp, at clinics etc), the rest of the time he uses boots.

You will have lots of varying opinions on this, and I myself have often used bandages because I am a sucker for matchy matchy....shame on me! But you cant really win, you either risk a knock without anything, or you risk damaging the tendons through overheating.

If he doesnt brush or tend to knock himself currently then its unlikely lateral work is going to change things, so I'd be inclined to go without if you can. Over-reach boots no issues there as they dont heat anything up, and I'd say if your horse moves correctly (i.e. straight) but just with a big movement then he should only be over-reaching anyway rather than brushing.
 
I used to wear nothing apart for dressage at home but that changed after a few knocks and scrapes. I used bandages occasionally but they were so annoying and I always worried if they were heating up her legs. However, I have now got a pair of white premier equine sports boots which are covered in holes for ventilation. I got them for 'tendon support' as my girl had a tendon injury a few years back and she has a tendency to knock herself when she is learning new movements, but mostly it is because I think they look so much smarter with a set of white boots on! Next will be the fluffy over reach boots!
 
I was quite happily doing lateral work on him <=== with no boots or bandages. He is also BF - so it was never an issue.

If I had too though, it would be boots for convenience over bandages.
 
Bandages...

Fig is a sharp little wotsit and does sometimes stand on himself, he's barefoot but I'd rather not take the risk. But he won't wear boots for flatwork (except soft sheepy ones).
 
I'm in the bandages camp too, one of mine can have hooligan moments when the mood suits him. They give the best coverage overall in my opinion and when I take them off, his legs are never hot.
 
If you are on Facebook, have a read of Peter De Cosemo - Equestrian, he has a bunch of blog posts and one of them is to boot or not to boot, it totally changed my mind on booting, I was always in the why bother camp, now I boot apart from comp days!

I still couldn't be bothered with bandages.
 
I use equilibrium stretch and flex flatwork wraps. They look like boots but are soft and stretchy and they don't have the bit that goes around the fetlock.
They give the support of a bandage but the convenience of a boot. Plus they are ventilated and keep everything cool.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top