Brushing /tendon boots for hunting - yes or no?

[Neddie123]

I would generally put brushing boots on a horse for jumping XC but not sure why more people don't do so for hunting..... Just a random question/observation really - do people not put them on due to the mud out hunting? Taking my horse out next week - horse has a tendency to cut himself without boots so not sure what's best....

 

[spacefaer]

I don't boot unless I absolutely have to. Getting mud/grit down boots which are worn for several hours can cause horrible rubs
If I do boot, I put furry lined ones on - I use Clarendon brushing boots - as what mud goes down them tends to be held by the fluff and I've never had a rub from them.
I'd never wear tendon boots - the pressure points from the straps could cause problems too

 

[palo1]

I would think that unless a horse has a particularly close action or other gait issue/vulnerability, hunting is best without boots. The rubs that can occur can be horrible and slipping boots can be dangerous! If I had to use boots I would also do as Spacefaer suggests -use v furry ones. Ideally though you would go without - legs/tendons can cool more easily and horses do learn to look after themselves. It is remarkable too how many boots can be lost in a day's hunting so choose those you can easily replace if you have to use them. The exception to the above would be the use of knee boots if you are routinely jumping stone walls (or blackthorn hedges) of course...

 

[millitiger]

Mine moves close behind and usually is booted all around.

However for hunting, he just wears a pair of sausage boots behind, electric taped over the buckles.

The risk of injury from grit or thorns under boots for hours is far worse, and more likely to occur, than a brushing injury out hunting.

 

[spotty_pony]

I used to boot him up all round but he then got a skin infection on back legs on front of cannon bones where the hair started to fall
Out where they had got too warm and sweaty. I now only boot him in front - and mostly because he has thickening around the annular ligament from an old injury so I don’t want him to knock it.

 

[ycbm]

Boots and hedges are asking for a very nasty fall when a twig gets caught down them, as I very nearly found to my cost the last time I ever used them.
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[palo1]

Boots and hedges are asking for a very nasty fall when a twig gets caught down them, as I very nearly found to my cost the last time I ever used them.
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Yes; I wouldn't use boots in hedge country at all though I would probably take out insurance so that any blackthorn incidents could be dealt with (joint flush etc) but I think people who are in stone wall country often use knee boots, which I guess are a different thing again.

 

[ycbm]

I have used boots in wall country on a horse they didn't rub. But in hedge Country it's too easy to do what my horse did, brushing the top of a large hedge, get a sizeable stick caught down the boot, which nearly brought him and me down before it snapped and released him.
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[palo1]

I have used boots in wall country on a horse they didn't rub. But in hedge Country it's too easy to do what my horse did, brushing the top of a large hedge, get a sizeable stick caught down the boot, which nearly brought him and me down before it snapped and released him.
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Eek. Not nice. I always try to avoid anything unnecessary, tack wise, for that reason! I once watched my OH nearly strangled as he hopped off to open a gate with a poorly fitting helmet - his young horse stuck the arm of a fulmer snaffle up the side of his head. Thankfully she didn't panic. If she had, the consequences don't bear thinking about...it is always vital to only use what is necessary and to ensure that that is properly fitted and used!!

 

[Goldenstar]

I avoid boots for hunters unless I really no choice .