Do you boot or bandage for schooling or hacking?

Casey76

Casey76

Well-Known Member
Joined
16 July 2011
Messages
3,651
Location
North East, UK
Visit site
And does it make a difference if your horse is shod or not?

Just wondering really...

For flatwork I generally don't boot or bandage, for polework or jumping I'll use open front tendon/brushing boots on the front and for hacking it depends on where we're going to go - fields and tracks naked, through the forest I'll boot the front legs.

But... my mare is a very 'leg at each corner' type, and doesn't interfere or brush.

My young horse is still quite narrow across the chest and has huge feet so I'll probably boot all round when he starts doing baby work - at least until his proprioception improves.

I do like the look of bandages/polo wraps though - I'm just not too sure about using them constantly if they're not needed for any particular purpose.
 
Mine wears open fronted tendon boots for sj and prolites all round for xc.

for general schooling, hacking and polework he has naked legs.
He moves well and straight so don't see why he would need boots for everyday riding and I'd rather limit how much his legs are covered up.
 
Never anything for schooling (unless I want photos taken and then some white bandages - yes, I'm that sad!), nothing for SJ at home, very rarely some PE XC boots for hacking if I know there's going to be lots of fastwork, and same boots for XC.

He doesn't brush and has good strong legs, so I'd rather keep him as au natural as poss.
 
Only for photos! I use knee boots and brushing boots for hacking if I think it's necessary (route dependent and how likely it is to prat about!). SJ it varies depending on horse and what I'm doing, xc I do boot up not that I'm doing much of that atm.
 
In this weather just over reach for hacking, over reach & Equilibrium airlight tendon boots with a sausage boot on each hind for flatwork and add a pair of fetlock boots for jumping (minus the sausage boots).

When it's cooler I use over reach and Equilibrium brushing boots all round for flatwork but I'm paranoid about over-heating tendons. Unfortunately pony is the clumsiest animal alive so she wears over reach and sausage boots for turnout too.
 
Usually wears brushing boots in front if hacking but if schooling he also wears back brushing boots if I'm planning to do lateral work.
Xc front and back boots and sometimes cheap rubber over reach (easy to replace) and for sj nothing :)

At dressage comps just warm up with nothing on legs, as his legs are white the white bandages would make his legs look dirty :p
 
To me, bandages offer padding, which is (again, only in my opinion) better for when your horse is likely to bump it's legs, rather than strike them. So Dan wears bandages usually, as they're more padded, and that way I don't have to listen to the 'swoosh-swoosh' noise that hard shelled boots make when he brushes, which annoys the hell out of me :o He's noticeably more confident being ridden in bandages or boots if schooling especially. He's a super narrow horse, it seems only fair to him really. He wears boots to jump.
I wont automatically boot/bandage the others though, older pony gets boots for hi-viz purposes & as close/wobbly behind, youngster will learn about them for hi-viz and in case I think he needs them in green situations! Sure, occasionally they have to learn to unknot their own limbs, but if I'm going to ask them to do something, I don't want them to be accidentally punished for it if they knock themselves.
 
Twiglet said:
Never anything for schooling (unless I want photos taken and then some white bandages - yes, I'm that sad!), nothing for SJ at home, very rarely some PE XC boots for hacking if I know there's going to be lots of fastwork, and same boots for XC.

He doesn't brush and has good strong legs, so I'd rather keep him as au natural as poss.
Click to expand...

same here - down to bandaging for photos! :L i used to boot/bandage for everything but got lazy/realised they didnt do much most of the time!
 
I always used to use brushing boots for hacking but don't tend to now unless I'm doing fast work.

Tend to always bandage for flat work.

Tendon/fetlock/OR boots for jumping

Brushing boots all round and OR on front for XC
 
Bandages for schooling, jumping and lunging, though if I am in a hurry or she is being a spooky nightmare to tack up, I currently just put brushing boots on all four as I am six months pregnant so not the safest to be trying to bandage the legs of a large 16.3 mare whilst she is hopping about breathing like a dragon lol! I never really used to bother with anything, but she is having a lot more asked of her now my instructor is schooling her and doing some jumping with her, plus she is 13, a big girl, and has super clean legs for her age so want to keep it that way now.

I have actually just done something which would be unheard of for me previously (I blame pregnancy hormones) and treated myself to some Lauria Garelli matchy matchy...
 
I haven't in the past as I'm very aware of heating the legs and keeping them as cool as possible but always boot current horse, in front and behind for all riding. When I first got her she had a buck on the lunge and knocked herself on her hind cannon bone (only had front boots on)- her whole leg swelled like an elephant and I vowed I would boot her from then on. I use open fronted Trizone Airlights on the front and air vented PE on the back for general riding and jumping at home and vented PE all round with o/r boots for XC. She's a TB and a real sweller if she bangs herself so I'm careful now and think better safe than sorry.

I wouldn't ever bandage for exercise (heat issue) and wouldn't use fur lined boots as these hold in the heat.

That's just me and I have no issue with others riding with naked legs :)
 
Depends in the horse. My Connemara isn't booted for anything apart from overreach boots, which he wears for everything. He needs to feel poles if he wacks them.

My welsh dx Tb is usually booted all round with brushing boots for schooling. Overreach boots too for hacking, Tendon boots for jumping. He's a bit more precious, and hates hurting himself!

I will use bandages if I'm having a lesson and want to look a bit smarter or if I'm having pictures taken - vain I know.
 
My mare moves close behind, so she will always have something on her hind legs for everything. We have WW reflective club boots that get used most of the time.

I often bandage for schooling and for lessons. Earlier this year her WW boots rubbed her on her hinds for the first time ever, so I went back to bandages for everything for a couple of months, as I didn't want to make the rub any worse.

Jumping & XC is brushing boots all round & OR boots.
 
Mine gets tendon and fetlock boots on if I'm having a jumping lesson, and will get them on if out competing.

Will also have a set of xc boots on all round when we go xc comps/schooling.

Don't put boots on for hacking or schooling. I've had brushing boots on all round when there was the potential for horse to be silly on a hack but never materialised so took them off her
 
Since reading this, I always boot, borrowed from Peter De Cosemo - Equestrian on Facebook:

To boot? Or not to boot? Is that the question?

For me there isn’t even a question. For more than 25 years I have insisted that every horse I rode in training was booted all around. I know lot of amateur riders read pages like these to seek advice and information and so to all of you I say…here is my 10 cents worth.

Confidence; That is my number one reason for always wearing protective boots when a horse is being worked. My whole training program is all about understanding and confidence for the horses and I believe boots play a role in this. Especially hind leg boots. We ask our horses to do things he would NEVER normally do when in his natural state. We ask him to do dozens of transitions in one session. We ask him to go sideways in all paces, backwards and even up and down on the spot. All with the additional weight of a rider, who, in some cases is not even very well balanced.

Here is how I look at this. If for example I was going to learn how to roller blade, (God forbid!) I would instinctively be rather cautious, concerned about injury. However, if I was given padded gloves, elbow protectors, knee pads and back pad I would definitely be less worried about falling and my confidence level would rise a little. I would be much more willing to ‘have a go’ with slightly fewer concerns. I would have a little more confidence. I think this would be a good idea for novice dance partners too who inevitably end up with toes trodden on and kicked shins. Knee pads on ‘Strictly’? Oh probably not.

Now we have a novice horse and we are teaching something as simple as a turn around the forehand to the left. As he tries to work out what to do with his hind feet he kicks his right fetlock with his left hoof. (Keep in mind probably while wearing a steel shoe, rather like a knuckle duster)

“Ouch!” That goes through his mind, “Damn that hurt! I’m not going to try THAT again!”

If he was wearing protective boots I feel the discomfort will be much less and so less worry about trying something new. Used regularly you will soon see some horses actually wear through the material of the hind boots. Can you imagine what he was doing to his own fetlocks? I know of one horse in the U.S. that I worked with for a long period and he regularly wore through his back boots within a few months. In the end I tried an experiment and had his hind shoes pulled. Amazing. Bigger strides, more confidently moving and most interestingly his piaffe became much more active.

Since I have been asking more and more of my students to use them several of them have commented;
“You know Peter, when I’m riding I can actually HEAR the boots brushing!”
I just raise my eyebrows questioningly as they quietly work out what had been going on BEFORE they used boots…..

It only takes a minute to put on a set of four boots, but it never ceases to amaze me the reasons (not excuses of course) that people give me for not wearing boots, none of which have convinced me to stop doing it and asking my students to. If people are REALLY honest it’s often because they just can’t be bothered. Imagine when we can’t ‘be bothered’ to wear a seat belt? Or can’t be bothered to wear a crash helmet?

Being quite well travelled I can assure you it is not only in the U.K. I hear the ‘reasons not to’. North America had some pretty creative ‘reasons not to’ as did some in Australia and other places. But my award for the ‘greatest reason NOT to wear protective boots’ comes from Iceland. The following conversation actually happened between one of my regular students and an apparently ‘well established’ Icelandic horse trainer.

My student was at one of the cities large riding clubs which had a very large indoor riding arena. She was quietly ‘booting up’ when said trainer was passing by and paused.
“So. You are putting those on because that British trainer tells you to?”
“Well yes, but, I find my mare works better when I use them.”
“You don’t need to. Icelandic horses can tolerate pain much better than European breeds.”

‘Nuff said. Just saying like…
 
I never ever ever hack without full knee brushing boots on my mare and knee boots on my friend's pony when I ride her. It isn't worth risking broken knees and my knee brushing boots have prevented nasty injuries.

For schooling when shod I used to use over reach boots all the time. I was undecided about the benefit/risk analysis of brushing boots. Now she's bare I don't worry as much.
 
Mine always wears over reaches as is a nightmare for pulling shoes off. He still manages it with them on though! He also has over reached whilst galloping even whilst wearing them. Sigh.

He also pretty much always wears the PE light air cooled event/race boots on the front whether hacking or schooling. They're a bit scuffed on the inside bottom edge so think he has caught them a few times. Only time he doesn't wear them is if we're just walking or a tiny bit of trot out hacking.

If I lunge him I will put brushing boots on the backs too.

If we're doing XC he has proper PE air cooled hind event boots too.

And for SJ he has TriZone air cooled open fronted tendon boots and random fetlock boots, although I don't like the fetlock boots and really want a pair to match the fronts! Except they're orange and I've never seen anything like them!
 
I boot for everything. Got a bit lazy about booting up for walk hacking until recently, when I put a brand new set of boots on - this is what they looked like when I got back (hack did include a Code Red). He is big, broad chested horse, who doesn't move close behind, which is why I had been happy without boots. Not any more
10458733_10152552324960730_5011611597912102190_n.jpg
 
My mare is unshod - but I always boot up all round for lunging, never for anything else though.

When I do its always boots as they are easier to keep clean and dry. Bandages get mucky and wet, need to be washed after each use so are too labour intensive.

At one time in my UK days I used knee pads when we went out on the roads.

I do think though that young horses still learning to get their balance probably benefit from wearing boots as you can see with Auslanders picture, the boots tell it all.

There is a lot of debate going on at the moment about whether tendon boots actually do anything and if wearing them in fact heats the tendons up too much.
 
Casey76 said:
And does it make a difference if your horse is shod or not?

Just wondering really...

For flatwork I generally don't boot or bandage, for polework or jumping I'll use open front tendon/brushing boots on the front and for hacking it depends on where we're going to go - fields and tracks naked, through the forest I'll boot the front legs.

But... my mare is a very 'leg at each corner' type, and doesn't interfere or brush.

My young horse is still quite narrow across the chest and has huge feet so I'll probably boot all round when he starts doing baby work - at least until his proprioception improves.

I do like the look of bandages/polo wraps though - I'm just not too sure about using them constantly if they're not needed for any particular purpose.
Click to expand...

Boots either Hi Viz ones or tendon with Hi vis bands on-top.
 
Hacking westropp knee / brushing boots

Jumping tendon boots

Schooling bandages and over reach boots, or schooling wraps.

She is Never ridden with naked legs
 
Saf never wears anything other than tendon boots for jumping. Moo wears brushing boots for all work as she's very close behind and in front. I may have to get her some smaller than normal bandages (she's 13.2) so i can practice my bandaging.

Oh and neither are shod.
 
Kat said:
I never ever ever hack without full knee brushing boots on my mare and knee boots on my friend's pony when I ride her. It isn't worth risking broken knees and my knee brushing boots have prevented nasty injuries.
Click to expand...

^^ This. I also never go out without knee boots on and its the one thing her owner insists on. I'm surprised more people don't put them on for hacking?
 
nothing on our big boy, tbh don't think I would be able to fit anything around this big feathered belgian draft legs. He has one wit sock which when washed for show I normally bandage before traveling to keep clean and they are barely long enough.

my welsh cob normally wears training wraps which works well for her.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top