Idiots guide to boots

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HaffiesRock

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I have owned horses for years, but never really done much with them. Bit of schooling, quiet hacking etc so have never needed any leg protection.

Now I have a fab Haflinger that I can do anything with.

I hack quite a lot, and once hes fitter will be hacking faster and jumping while out. I also will be doing some jumping at home.

Can you give me an idiots guide to boots and what each type are used for and if you think I should get any for my horse? I'd feel terrible if he injured himself and it was preventable.

Thanks
 
You've got to weigh up the need for protection against the possibility of over heating the tendons.

Whatever you decide to use - ensure they are designed to keep the legs as cool as possible.

Over heating the tendons when they are already at 90% stretch (during athletic work) is asking for trouble.
 
I think the two most common are brushing boots and over reach boots.

Brushing boots help to prevent injury in the event that the front or back legs get so close that they knock or 'brush' eachother.

Over reach boots protect the heels on the front hooves should the horse over track and catch them with his back feet.

There's loads of different types of tendon boots, leg wraps, bandages etc etc!

I would say if you're confident your horse doesn't brush or over reach, and if he's got no problems with his legs (eg weak tendons, previous tendon injury) then he probably doesn't need boots!

:) hope this helps!
 
Thank you Sophiebailey. As far as I know his legs are great, he doesnt over reach or brush so I will leave him as he is.

Just wanted to check I wasnt missing something unknowingly :) xx
 
I think a lot of people wear boots because they think they should, but my horse doesn't brush or over reach so I don't put boots on him :) they just irritate him and he spends the whole ride itching his legs!!

The only boots I'd consider getting for him are knee boots, to go around his front knees, now he's arthritic he's prone to tripping on un-even terrain so I'd like some protection for his knees incase he did trip down onto them! :) xxx
 
When you said knee boots I had a sudden flashback to the knee pads my mum made me wear when i was on my rollerskates as a child. Massive pads with huge elastic straps! Ha ha x
 
I was thinking the same earlier, I would like to know what dressage boots and leg wraps are for, i know they are to support the legs but I am not really aurę why they need that?

My haffy has a tendency to trip too, i hope she is not arthritic though!
 
My horse came with tendon boots and overreach boots, but I've not seen any reason to use them. I also couldn't see any reason for his flash noseband or martingale, so those came off too :) 'Cept the latter for jumping.

If I hunt I'll probs put some overreach boots on him for my peace of mind, otherwise I don't know that I'd use anything else - I'd probably like some knee boots for the same reason though.
 
My natives don't need anything. My young marr tripped on the road and also fell over her own feet so I got knee and over reach boots for now. She probably doesn't need the over reach boots as she isn't shod but she hated me touching her feet ad they have completely cured that problem so worth it for that lol

I think you need boots for xc but not really anything else.
 
Both mine tend toward random silliness so I boot all round. I've seen too many random injuries, over reach injuries on horses that don't over reach. Knocks and cuts on horses that don't brush. Mine get to work their legs without support during turn out so I like to support and protect them during work. My personal preferance is the hard shell tendon and fetlock boot so b1 has those. They rub b2 though so he has soft brushing boots. Both wear over reach boots. During silly behaviour I do occasionally hear them catch their boots or find marks on the boots so if I left them off that would be their legs. I also like them to have the support and protection jumping which gives me peace of mind and one less thing to worry about. If you do decide to boot up be warned. It's a slippery slope as there are so many colours to matchy matchy with. Mine have about 4 or 5 sets each!
 
Personally I wouldn't hack on the roads without knee boots. Far too much permanent damage can be done by a minor trip or slip if you don't use them.

I have westrop full knee brushing boots and they have saved my mare injury on more than one occasion. They don't slip like traditional knee boots and you can jump and gallop in them too.
 
mandwhy said:
I was thinking the same earlier, I would like to know what dressage boots and leg wraps are for, i know they are to support the legs but I am not really aurę why they need that?
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Despite the spurious claims by manufacturers - the boot has not been invented that can provide enough support to make a difference to tendons/ligaments. I use a cheaper lighter weight version of sports medicine boots on my dressage horse, but I am under no illusions that they are giving him any support. I think it's important to boot/bandage once the horse starts doing more advanced lateral work, just to protect the legs from their opposite pairs - particularly on a big moving horse. A well applied exercise bandage provides more support, but is still more for protection than suppport.
 
Mine wear boots/bandages whenever worked, but for the work you are suggesting, I wouldn't be too worried about not booting.

The only thing I would suggest is some hard backed tendon boots for jumping, just to protect the front legs from being sliced into by a hind leg. Particularly if the horse is green/over exhuberant when jumping.
 
mandwhy said:
Thanks Auslander I thought that might be the case! The white ones do look smart though :-D
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Dressage innit - it's all about looking the part! Says the woman who has just wrecked a brand new set of white sports medicine boots turning her horse out in them. They do not wash as well as I had hoped. Am going to campaign for skewbald accessories to be the next best thing. New boots and several elderly saddlecloths will be at the cutting edge of fashion then!
 
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