Question of the Week - Do you ride your horse in protective boots?

Pickle occastionally wears boots but pretty rarely to be honest! Henry wears front boots most rides due to past injuries as advised.
 
My tb wears over reach boots 24/7 on the recommendation of my farrier. He has a couple of scars on his heels from previous over reach injuries. Before Christmas he managed to over reach in the field, take a chunk out of his heel bulb and lift his shoe half off which requred a vet visit and a week of bute and antibiotics. This was whilst wearing boots and I dread to think how bad that might have been if he hadn't been! I put front brushing boots on for flat work/hacking as he has a tendancy to brush and can also be a bit spooky and can knock himself.
Also he wears lightweigh brushing boots out in the field as he is an accident prone hooligan and the one time I forgot to put them on he knocked himself and gave himself a splint. I know I am probably a bit anal and over protective but I do seem to have a particularly self destructive numpty of a Thoroughbred lol! x
 
virtually all horses/ponies are booted or bandaged indivually according to need. only one that can school and hack (and probably jump if im honest) with little protection is my daughters sect c welshie. he is tough and sound ,moves well and never seems to be in danger of kicking himself. he has some very nice leather open fronted tendon boots for best when he goes out but not end of world if he doesnt. other end of scale is Tbred who has had prev suspensory ligament trouble plus horrid very old overreach scar on heel. he is always bandaged and never ever goes out without his over reach boots. another pony with history of injury is also bandaged to compete or do any faster work inc lungeing but if she hacks out uses premier equine support boots. do appreciate that poor bandaging can do more harm than good but since we use bandages on a daily basis think we have a good routine for making sure they are fitted properly. i check any bandages my children fit , often watch over while they apply and often replace myself. its time consuming i suppose but i think its worth it.

we have boxes full of every type of boot/bandage on the market. when i see the scuffs and damage to the boots i imagine that could be the horses legs without them.however also very aware that badly fitting boots can slip,rub and also trip up. it amazes me how many folk charge around with overreach boots far too long for their horses to tread on and potentially trip up. also annoying when you see some with horses booted up just for show or latest fashion.
 
i dont when she has no back shoes on(winter) but when she has she wears brushing boots as she seems to knock herself but only when riden
jumping and cross country she wears brushing boots because i dont like the idea she will knock herself
when the hunt is around she wears brushing boots and over reach boots
to travel she wears bandages and overreach boots
turnout she wears nothing

i get ultra paraniod because she has had tendon injuries in the past i do worry that her legs would get hot but i also wonder whether i should be putting any other different boots on for support for jumping
 
Yes always wear them. He can be quite sharp so I'd hate for him to knock himself or over reach.

Over reach boots, brushing boots or bandages depending on what we are doing.
 
mine wears brushing boots on the front for everything, except going to the beach. when i bought him, he had a few scars on his legs, so i bought him a full set. after a while, i noticed the back ones had no scuffs, so got rid of them via ebay, but the front one were scratched quite a lot so i always put them on him now. he's only shod on the front so that might explain a lot, and recently bought him some hi viz ones so two jobs in one!
 
Nickles1973 i feel your frustration! :rolleyes: my tb has overreach boots on his fronts and then brushing boots on back n tendon boots on front whenever ridden cuz he can bash himself. have bought some bandages but not got round to using them yet
 
I don't use boots, partly because of overheating, and partly because of the risk of rubs from mud/sand. I've had mine since young and feel that they should learn to carry themselves without protection. Never had an injury yet, but none have a tendacy to dish, brush or overreach.
I do occasionally use knee boots on my Navicular mare out on long hacks in case she gets tired and stumbles.
 
I use open-fronted tendon and fetlock boots when jumping (SJ) and schooling in the field in the summer (as in the winter and some of the summer, I mainly ride/school on the beach - wet sand between the horse's leg and tight boots can and will rub them raw so I tend to go without then). My trainer suggested using them because they support the tendons when jumping, and reduce the injury caused if a high over-reached occurred. Plus, on tighter circles, like 5/10m schooling or in a jump-off, he apparently brushes a little going by the scuffs on the inside.

If I'm doing XC or hunting, I'll either use the open-fronted set (I bought as a set - I doubt I would have got fetlock boots otherwise) or these thicker wrap around sort of boots which protect the front of the legs better. If its wet out hunting, they go without.

I used to use over-reach boots too but I always found that the most secure and least bulky ones were the stretch on ones, which I can't really be bothered with any more as my current pony never has yet (*fingers crossed*) over-reached.

I've never found over-heating to be a problem, and I think that the pros outweigh the cons in my situation, but I certainly do not have any problem going bare as this is what I do usually without any problems :)
 
ladyt25 said:
Do people boot their horses up when they're turned out in the field???
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I almost (but never actually would) wish that I had done with my pony - he has never hurt himself while ridden, but on both front legs along the cannon bone, he cut himself while trying to climb a fence when he was 3 to join his friend in the other field (although he was not alone). Anyway, this has left him with white hair growing on his black legs :mad: Well, that's horses for you :rolleyes:
 
horsecrazy25 said:
Question of the week, Just thought it would be interesting to dicuss.

Do you ride your horses in protective boots???

1. Yes, I wear them for exercising and jumping

2. Yes, I wear them for jumping

3. No, I think they can do more harm than good. State Why...

Many Thanks
HC25 X
Click to expand...

1.

I wear bog-standard brushing boots for schooling as my pony is really close infront, and medicine boots for jumping as he has had a tendon injury in the past :)
 
I use boots all the time, esp over reach boots (major shoe loser!)

Always use front brushing boots for schooling & O/R.
Tendons on front nothing behind for jumping & O/R
XC boots allround for any solid jumps & O/R
Brushing boots allround for any lunging or hacking &O/R
 
Normally don't bother for hacking, sometimes put fronts on for schooling if doing lateral work or jumping

Boots all round and overreach boots for XC.

My horse tears around the field all day without boots on so seems a bit over the top to put them on for controlled ridden work.
 
I use JW international training bandages when schooling
then for jumping I use tendon boots and over-reaches with fetlock boots at the back then for xc I use four brushing boots and over-reaches
 
Mare is always in over-reach boots whatever we do (besides dressage comp, whipped off before we go in) as she had extravagant paces and sometimes gets her feet muddled up. Booted all round for XC, has tendon boots for SJing, and brushing when out hacking.
 
ALWAYS, it only takes him to do something silly and strike himself! I wear bandages for schooling as well as over-reach boots, brushing boots & over-reach for hacking, then tendon boots all round and over-reachs jumping (open fronted SJ and closed front XC). But he is a weedy little TB!

He's also turned out in over-reach's because he likes to flash about and pull his shoes off!
 
I am not surprised people do boot their horses, but am surprised that SO MANY do! (did that make sense?) Some of you really do sound like (and no offense here) your horses don't move until they are wrapped up to the eye balls just 'in case' your horse strikes into himself. In my opinion, most horses know where their other legs are (some TB's are an exception!) so don't need as much wrapping up as we give them. I would like to see more bare legs, as I do think it is better for their skin. Booting them up all the time, as far as I can see can't do the legs any good. It is like us wearing long socks all the time - we like to get air to our feet/legs as times!
As for me, well I ONLY put sports medicine boots on the front and brushing boots on the back for XC competition. Meg is naked for everything else, I don't often bother with booting for XC schooling. My reason is, competing I go faster and am therefore putting more strain on her legs, not because I think she will hit a fence. I don't boot up for hacking, nor lungeing. Meg is a clever thing and hasn't clobbered herself being excersised. She wore over reach boots for a time in the field a few years ago as I thought she was pulling her shoes off, but that was due to weak hoof walls, not the hind feet! She genuinly doesn't like wearing boots, gets a bit kicky behind (maybe I don't do it enough! lol) and sports medicine boots on the front are the only boots that stay on her. (she has a lump on the front of her cannon due to a kick when she was a baby - i think. It doesn't affect her at all). I like to think Meg likes it the way it is, so thats what I do.
(ps, I have never used tendon boots nor knee boots, and I would worry about putting them on wrong now!)
 
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