Steel toe or hard shoes or boots for toddler?

[Jxmxg]

I'm looking for boots or shoes to protect my daughters little feet. She will be four in January. I'm always worried about her feet incase she gets stepped on by a horse or pony.. even tho I'm right next to her I know accidents can happen. Any recommendations? She likes to help me groom them and walk next to me when leading the pony to and from the field. X

 

[Muddywellies]

I've been advised the injuries from steel toe caps are far worse than with simple sturdy shoes/boots. When trodden on, the steel bends, digging into the foot, and is pretty impossible to release without equipment, meaning the toes/foot is crushed/trapped for far longer. I'd just stick with some sturdy leather boots.

 

[blitznbobs]

Having worked in a and e for years please do not buy a child steel toe caps - far worse injuries are likely from these especially in a child so young - at this age their bones are fairly squashy and bouncy so if a pony did stand on them they are unlikely to break but if a steel toe cap is bent into a persons foot injuries can be life changing ...

 

[Lois Lame]

I've heard the same thing said about steal-capped boots.

 

[Red-1]

I used to have steel capped boots, saved me a time or two from squashed toes.

Then I had an incident that changed my mind. The steel didn't bend, it is rated for heavy weights; what happened is that the horse stood on the 'me-end' of the toecap and the entire cap rotated round and pressed the sharp end of the cap into my foot.

My foot was OK, but it left a perfectly straight line bruise on my foot, as others have said, worse than if I hadn't been wearing them.

They were Mountain Horse, I emailed them with photos of my foot, showed how the toecap had rotated and asked if this pair were faulty. They weren't interested.

I now simply wear substantial leather boots, not toe caps.

 

[View]

Substantial and strong leather boots or shoes are better than wellies or steel toe caps for a young child.

Adults can make their own assessment of the situation and work that they are doing - so there are some occasions when I wear steel toe capped boots around horses, but not that many compared to a pair of good leather boots.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I think that steel toe caps are very good protection against accidents such as dropping a brick, a hammer or a sharp knife on your foot, or having a stack of logs collapse and roll onto your foot. But after reading several reports like that of Red-1 above, I wouldn't wear mine for grooming horses.

Can you even find steel toe caps for small children?

 

[Widgeon]

I used to have steel capped boots, saved me a time or two from squashed toes.

Then I had an incident that changed my mind. The steel didn't bend, it is rated for heavy weights; what happened is that the horse stood on the 'me-end' of the toecap and the entire cap rotated round and pressed the sharp end of the cap into my foot.

My foot was OK, but it left a perfectly straight line bruise on my foot, as others have said, worse than if I hadn't been wearing them.

They were Mountain Horse, I emailed them with photos of my foot, showed how the toecap had rotated and asked if this pair were faulty. They weren't interested.

I now simply wear substantial leather boots, not toe caps.

ooh that's unpleasant. I have the same pair and they've saved me from squashed toes plenty of times - but that is quite horrible. I think you're the first person I've come across who actually has a personal story about steel toe caps failing, rather than just "I've heard that this can happen...."

 

[blitznbobs]

ooh that's unpleasant. I have the same pair and they've saved me from squashed toes plenty of times - but that is quite horrible. I think you're the first person I've come across who actually has a personal story about steel toe caps failing, rather than just "I've heard that this can happen...."

I’ve seen it happen more than once in my 20 year a and e career... it’s not pretty and very hard to extract the foot from the boot and it’s difficult to X-ray with the boot on cos of the metal

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I used to have steel capped boots, saved me a time or two from squashed toes.

Then I had an incident that changed my mind. The steel didn't bend, it is rated for heavy weights; what happened is that the horse stood on the 'me-end' of the toecap and the entire cap rotated round and pressed the sharp end of the cap into my foot.

My foot was OK, but it left a perfectly straight line bruise on my foot, as others have said, worse than if I hadn't been wearing them.

They were Mountain Horse, I emailed them with photos of my foot, showed how the toecap had rotated and asked if this pair were faulty. They weren't interested.

I now simply wear substantial leather boots, not toe caps.

Ouch!

I very nearly bought those same boots, glad I didn't now!