Those of you who boot up - question about winter

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Joyous70

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Those of you who boot up, what do you do in winter, when your horses legs are wet/muddy etc?

My youngster wears brushing boots all round, because she brushes occasionaly on the hinds and i would like to protect her legs when she has one of her "moments", what do you do when your horse comes in with their legs plastered in mud and are wet through.

Ive never had a horse who needed to be booted up before.
 
I swap to fleece bandages if he comes in with wet legs, although I do use sport boots, which I reckon would be more likely to rub around the pastern. You should be OK with soft neoprene brushing boots, although you need to keep the boots themselves clean, especially if you are working on a surface as well as in grassy/muddy conditions. If you are using bandages it is worth just putting a strip of tape around the Velcro.
 
If the legs are just wet, I just stick boots on. If they are wet and muddy - I would hose off legs first, so there is no grit / dirt under neath the boots to cause rubs.

Definitely need to keep on top of boots being clean though. Even if you do hose off legs first to get rid of the mud before booting,it is likely there will be some residue, which will then just transfer to the boots while being worn.

Another alternative, depending on where your mare brushes exactly, is to use fetlock boots over the winter. My mare brushes behind but only brushes quite low, so during muddy times I just use fetlock boots, as they cover less leg. If she brushes low all round, use fetlock boots all round :)
 
I hose legs off then put on fleece bandages-dries his legs off nicely I find after a session in the school. Alternatively if we are going for a muddy hack, I hose off, dry legs with a towel and pop leg wraps on while I faff, then boot up as normal.
 
Under-the-radar said:
Another alternative, depending on where your mare brushes exactly, is to use fetlock boots over the winter. My mare brushes behind but only brushes quite low, so during muddy times I just use fetlock boots, as they cover less leg. If she brushes low all round, use fetlock boots all round :)
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This is an excellent idea! she does only brush very low down and i have a pair of fetlock boots lurking somewhere.
 
I may have to swap to fleece bandages this winter - Jazz normally wears neoprene sport boots in front and brushing boots behind.
 
Mine are stabled at night all year round, but sometimes in the afternoon in the winter when I bring my mare in she has muddy legs - mind you so far no mud comes up to half her hoof, and she's only 13.3hh! But if I were you I'd hose her, then dry with a towel and then put boots on, and perhaps repeat the process once you're done :)
 
I have a confession to make - I don't know how to bandage, its something i have never learnt, I also wouldn't have a clue which fleece bandages to buy, i like the sound of bandages, after hosing down and toweling off - I may have to find a willing victim to show me how to bandage.
 
Joyous70 said:
Those of you who boot up, what do you do in winter, when your horses legs are wet/muddy etc?

My youngster wears brushing boots all round, because she brushes occasionaly on the hinds and i would like to protect her legs when she has one of her "moments", what do you do when your horse comes in with their legs plastered in mud and are wet through.

Ive never had a horse who needed to be booted up before.
Click to expand...

My boy has back boots on the in the field, but he is in at night so the morning his legs are dry enough to boot up so no issues.

My YO does not wash the horses legs off any more as we feel its causes more problems than to allow them to dry naturally. No one on the yard washes legs off unless injury cause they practice to be done.
 
Moya_999 said:
My boy has back boots on the in the field, but he is in at night so the morning his legs are dry enough to boot up so no issues.

My YO does not wash the horses legs off any more as we feel its causes more problems than to allow them to dry naturally. No one on the yard washes legs off unless injury cause they practice to be done.
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Unfortunately my girl is out in the field until i bring her in at night, which is when i ride, i don't want to ride her without boots on as she does brush, i do appreciate that hosing legs constantly can cause problems, but i can't put boots or bandages on over legs that will invariably be plastered in mud as she is a hoon monster and last winter even her rug needed hosing off before being taken off
 
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