Using weighted boots to help strengthen up weaker side?

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wench

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Just had a bit of a random thought this morning, has anyone used weighted boots to help strengthen up a horses weaker side?

Nothing physically wrong with horse; saddle, teeth back all checked and up to date. Horse is just very one sided.

"Typical" strengthen exercises such as poles raised on the horses weaker side do not help very much... horse is clever enough to realise that if she walks through them at a wonky angle, there is less work to do. I have tried comatting this, but currently it does not work.
 
My physio recommended this for my horse with UFP - although not weighted boots, she told me to use weighted straps that you might wear at the gym but guess it does the same thing! Due to other things we didnt use the straps but i cant see why it wouldn't work
 
Well my theory about using weighted boots is that I can't get my physio out for a good couple of months due to work and other commitments, and that the weighted boots should go a little way towards helping
 
wench said:
Well my theory about using weighted boots is that I can't get my physio out for a good couple of months due to work and other commitments, and that the weighted boots should go a little way towards helping
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Or exacerbating a problem.....just food for thought! If there is nothing physically wrong with your horse (as you say) why is anything other than good riding required to sort any one-sidedness? You say that the horse is smart and can evade raised poles....that to me says there is a latent physical problem yet to be discovered or that a more skilled rider is needed....no disrespect intended.
 
I rehabbed my horse who had injured his off hind resulting in the leg being weaker and lacking muscle tone, I thought of using a weighted boot but my physio did not think it would be good but I cannot recall why, I think she was concerned it would cause him to use the muscles in the wrong way to possibly learn to pick the foot up differently but incorrectly.
We used various other aids along with the daily physio, hours of walking up hills, over poles and strapping. I put a normal boot on just the injured leg, this was changed most days to be a different type of boot to get him thinking about lifting the leg properly, my physio made a chain bracelet to use around the pastern, I walked him up a step into the barn most days several times to get him picking it up and placing it down carefully, alternate ends of poles were raised, they cannot cheat by moving sideways, I used poles as steps so several were raised each one slightly higher than the previous one, again hard to cheat and really makes then work.
He is now just about level, he hardly drags his toe at all in the school but it has taken over 2 years to get him straight, not helped by him finally having his SI injury diagnosed and treated 18 months after the original vets had given him the all clear, so the first 6 months of rehab were done while he was in pain not just suffering from weakness.
 
Weighted boots may strengthen but you have to know how to do it correctly .
That's a job for a physio to advise on .
If the weighting is not acting in an optimal way you may get a negative result .
It's not as simple as bung a boot on and bingo the horse gets stronger .
 
I've used a slightly weighted boot to get my ISH gelding back to full strength after an eventing injury. I found some interesting research with lots of people for and against the idea, however an American study found using a 10oz weight and increasing it to no more then 18oz improved the majority of horses with a hind toe drag..... however I do think you need to know exactly what you are fixing before you stick a boot on and not for hours on end.....
 
This isn't something to be doing without close guidance from veterinary Physio - you could do more damage than good.

If your horse really is that one sided I would suggest that you either have an underlying physical issue that needs sorting or you need to re evaluate your riding & training.
 
My trainer says that horses, like humans, are one sided. It is the job of good riding and training to make them less so. It does take time and patience though.
 
Yep I have with my guy, not weighted as such but just put a leather boot and a bell boot on that leg. It was after he'd recovered from ulcers and that side was weaker, toe dragging had become a habit. I don't know if it really made a difference but he is much better now. I would be careful adding weight, perhaps just put two brushing boots over each other, or boot that leg and not the others.
 
Carrying weight on the legs is not necessarily going to work the right muscles or the right muscles in the way you like... Can you do a chin up? If you can, you'll know changing the angle and position of your grip massively impacts which muscles you work already. If you were to put weights on your forearm versus your shoulders - it makes a difference where the weight goes! Imagine walking around with really heavy shoes - which parts of your body will that work? What happens if only one of your shoes is weighted? I think you'll find the outcome may be shortening of stride on that side to compensate and actually working more on the other side and 'lifting' more on the weighted side - not necessarily what you want at all. I would never asymmetrically burden a horse anyway - think of the damage you could do to the back this way. If you intend to put weighted boots on ALL the legs, then I can see some overall benefit in terms of strengthening the legs - not necessarily the parts of the body where there is asymmetry (probably the neck, hindquarters?). Equally if it's just the hinds or just the fronts (which I've seen used to rehab horses but I'm not sure I'm convinced it works any better than pole work as the effect is less like the movement you actually want in the first place). I would not do the one side.
 
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