weighted boots

[BroadfordQueen]

what are your opinions on weighted boots? do they work? are they "cruel"? just curious, as i went showjumping today and had one down in both classes (BN and Disco, both times we would have won) through carelessness of her hind leg (watched it back on tv, she only brushed the poles with her back leg but she just doesnt make an effort). my friend who has won POYS said her pony used to be careless with his hind legs but she used weighted boots and now he barely touches a pole.

just wanted your opinions really.

 

[puddicat]

If put on the forelegs there is a good reason to believe they could increase the likelihood of injury. On the hind legs, there is no obvious direct potentially injurous effect but it is also not clear that they would do anything useful.

One of the adaptation for efficient movement that you can see clearly in horses is the tapering of the legs such that they get narrower towards the foot. By minimising the weight of the lower leg horses can move their legs quickly and using less energy. So from a strictly naturalist viewpoint , by adding weight to the lower leg you screw up the tuning of one of natures highly adapted systems. This is not something to embark on lightly even if there was some small advatage in clearing fences.

There are several potential ways weighting the leg could increase the amount by which horses shorten their hind legs over fences but all of them have associated disadvatages or would only produce short term effects. There is no evidence that I know of that weighting has any sigularly beneficial effect but Beanyowner would probably know if there was.

 

[bunnereeny]

I would never do it i'm not keen on "gadgets" anyways I'm sure there are ways around this by schooling.
Have you ever done any xc? Does she respect solid fences more and tidy herself up? If you could replicate showjumps that were "solid" maybe she'd give them more room.

Also have you checked that her pelvis is ok. Horses sometimes drag a leg if they are not entirely level behind so it may be worth having her checked over before you take any other action.

 

[BroadfordQueen]

Yeah shes done alot of xcountry, but we have to put boots on her back legs as she once scraped all the skin off her hind legs after hitting a fence hard and lost alot of confidence and we dont want to go through that again. She does respect xcountry fences alot more than showjumps though, and if she knocks a fence it doesnt bother her at all!

Im not suggesting that im going to go out and buy some wieghted boots by the way, i just wanted to know about them as dont know much about them! how heavy are the weights?

we did some steep X poles yesterday when schooling her and she was really snapping her feet up, jumped one today in the warm up and she was great, but she just doesnt care when she gets into the ring!

 

[puddicat]

weight varies but usually about 1kg sometimes more. Since a foot weight about 1 kg you're effectively adding the weight of an extra foot!

if she's got good muscular development and and works well during schooling maybe she just needs more experience in the ring so it becomes less scary ?

 

[MillionDollar]

I don't like them at all TBH. I'm a great believer in that flatwork is the key, along with gridwork.

 

[Starbucks]

She sounds just like my horses!!

Don't think I would do the boot thing, sounds a bit odd.

I also find the steep X pole thing good.

 

[LEC]

I know several members of this forum who have had great success with them but would seek advice before deciding to use them.

 

[KatB]

I am considering trying them, just to help make my horse more "aware" of his hind legs. If i did use them, it would be specifically for this purpose so they will be put on just before he enters the ring. The NEW range have a "hind extender" boot which is effectively a hind open fronted tendon boot, which again works to make the horse aware of their hind legs and snappier. If I find the addition of a hind boot helps, i will be investing in a pair of the NEW ones as I don't like the thought of using hind weighted boots for any length of time.

 

[MillbrookSong]

Hey im am now a great believer in them for song!

He has always been a little careless and i dont no how many placing this would have lost be - and yes he does do grid work at home and is happily working at BE intermediate and BD elementary!!

Trainer suggested them and since hes been 100 times better we now have money BSJA and have been placed nearly everytime out and are now only having one or two doen eventing not the usually 4 or 5!!

How i use them - i warm up without them and dont use them at home either and put them one when theres about 2 or 3 to go so we have enough time to put them on then go jump a jump (whatever is at the right height so either an upright or an oxer) then go in.

Since using them i have jumped BSJA once without them on to see if he would do it himself but had 1 down in the 1st and 2 in the second!!


But as Lec said try asking ur instructor about them 1st!!

 

[SpottedCat]

Do you use hind boots normally? It may be worth trying without anything on the hind legs too if you normally use boots.

 

[sista_act]

we bought some for my sisters pony for same reasons and he didn't jump well in them!
would depend on the horse but maybe ther're worth a try