What are tendon and fetlock boots for?

[Chestnutter]

I'm soon starting show jumping, and today was given some fetlock and tendon boots by a girl at my yard. Can someone tell me what they're for?

 

[samstar]

sorry but are you being serious

 

[teddyt]

Tendon boots go on the front legs and protect the back and side of the legs from knocks but are open at the front as some people thinks it makes the horse more careful.
Fetlock boots go on the back legs and they protect the fetlocks from knocks, especially from the opposite hind leg. They dont go all the way up the cannon bone, again in an effort to make the horse more careful.

 

[Ziggy_]

As teddyt says they are designed to protect the horses' legs from knocks in the most likely places they will knock themselves - while not giving too much protection as if the horse can't feel when it knocks a pole it may become careless.

Tendon boots protect the back of the front legs, where the important tendons lie, from being knocked/cut by the hind shoes as the horse lands, as well as the insides of the legs from knocking into each other when turning etc.

 

[Chestnutter]

Yes, i'm being very serious thanks.

Thank you very much teddyt and Ziggy101, thats just what i wanted

 

[samstar]

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, i'm being very serious thanks.

Thank you very much teddyt and Ziggy101, thats just what i wanted

[/ QUOTE ]

I do apologise

*holds out hand to shake*

 

[Chestnutter]

*shakes hand*

 

[Maisy]

Having never had a horse with fine legs, nor done a massive amount of jumping, I was talking about this the other day.........do the boots actually offer a vast amount of support?? (I am being totally serious).....I can see that the 'sports horse' neoprene ones would offer protection, but I am not convinced that some of the more 'fashionable' boots actually do anything?? I am asking genuinely.......

 

[Ziggy_]

I don't think they offer much in the way of support but they do protect an important area which other boots don't cover. I was jumping a few months ago and as my horse landed she caught the back of her boot hard enough to split the outside casing, tear one of the straps off and pull the boot down round her fetlock - I hate to think what she would have done to her leg without the boots on.

The jump was only about two foot six, on good ground and she is usually a clean jumper - but it could easily have been a very nasty freak accident had she not been wearing boots.