Equine boots serve as an essential piece of protective gear for horses, safeguarding their legs from potential harm during activities and journeys. From offering vital support to vulnerable areas such as the tendons of the forelegs to shielding against accidental knocks and scrapes, boots play a crucial role in maintaining your horse’s leg health.
Protection During Work and Travel
The central objective of equine boots is to protect a horse’s legs from injuries that may occur during work or travel. Strong, durable materials conventionally used for these boots provide superior protection against knocks and scrapes compared to bandages. It’s essential to remember that potential injuries can stem from legs coming into contact with obstacles or even due to accidental touch by another leg.
Providing Essential Leg Support
In addition to offering protection, boots play a crucial role in providing support, especially to the susceptible tendons of the forelegs. Although boots may not deliver the overall support as bandages due to differences in their material and design, their ability to provide targeted assistance can prove significantly beneficial, particularly when dealing with specific leg vulnerabilities or during rehabilitation.
Brushing Boots (Splint Boots)
Brushing occurs when a horse knocks the inside foreleg or hind leg with the opposite leg, typically in the fetlock area. This can cause sores and eventual lameness, resulting from bad conformation and action, faulty shoeing, weakness, or tiredness. Young and immature animals are particularly susceptible to brushing, and it’s crucial to use light brushing boots when schooling these horses.
Materials and Construction of Brushing Boots
Brushing boots can be made of various materials, such as box-cloth, kersey, leather, or felt. Each material has its advantages and drawbacks:
- Box-cloth and kersey are soft but difficult to clean and take a long time to dry.
- Leather is strong and durable but requires a soft lining and proper care to prevent it from causing issues.
- Felt is soft and comfortable but not as hard-wearing as leather.
Many boots feature padded caps, usually made of leather, running down the inside for added protection. These caps should be rounded at the bottom to accommodate the fetlock joint properly.
Fitting and Design of Brushing Boots
Brushing boots come in various designs and may have either three or four buckle and strap fastenings on the front boots and five on the hind boots. Hind boots are longer than front boots to provide appropriate coverage and protection.
Types of Brushing Boots: Light-Duty and Heavy-Duty
There are two main categories of brushing boots: light-duty and heavy-duty. Light-duty boots are designed for everyday schooling and include ankle, French brushing, fetlock ring, scalper, quarter, and Yorkshire boots. On the other hand, heavy-duty patterns such as polo, French chasing, speedicut, and heel boots are geared towards more strenuous work, providing extra durability and support.
Ankle Boots
Ankle boots, the most basic and common type of brushing boot, serve a crucial role in protecting the horse’s fetlock joint and the tendons and ligaments above it. Like any other equestrian gear, materials and fitting contribute greatly to the performance and comfort of the boots.
Materials of Ankle Boots
Generally, ankle boots are crafted from kersey, leather, or felt, all of which have distinct qualities and benefits. They each have a uniquely shaped and rounded padded cap, often made of leather or kersey, that provides added protection to the fetlock joint and surrounding areas. Some leather boots even feature a foam rubber lining. However, it’s important to note that foam rubber may cause irritation leading to possible infection in some horses.
How to Properly Fit Ankle Boots
The design of ankle boots takes into account the physiological structure of the horse’s leg. They are shaped in a way that allows the straps to tighten above the fetlock joint, ensuring a secure but comfortable fit. When fitting ankle boots onto your horse, it’s recommended to start by tightening the center strap first. Following that, secure the top straps and then the bottom ones. Exercise caution while fastening the lowest strap; it should not be overly tight as it could restrict joint movement and trap pieces of grit that may cause sores.
French Brushing Boot
The French brushing boot offers unique benefits due to its design and function. Unlike the ankle boot, the French brushing boot is shorter, and it targets protection exclusively at the fetlock joint. This distinctive design provides a different yet effective level of leg protection for horses.
Design and Material of French Brushing Boots
Crafted from soft leather and lined with rubber, French brushing boots offer a comfortable and protective fit for the fetlock joint. The rear part of the boot is specifically shaped to leave ample room for fetlock movement, accounting for the horse’s natural motion during activities.
Function and Fastening
French brushing boots provide adequate protection to both sides of the fetlock joint, safeguarding it from knocks and scrapes. The boot fastens securely with a single strap positioned just above the joint, making it easy to put on and take off while ensuring it stays in place during use. This design prioritizes the horse’s comfort and protection, striking a perfect balance between function and convenience.
Fetlock Ring Boot (Brushing Ring)
The fetlock ring boot, also known as a brushing ring, is a handy piece of horse equipment that can be used to safeguard a horse’s leg against brushing. Although seemingly simplistic in design, this device can provide an effective buffer for horses prone to brushing.
Design and Material of Fetlock Ring Boot
Constructed as a hollow, rubber ring, the fetlock ring boot is designed to fit snugly over the fetlock. Its simple design and durable rubber material make it both easy to use and effective for its intended purpose.
Effectiveness and Application
Despite its straightforward design, the fetlock ring boot plays a key role in buffering against brushing. However, it’s important to note that it doesn’t provide any additional support or protection apart from this. Furthermore, it’s not uncommon for only one leg of the horse to be fitted with a ring, typically the one that’s most prone to brushing. This device demonstrates that even the simplest solutions can sometimes be the most effective.
Scalper Boot
The scalper (or scalping) boot is another unique and purposeful piece of horse equipment providing protection to the inside of the fetlock. With its distinctive design and straightforward application, the scalper boot caters to specific needs when it comes to safeguarding a horse’s leg.
Design and Material of Scalper Boot
Comprised of a rubber ring with an additional large flap on one side, the scalper boot is designed to cover the inside of the fetlock. The overall design ensures that vulnerable areas of the leg receive adequate protection from brushing and other potential injuries.
Proper Use and Precautions
When using a scalper boot, it’s essential to carefully monitor its placement on the horse’s leg. Ensure that the flap remains correctly positioned over the joint and doesn’t move away from it during activities. Proper positioning and securing ensure that the scalper boot works effectively to protect the horse’s leg while allowing for comfortable movement.
Quarter Boot
The quarter boot serves as an improved and larger alternative to the scalper boot, offering more comprehensive protection for a horse’s leg. With its refined design, the quarter boot effectively safeguards both sides of the fetlock joint and provides stable coverage during activities.
Design and Comparison to Scalper Boot
Shaped similarly to a French brushing boot, the quarter boot offers protection not only to the inside of the fetlock joint but also to the outside. This design results in enhanced coverage compared to the scalper boot, ensuring that the entire joint area stays protected during use.
Stability and Security
One of the advantages of the quarter boot over the scalper boot is its increased stability. Thanks to its design and shape, the quarter boot does not shift easily, which means it will maintain its position on the horse’s leg more effectively. This improved stability ultimately allows for more reliable protection and a more secure fit for the horse.
Yorkshire Boot
The Yorkshire boot, marked by its simplistic design and effective functionality, offers an alternative approach to protecting a horse’s leg. Constructed usually from a rectangle of felt, it uses a strategically placed tie to deliver doubled-up protection for the horse’s joint.
Designing the Yorkshire Boot
Possessing a straightforward design, the Yorkshire boot starts as a mere rectangle of durable material, predominantly felt. A tape is then sewn along the center of the rectangle, lending it a simple yet functional structure. Its seemingly uncomplicated design, straightforward material choice, and crafty layout make it an effective solution for protection needs.
Application and Protection
The application process of the Yorkshire boot involves tying the sewn tape just above the fetlock joint. Once secure, the top half of the boot is then folded down over the tie, resulting in a dual-layered shield for the joint. This doubling-up acts as an effective buffer, providing twice the normal protection against potential knocks and injuries.
Polo Boots
Polo boots stand out for their exceptional durability and coverage, aimed at offering maximum protection for a horse’s lower leg. There’s a multitude of varieties available, each designed with specific features to enhance security and support for the horse’s leg during the demanding sport of polo.
Varieties and Construction of Polo Boots
Polo boots, in their many varieties, share a common characteristic—they’re all particularly robust. The aim is to cover as much of the horse’s lower leg as possible. Some designs include a low flap on the hind boots, offering added protection in those areas. Crafted predominantly from felt, these boots often feature a cowhide lining as an extra layer of strength, ensuring they’re adequately equipped to withstand various polo activities.
Additional Features and Support
Furthering their defense capabilities, some polo boots incorporate strong elastic into their design. This addition serves a dual purpose. Alongside offering a secure fit, this feature also provides extra tendon support, ensuring that the horse’s leg is better shielded against strains during high-intensity polo matches. These thoughtful inclusions demonstrate how polo boots balance protection and comfort while meeting the specific demands of the sport.
French Chasing Boot
Like its brushing counterpart, the French chasing boot is a testament to the art of combining functionality with design. Made typically of rubber-lined leather, this large boot features specialized protective components nestled on its strategic points, providing both fetlock and shin protection for a horse’s leg.
Construction & Materials
Most commonly found in a rubber-lined leather construction, the French chasing boot is engineered to deliver durability and coverage. Its composition is a harmonious blend of high-quality leather for stiffness and rubber lining for flexibility. This combination ensures an optimum level of protection while maintaining the horse’s maneuverability and comfort during various activities.
Specialized Protective Features
What sets the French chasing boot apart is its addition of specific protective components. At the bottom, it comes equipped with a rounded fetlock protector, designed to safeguard one of the most susceptible parts of a horse’s leg. Simultaneously, a shin protector is positioned at the top of the boot, providing coverage and protection for the horse’s foreleg. Together, these features offer a comprehensive guard against potential knocks and injuries.
Speedicut Boot (Speedy Cut Boot)
Aimed specifically at preventing ‘speedicutting’ injuries to horses, the speedicut boot goes beyond the usual ankle boot design to offer extended protection. The design covers a larger area, reaching up towards the knee and comes in durable materials like box-cloth or leather.
Understanding Speedicut Injuries
The term ‘speedicutting’ refers to injuries that occur when a horse strikes its own leg high above the fetlock joint. These injuries most commonly happen at high speeds (hence the name ‘speedicut’) and can cause serious harm to the horse’s leg. The speedicut boot is designed with these particular injuries in mind, serving as a safeguard against such incidents.
Design and Materials of Speedicut Boot
A larger sibling to the conventional ankle boot, the speedicut boot extends much higher, ascending up towards the knee. This extended coverage, in terms of height, equips the boot to prevent speedicut injuries more effectively. The boot’s construction utilizes sturdy materials, such as box-cloth or leather, designed to endure high-speed impacts and provide the necessary cushioning and protection.
Heel Boot
Offering dual protection for both brushing and the fetlock point, the heel boot exemplifies a blend of practicality and durability. Constructed typically from kersey, it features a unique rounded flap design that can be left loose or strapped, depending upon needs and preferences.
Dual Protection for Brushing and Fetlock Point
The defining trait of heel boot lies in its versatility—it simultaneously shields against brushing and protects the crucial point of the fetlock. While brushing boots typically focus on safeguarding against knocks and bangs to the leg during movement, the heel boot goes a step further. It also actively protects the fetlock point, reducing the risk of injuries in that area.
Design and Fabrication
Heel boots are most commonly made from kersey, a robust and long-lasting fabric known for its durability. Their design includes a distinct rounded flap that extends over the back of the fetlock. Depending on the needs and comfort of the horse, this flap can be left loose or fastened with a strap. But remember, if it is strapped, one must be careful not to restrict the joint movement, ensuring that protection doesn’t compromise performance.
Over-Reach Boots
Over-reaching is a common problem among horses that can cause significant damage to the back of their forelegs. As a result, over-reach boots are designed to help prevent wounds caused by over-reaching. Also known as bell boots, these protective gears ensure safety and well-being for the horse during various activities.
Understanding Over-Reaching Injuries
When a horse overreaches, it strikes the hind feet against the back of its forelegs, causing injury anywhere from the coronet upwards. These injuries can be slow to heal, leading to discomfort and long-lasting damage. To help mitigate these issues, over-reach boots are employed as protective measures.
Over-Reach (Bell) Boot Design and Materials
A commonly used over-reach boot features a bell-shaped, ridged design made of rubber. This boot fits below the fetlock, covering the heel and coronet to offer protection, particularly to the coronary band—a sensitive area prone to inflammation when injured.
The best over-reach boots are made of pure rubber due to its stretching capabilities and lack of additional fastenings. These boots are pulled on and off over the horse’s feet, a process that can be challenging with horses bearing bigger feet. Once fitted, the boots should be snug and should not revolve around the pastern.
Alternative Fastening Methods
Some over-reach boots come with a split design, allowing them to be fastened using laces or a vertical leather strap that slots through metal dees placed along the boot’s sides. However, plain boots are often considered safer and more secure during use, as they provide a more stable fit.
Coronet Boot
As a protective gear for the back of the heel and the coronary band, the coronet boot is highly favored by polo players. With its double-strapped design and reinforced materials, it offers a combination of high-performance support and durability.
Key Features and Benefits
The coronet boot is designed to maintain the safety of a horse’s heel and coronary band during rigorous activities like polo. It effectively distributes pressure and provides support to these areas, reducing risks of harm and ensuring optimal performance. The double straps make the boot secure, while the felt and leather lining offer robust construction and extended wear.
Usage in Polo
Polo players in particular find significant value in using coronet boots for their horses. Given the fast-paced, high-intensity nature of the sport, the horses require effective protection to avoid injuries. Coronet boots are perfectly suited for this purpose, offering not just safety but also maintaining a comfortable fit and allowing freedom of movement during play.
Tendon Boot (Rundown)
To avert the risk of significant overreach injuries that occur above the joint—particularly damage to the tendon sheath or tendon—tendon boots are utilized. Constructed from either kersey or leather, these boots feature a thick pad at the back for added support and protection to the tendon.
Overreach Injuries and Protective Measures
Overreach injuries to the tendon sheath or tendon that occur above the joint are particularly dangerous, and preventing these injuries is of utmost importance. Tendon boots serve this purpose effectively by providing cushioning and support in the right places.
Composition and Design
Tendon boots are typically made of either kersey – a robust, durable fabric – or leather. These boots feature a thick pad fitted at the back, specifically designed to offer targeted support and safeguard the tendon from potential damage.
Enhanced Protection with Layering
The protective pad on the tendon boot is smartly designed to provide maximum security. Shaped precisely, it can encompass as many as three thicknesses of leather and kersey around the tendon, magnifying the effectiveness of the protection it offers.
Secure Fastening
Tendon boots usually come with four to five straps. This ensures a secure fit, as well as allows for adjustability as per individual requirements or preferences. It’s not just about protection; care is also taken to ensure comfort and ease of mobility for the horse.
Kneecaps
Kneecaps play a crucial role in protecting horses from potential injuries that might occur when they are exposed to rough surfaces or during activities like jumping fences. Damaged knees can be detrimental to a horse’s health and performance. There are two main types of kneecaps used for horses—plain and skeleton—each providing specific features and benefits.
Plain Kneecap
The plain kneecap consists of a padded leather top with a leather strap set on elastic, which buckles above the knee for added security. Beneath the strap, a semi-circle of felt, rug, or leather material is present, providing further cushioning. Most notably, this type of kneecap features a large, blocked and stuffed leather cap designed to enclose and protect the knee. A lower strap is looped around the back of the leg, below the joint, maintaining a very loose fit.
Skeleton Kneecap
Similar to the plain kneecap, the skeleton kneecap offers comparable safety, with slight differences in design. The main distinction is the absence of the semi-circle of material found in the plain kneecap. The skeleton kneecap only consists of the cap and straps. As a result of this minimalist design, it is lighter and less cumbersome than the plain pattern, offering horses ease of movement without compromising protection.
Other Boots
Horses often require additional protective gear depending on the activities they’re involved in. Besides the standard types of boots like coronet boots and tendon boots, there are several other types, each serving a different purpose.
Travel Boots
Largely preferred by some riders as an alternative to bandages, travel boots are effectively thick, rectangular pieces made from materials such as felt, leather-backed foam, or similar material. They are held in place using a number of straps.
Travel boots cover areas from below the coronet to sometimes well above the knee and hock joints. However, the majority of these boots stop below these joints. One of their key advantages is that they are quicker to put on and remove compared to bandages. They may, however, offer comparatively less support. Be aware that foam-rubber types could cause irritation during longer trips.
Hock Boots
Hock boots, as the name implies, are designed to protect a horse’s hocks. They prevent the horse from bumping their hocks against the back of the transport box while traveling. In the stable, these boots help to prevent capped hocks and similar injuries.
Made from thick felt, rug, or leather, hock boots feature a padded, blocked leather cap over the hock along with fastenings similar to kneecaps. The lower strap of these boots is also typically fitted very loosely.
Shin Boot
The shin boot, another variety of well-padded boot, is designed specifically to protect the horse’s shins from knocks. Although it does not offer as much versatility as the French chasing boot, it provides ample protection where it’s needed.
Skid Boot
The skid boot is typically worn by American stock horses. Its primary function is to protect the point of the fetlock from damage when it hits the ground during a quick turn or stop. Made of leather, these boots have two straps for fastening—above and below the fetlock. They also feature a leather cup that provides added protection to the heel.
