During a dressage training session, it’s handy to have some leg protection for your horse. Protecting your horse’s leg with bandages, brushing boots or something else can prevent superficial wounds due to knocks, but can also help prevent shock absorption during higher dressage exercises. Depending on why you need extra protection, there’s multiple options to choose from. We’re here to give you tips on how to pick the best for your and your horse’s needs.
The right fit
Regardless of the type of leg protection that you need, it’s always important that it fits and sits well around the horse’s leg! They may never sit too tightly, as they can then turn and not stay in place. But they do have to fit snug enough to prevent sand and stones from coming in, as that can also cause chafing and wounds. So it’s very important to ensure that the fit is perfect, as ill-fitting leg protection can do more harm than good.
Why leg perfection?
There’s multiple reasons why you’d need leg protection. The overarching reason is to prevent injuries. As the skin of the horse’s leg is very thin, wounds can very easily form. Of course, you also want to prevent tendon injuries that come from over exertion or impacts and knocks. It’s important to know why your horse needs leg protection, before buying the right ones.
Multiple options
There’s multiple types of leg protection that you can choose from, all with different advantages to them.
Tendon boots
As the name says, these boots are for the tendons, typically in the front legs. A reason to use tendon boots is when your horse is prone to knocking itself with its legs. Usually, the horse will then knock the front leg with the back leg. In this case, you should opt for boots with a hard shell that protects the backside of the front leg. The
Snug Boots are very suited for this purpose. The hell is made of hard PU material to provide protection and thanks to the multiple ventilation holes in the shell, excess warmth can easily be vented. The mesh lining also adds to this, and runs a little lower than the shell to give light support as well. The Snug Boots can easily be put on and fastened with the straps and click-system. The big advantage here is, that you can never fasten them too tightly.
Check out this video to learn more about the
Snug Boots.
Brushing boots
If your horse brushes with it’s legs, it means that the (hind) legs brush against each other with every move. This can also lead to wounds at the legs, tendons and ligaments. Do you have a horse that brushes its legs? Make sure that you protect the inside of the legs. This can be done with brushing boots. There’s lots of different types, styles and models of brushing boots – with fur, with mesh, different designs, different fasteners, and so on.
Some of the basic bestsellers from LeMieux are the following:
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Mesh Brushing Boots: these boots are made of 3D-mesh, which makes them extremely breathable and air-permeable. The inside is reinforced with PU-leather to protect the leg.
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ProShell Brushing Boots: the pre-formed PU-material on the insides offers hard protection against brushing without losing out on flexibility. This gives the boots a good, comfortable fit. The ventilation holes ensure that excess heat can leave from the leg.
Supportive leg protection
The
Carbon Mesh Wrap boots offer light support and protection for your horse without trading in airiness and breathability. The Carbon 3D Mesh, which is also used in the Carbon Mesh Air saddle pads, is super strong and transports excess heat away. These boots wrap around the entire leg and have a unique shape around the fetlock thanks to the combination of one wide and one small fastener.
Could your horse really need some support? Choose the
Support Boots then. These allround sling boots offer support to the fetlock and the tendon. For great ventilation and prevention of sweating, these boots are made from perforated Airprene material. To provide addition protection to the fetlock, the lowest Velcro fastener wraps underneath the fetlock.
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here