Learn how to protect your horse’s legs with boots and wraps with advice from trainer Sarah Dawson.
If you do any kind of fast-paced riding with your horse, you might want to consider putting protective legwear on him. The right boots can reduce injuries from one leg striking another during high-energy activities or reduce friction from sand in maneuvers like sliding stops.
You’ll want to choose the right boot for the job, and make sure you put them on correctly, for them to work as intended. Here, reined cow horse trainer Sarah Dawson shares tips for putting boots on your horses.
Sports Medicine Boots
Purpose
Sports medicine boots, also called protective boots, are frequently seen on western horses both in the show pen (where allowed) and during training. They wrap the front and back legs and fetlocks in neoprene-lined material secured with velcro straps.
They protect against interference from other legs and sand abrasion. Some people feel they offer a bit of suspensory ligament support with a strap that cradles the fetlock.
They’re used in many sports, from speed events to reining and cow horse. Some English riders also like to use them. Sarah uses them while training and in all of the reined cow horse events: reining, herd work and cow work.
How to Apply
◆ Position the boot just below your horse’s knee and hold it in place with your hand that is closer to the hind end. Sarah prefers placing her thumb on the front seam.
◆ Slide the boot down slightly until the cupped part is surrounding the fetlock.
◆ Using your opposite hand and starting with the top strap, pull it around the leg until the boot is secured.
◆ Continue down the leg, finishing by pulling the fetlock strap around the fetlock, up and across the front of the horse’s cannon bone.
Fit Tips
Don’t place the boot too low or too high. Make sure you have the right boot on each leg—usually these boots are labeled left and right. Make sure there are no folded edges that can cause injury to your horse.
Bell Boots
Purpose
Bell boots protect your horse’s coronary band and heel bulbs from being struck by another hoof, which can cause injury. You can use them on all four legs, but they’re usually put only on the front legs.
They are good for many action-oriented events, both English and western. Sarah uses them in rein work and fence work to prevent overreach injuries. She says a common misconception is that bell boots prevent your horse from pulling off a shoe.
“They really don’t do a lot there—my horses will pull shoes just as easily with bell boots on as without,” Sarah says.
How to Apply
◆ Place the back of the boot against your horse’s heels, making sure it doesn’t touch the ground. You don’t want the horse to step on the boot with his hind foot.
◆ Secure the closure snugly. Make sure the boot covers the coronary band, without sitting too high and leaving the heel bulbs exposed.
Fit Tips
If your boots have a strap, make sure you put it on the foot that allows the strap to pull toward your horse’s chest—unlike the other boots, where you pull the straps toward the tail. This keeps the horse from brushing the strap as his leg is crossing over.
Skid Boots
Purpose
Skid boots fit a hard pad over your horse’s hind fetlocks to protect them when your horse does a sliding stop. The leather version is most often used in reining and the rein work in a reined cow horse event.
A skid boot with a nylon sock is helpful in cutting events, protecting more of the leg as the horse may cross his legs while cutting back and forth.
“The heel drops quite a bit when the horse slides,” Sarah says. “Without those boots, the sand would burn them.”
How to Apply
◆ Start with the top strap, slightly higher than needed. Sarah says this will keep the hair laying smooth as you pull it down to position. Work your way down to the bottom strap last, making sure you have even tension on each strap.
◆ Make sure the hard pad is positioned to cup the fetlock joint to protect it as designed.
Fit Tips
Don’t place the boot too low, and make sure the straps wrap from the front to the tail end of the horse. Don’t wrap too tight, which can reduce blood circulation.
Open-Front Boots
Purpose
These are used in jumping to protect the horse’s legs from injury due to hitting each other, while leaving the front portion open so the horse can feel if he hits a jump pole.
“If a pole falls, they feel it, and the next time they’ll want to pick their feet up a little bit more,” Sarah says.
How to Apply
◆ Place the molded boot on the back of your horse’s leg where it fits best.
◆ Starting with the top strap, tighten each one to the bottom.
◆ Make sure you’ve got the right boot on the leg; you want straps to point back toward the tail.
Fit Tips
The open front should show the cannon bone/shin. Make sure the boots are not too tall or short for your horse’s cannons.
Polo Wraps
While many people like to use traditional polo wraps, Sarah advises against them if you’re inexperienced because they can cause injuries if wrapped incorrectly.
“You really want someone experienced to show you how to wrap polos one-on-one,” she advises. “With polo wraps, the placement is extremely important. How tight you have them is extremely important. If you do it wrong, you have a big risk of causing a wrap bow—a bowed tendon created by trying to help your horse.”
Boot Care
Each time you finish working your horse, make sure to rinse out the inside of your boots. This will help prevent transmitting any type of fungus and remove irritants like sweat and sand from the boots.
Rule Check
Not all equine events allow you to show your horse in protective boots. Western pleasure, horsemanship, trail, hunter under saddle and hunt seat equitation don’t allow boots. Check your association rulebook before putting boots on your horse for competition!
Meet the Expert
Sarah Dawson is a National Reined Cow Horse Association Million Dollar Rider, an NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity champion, and a winning team member of the first The American Performance Horseman competition. She and her husband, fellow trainer Chris Dawson, live in Perrin, Texas.
This article about horse leg boots and wraps appeared in the May/June 2024 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!
