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boon
Posts: 1
| Trying to help my daughter get started in barrel racing; we just got her a pretty awesome little horse to ride and we've noticed he does overreach pretty regularly, and is clipping his front legs. We know we need to buy some bell boots, but as we are pretty green; we don't know if we need to buy just 2, or 4; if we need splints for all four legs or just the front. We just want to keep her horse healthy and sound, and not waste money on things we don't really need. Any advice will be appreciated! Thanks |
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 Expert
Posts: 5290
 
| Bell boots are just for front feet. I would start with getting a set of polo wraps so you can wrap all 4 legs for protection. They are inexpensive. Hope that helps! |
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 Shelter Dog Lover
Posts: 10277
| Polo wraps work great, be sure you have someone show you how to properly wrap them. I was at a
race the overnight and noticed some polo's wrapped so tight the horses legs were swelling above them. |
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  Sock eating dog owner
Posts: 4553
 
Location: Where the pavement ends and the West begins Utah | Since your NEW to this forget the polo wraps. You will need bell boots for both front feet. They go on below the pasturn. Full (splint) boots for the front for the leg area and full (splint) boots for the hinds. Good luck in your new adventure.
Edited by cow pie 2014-11-16 7:15 PM
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 More bootie than waist!
Posts: 18425
Location: Riding Crackhead. | If your horse is clipping his front legs I would have a farrier do some adjusting on his feet. A lot of clipping and over reaching can be helped by the farrier. IMO |
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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6437
Location: Montana | For overreaching, definitely talk to your farrier, but bell boots are used for that and you only need them for the front feet.
As far as splint boots or sports medicine boots, I'd kind of wait and see. My mare I use fronts on because she paddles her one leg. She has never interfered, but if she did it would cause injury. If you go the route of polo wraps, be sure to have someone show you how to wrap them, or watch many videos about it online. It isn't that hard when you know how to do it, but doing it incorrectly will cause more problems than having no boots or wraps at all.
Tell your daughter good luck and have fun!  |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | Like others have said, bell boots are just for fronts, and then they make splints for front and back. I use Classic Equine, and Iconoclast is really good too. While polo wraps ARE less expensive, I wouldn't go that route just yet unless you have someone very knowledgeable that can show you how to wrap them, because you can wrap them wrong and injure their tendons, or not get them tight enough and they will come undone during a run and cause an accident. |
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 Take a Picture
Posts: 12838
| Right now Valley Vet has Classic Equine boots for $70+ in a lot of neat colors. I have a pair that I use of and on that I have had for about 10 years so they hold up well. I just use the fronts. Also Valley Vet has some bell boots made by Weaver that are less that $25--I just ordered a pair. I seem to go through bell boots pretty fast. I know how to wrap polos and find they are a pain in the butt. |
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 Balance Beam and more...
Posts: 11493
Location: 31 lengths farms | If the horse is clipping himself hard near the sesmoid area I'd skip the polos and the SMB style boots and go for the leather Classic Equine boots with the protective area over the sesmoids. My gelding did the same thing and had to have scar tissue removed from that area. Went to the CE boots and haven't had a problem in the last 8 years with new scar tissue developing, before that I used polos and soft boots too....
These:
http://www.equibrand.com/Leather-Splint-Boot-p379/
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Advice needed for buying horse boots