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boon
Posts: 3
| Why do you see some barrel racers with boots on front legs and polos on back legs? I know the purpose for each type but why the difference from front to back. |
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 Expert
Posts: 5293
 
| Most leg injuries from barrel racing happen on the font legs. Over reaching, pulled muscles and tendons. I know a lot who leave the back legs unwrapped and only do the fronts. I use boots in front and polos in back simply because my horse looks funny with only 2 legs done. LOL |
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 1131
| My mare's back legs don't hold sport boots very well when we actually run for some reason. They always slip down no matter what we do, so we put polos on her backs. I also think that polos support the backs better, but sometimes I use the sport boots just for the simplicity during workouts (I rarely ever race/hard work in them)
ETA: I will never ever race any of my horses without all 4 legs wrapped and bell boots. Why risk an easily preventable injury?
Edited by FlyingHigh1454 2014-09-25 7:53 PM
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Elite Veteran
Posts: 762
Location: NC | My older horse hates back boots so usually he just has fronts on. Occasionally i will polo his back if grounds deep for extra support. Hes better in them then boots. My younger mare i boot front and wrap backs since she can be a spazz and i worry. I would prob back boot her if i had them but i only have one pair of backs and they are older SMBII's and allow alot of sand in. If hard working at home will put them on (havent recently) |
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 Warrior Mom
Posts: 4400
| I never liked the support from the boots on the back legs. I boot the fronts wrap the backs. Just my personal preference. |
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 Total Germophobe
Posts: 6443
Location: Montana | I put boots on the front because my mare paddles with one leg, but I haven't on the back for over a year. Last year my mare just decided she didn't like back boots, she acted very funny (not lame, just picked up her feet like if something sticky was on them). I've not had trouble with polos on the backs, and I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people polo the backs because their horses don't care for boots on their back legs either. |
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 Georgia Peach
Posts: 8338
Location: Georgia | I personally believe alot of people prefer to wrap only the back legs so that if the polo did by chance come unraveled, it wont be stepped on by the hind feet. Ive seen it happen on the front and it can be VERY BAD. I've always liked polos over boots. Less dirt, better leg contact, seems more comfy, etc. However, I can not use polos on the back legs of my mare. She sits so hard and fast that she has burned holes through my polo wraps. So I now wrap the front with polos and put legacy boots on the back. I like the legacys because they have the rough skid pad (not sure what its called) so she cant wear through them. Only issue I have now is that she will push the boots up her legs every now and then. But I definitely like this combo better than polos on all four. |
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 Regular
Posts: 85
Location: Huntsville Utah | I think polos look more comfortable and move with the leg of the horse and give more suppport that way. |
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 I'm Cooler Offline
Posts: 6387
Location: Pacific Northwest | A lot of people I know wrap the backs because their horses don't like boots on the their back legs but are fine with wraps. |
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