I have mentioned my personal addiction love for boots of all shapes and sizes. So I thought I'd share what Solo and I have settled on after years of trying and watching about everything out there.
I do not use boots for dressage schooling, except for front bell boots to protect his special shoes, because I don't like to heat up tendons if I don't have to. For jump schooling, we use open front boots to protect the front tendons and galloping boots behind to ward off interference along with the standard front bell boots. At a show, I will use hind ankle boots instead of galloping boots (lighter). For XC, we always go all out: bell boots all around, rear heavy duty galloping boots, super awesome N.E.W. sport boots up front.
Bell Boots
I'm actually pretty happy with a cheapie lot of Roma double lock bell boots I purchased as a group of 8. The velcro is ridiculously grippy and it takes me both hands & some patience to get them off, but I use these for our turnout boots; they hold up surprisingly well. Not bad for $7.
For competition, we are stuck with a pair of Equilibrium Tri-Zone no-turn bell boots. If by "no-turn" you mean "pretty-much-always-turn." They have the little knobby in the back, but it does basically nothing. Having ripped boots at a horse show, I had to pick some up at the tack tent and this is all they had, so I had to cough up about $30 for them, ugh. As a plus, they are very professional looking & durable; aside from being dirty, they are in impeccable shape despite several trips around XC & schooling & mud. I think we will be stuck with their turniness for a while, which is kind of annoying on a shaped boot.
When we run XC, I also put a pair of simple pull-ons on his back feet, just to protect from interference. I picked them up for about $10, no complaints.
Hind Boots
It's all Woof wear back here. For schooling, I adore my Woof All-Around galloping boot. I will buy these forever & ever. If the ones I have ever die. They are simple, single-lock, two strap velcro, usually on sale at Dover for around $30. I have never had them budge or give way. After about three years of use, they are worn, but still perfectly serviceable. They used to be used for competitions as well, so they've seen a XC course or two, until....
I found a pair of 5-strap Woof sport boots in the trash can while volunteering at an event. Silly rich people (these are $60 boots)...yay for me! They were in perfect shape except for a tiny rub on one edge. So now they are our competition boots due to their heavy duty construction, I have no worries that Solo is going to bash through them. On the downside, they are quite heavy & do not breathe at all, but they don't seem to absorb too much water either.
I also recently bought a pair of hind ankle boots for stadium jumping, my barn-mates all use them & I really liked their lighter weight & smaller design. The galloping boots seemed like overkill for stadium and, again, I don't like to heat up those tendons! I found a set of Moxie breathable neoprene boots on sale for about $28. They come in fun colours & are super light. NO, mine are NOT hot pink, of COURSE they are a lovely dark powder blue!! I would give them only a moderate breathability rating -- the ankle pad breathes pretty well, but the strip around the cannon bone does not.
Front Boots
In the past, I've ridden stadium in plain open front boots from Roma -- durable, fit well, and affordable (around $25ish). Easy to clean, but like the Woofs, lined with neoprene so again, not so breathable. Then I ride XC in some generic neoprene splint boots that I think I paid a whopping $12 for. The splint boots are now disintegrating after three years of faithful service, so it was time to find a replacement (I'll keep the open fronts for stadium, but want the front of the leg protected for XC).
In my other boot post, I told you how I'd learned some startling statistics about boots & injury. I also learned that something like 80% of sporthorse injuries were to the lower front limbs. So I wanted to be sure that this time, I had the best protection I could find. I wanted breathability, lightness, & a serious tendon strike plate.
I ended up with these: the N.E.W Airoflow XC boot. Yes, I paid a ridiculous amount of money for them. I'm not telling, but I did get them on sale. I think because the labels are sewn on upside down. But I am hoping to get some serious years out of them. Oh, and I tried them tonight for the first time. And they are totally AWESOME.
The inside is some kind of techy impact foam. But the material is a very open weave, not quite a waffle weave, but same concept. When I took them off of Solo's legs after a sweaty dressage workout on a humid night, his legs were almost totally dry!!!! The outside is a super tough looking nylon & the cannon is encased in a carbon fiber strike plate that is molded around the leg & padded with the foamy stuff. Oh and the best part: they are machine washable. Now THERE'S practical design!
I do not use boots for dressage schooling, except for front bell boots to protect his special shoes, because I don't like to heat up tendons if I don't have to. For jump schooling, we use open front boots to protect the front tendons and galloping boots behind to ward off interference along with the standard front bell boots. At a show, I will use hind ankle boots instead of galloping boots (lighter). For XC, we always go all out: bell boots all around, rear heavy duty galloping boots, super awesome N.E.W. sport boots up front.
Tri-Zone bell boots |
I'm actually pretty happy with a cheapie lot of Roma double lock bell boots I purchased as a group of 8. The velcro is ridiculously grippy and it takes me both hands & some patience to get them off, but I use these for our turnout boots; they hold up surprisingly well. Not bad for $7.
For competition, we are stuck with a pair of Equilibrium Tri-Zone no-turn bell boots. If by "no-turn" you mean "pretty-much-always-turn." They have the little knobby in the back, but it does basically nothing. Having ripped boots at a horse show, I had to pick some up at the tack tent and this is all they had, so I had to cough up about $30 for them, ugh. As a plus, they are very professional looking & durable; aside from being dirty, they are in impeccable shape despite several trips around XC & schooling & mud. I think we will be stuck with their turniness for a while, which is kind of annoying on a shaped boot.
When we run XC, I also put a pair of simple pull-ons on his back feet, just to protect from interference. I picked them up for about $10, no complaints.
Hind Boots
Solo sports 2-strap Woofs behind |
I found a pair of 5-strap Woof sport boots in the trash can while volunteering at an event. Silly rich people (these are $60 boots)...yay for me! They were in perfect shape except for a tiny rub on one edge. So now they are our competition boots due to their heavy duty construction, I have no worries that Solo is going to bash through them. On the downside, they are quite heavy & do not breathe at all, but they don't seem to absorb too much water either.
I also recently bought a pair of hind ankle boots for stadium jumping, my barn-mates all use them & I really liked their lighter weight & smaller design. The galloping boots seemed like overkill for stadium and, again, I don't like to heat up those tendons! I found a set of Moxie breathable neoprene boots on sale for about $28. They come in fun colours & are super light. NO, mine are NOT hot pink, of COURSE they are a lovely dark powder blue!! I would give them only a moderate breathability rating -- the ankle pad breathes pretty well, but the strip around the cannon bone does not.
Front Boots
In the past, I've ridden stadium in plain open front boots from Roma -- durable, fit well, and affordable (around $25ish). Easy to clean, but like the Woofs, lined with neoprene so again, not so breathable. Then I ride XC in some generic neoprene splint boots that I think I paid a whopping $12 for. The splint boots are now disintegrating after three years of faithful service, so it was time to find a replacement (I'll keep the open fronts for stadium, but want the front of the leg protected for XC).
In my other boot post, I told you how I'd learned some startling statistics about boots & injury. I also learned that something like 80% of sporthorse injuries were to the lower front limbs. So I wanted to be sure that this time, I had the best protection I could find. I wanted breathability, lightness, & a serious tendon strike plate.
I ended up with these: the N.E.W Airoflow XC boot. Yes, I paid a ridiculous amount of money for them. I'm not telling, but I did get them on sale. I think because the labels are sewn on upside down. But I am hoping to get some serious years out of them. Oh, and I tried them tonight for the first time. And they are totally AWESOME.
The inside is some kind of techy impact foam. But the material is a very open weave, not quite a waffle weave, but same concept. When I took them off of Solo's legs after a sweaty dressage workout on a humid night, his legs were almost totally dry!!!! The outside is a super tough looking nylon & the cannon is encased in a carbon fiber strike plate that is molded around the leg & padded with the foamy stuff. Oh and the best part: they are machine washable. Now THERE'S practical design!