I know there is a tradeoff between heat retention and leg protection with tendon boots. Intuitively sheepskin sounds like it would retain less heat than neoprene, which was engineered originally to retain heat. Does anyone know if there is any data on this topic? I’ll try cross posting in eventing.
Many, many years ago. I know of a few journal papers and one M.S. thesis for sure.
Both retain heat significantly above the denaturation temperature of many proteins (>106F).
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https://equimanagement.com/research-medical/horse-skin-temperature-under-boots-after-exercise/
https://www.eurodressage.com/2015/02/24/boots-or-bandages-what-best
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I’ve stopped booting my horses front legs. He interferes behind, so I keep them behind but would love to find something better than the veredus ventos. I appreciate the vents, but have you ever tried blowing through them? It’s pretty hard to believe there’s much air flow.
These two companies have interesting designs
I would be curious if anyone has tried them.
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Protection has more to do with what’s on the outside, like hard plastic, than what’s on the inside. All else equal, sheepskin will always be cooler than neoprene. That doesn’t mean sheepskin is still cool enough for all situations. The research on the boots and wraps in general is posted, so I won’t rehash that
DEFINITELY look hard at the Gatusos. I have an expert tack fitter friend who is incredibly detail-oriented in terms of comfort, and she got a pair of those to try. After a serious workout, her horse’s legs were DRY.
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Those are very interesting looking and would certainly allow for more air circulation. Do you know how rigid they are?
Not very rigid. I call them horse crocs (like the human croc clogs, seem to be made of similar material). They do have excellent airflow and seem to be very light weight. That being said, for serious jump schooling I go back to my Veredus vento boots.
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What is the sizing like in the Gatusos Air? Compared to, say, Equilibrium Tri-Zone?
I found this:
I am going to grab a pair, they’re about as attractive as crocs but I’m a function over fashion gal myself!
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Right now the height of these and similar are legal behind for USEF (except in young horse classes, and contrary to what another trainer was trying to tell my client at the ingate recently, but I digress…
), but when double checking myself during the aforementioned incident I was informed of some rumblings about upcoming hind boot rule changes which I suspect might bring us in line with FEI hind boot height rules. Speculation, but maybe purchase the fetlock boot just in case if you are planning to use them behind.
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I ordered a set and they run small relative to the Equilibrium Tri-Z zones, which is what I have to compare. My 16.2 horse with decent bone fits comfortably in L/XL Tri-Zones (for front/hind respectively), but in the Gatusos the XLs fit his fronts but not his hinds without stretching the elastic more than I want to.
I’ll look into whether the return is worth it to Spain, but if anyone with a more refined horse would like a brand new set of white boots, send me a p.m.!
