I was using hoof boots on my mare for a little while when she first went barefoot, but stopped as the condition of her feet improved. Now, I’m considering using them for rides again as I believe they have some shock absorption value… my concern is that the boots may affect break-over point or mess with her stride. Does anybody have experience with this? I have cavallo boots for all four, if that makes a difference.
I don’t jump with my horse but I use hoof Boots. I have Cavallos too and I feel they are too bulky and stiff for jumping and I agree they would affect break-over point
Maybe try with somenthing different, here in Europe Evo Horse Boots go for the most but maybe also Scoot Boots could be a food choice
Ok thanks! There is a another European brand I was looking at too, Swiss Galoppers, which look a bit more high tech too.
I have used scoots and renegades for some driving road work and trail riding over the past 7 years, but my gut instinct is to not want to jump in boots… clearly it has been done, so my gut could be way off… However, just a few weeks ago a friend of mine ran her (driving) pony in marathon in scoot boots with no problem. That’s not jumping, but it is a lot of rapid changes of direction, variable footing, water elements and a sustained period of work (6+km at a trot), so if it worked for that, I can’t see why they wouldn’t work for jumping.
Honestly I wouldn’t use hoof boots for “shock absorption” on any surface soft enough to jump on. I don’t think they are going to offer much. I use them for riding on surfaces with gravel that poke into the soles.
That said my Scoots are very stable at gallop. But I would just jump barefoot.
I have jumped multiple horses in (good-fitting) boots without issues, using EasyBoot Epics & Fury on varied surfaces; I most commonly jump on grass. I can’t recall if I ever jumped in the Cavallo Sports, I probably jumped small things. I did not find any impact on how the horse went, of course, I would not jump in boots until I was certain that the horse was comfortable performing all tasks on the flat in boots as well and I made sure I understood the ways in which the boot might or might not affect traction in different conditions (shoes don’t always help with traction either & responses will vary by horse & your conditions). Using the boots was definitely a plus for my princess-footed horse, he was more confident with the extra protection the boots offered on landing since it was summer-hard-ground-time.
If I was going to be jumping in conditions where I needed studs, I shod the horse – that wasn’t worth the risk of a boot turning to me.
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I have Swiss Galoppers too, I like them because they absorbe shocks very well (there is a thin layer of soft rubber inside) and their gaiter suits my thin skinned appendix very well. They are quite stable if horse’s hoof has a good natural shape, if horse is still in transiton they might not be so stable at gallop. Anyway they have a far better break-over point then Cavallos (I have Trek Boots, I can’t speak about Sport because I never tried them)
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