On Wed, Sep 12, 2007 at 04:07:27PM -0700, Judy Ryder wrote: > > What are over-reach boots? Our Gat is very pacey, should she wear those? > > The boots are not necessarily used because the horse is pacey, but because > of the conformation (legs that are not straight), or rider interference > (causing the horse to lean or they've come to use their bodies that way with > a rider), so that the legs interfere with one another.
well, or for horses new to a skill. i have bell boots for stjarni as he's learning to jump, because if he hurt his coronet bands while he's trying to transition to barefoot it could be a real disaster for his feet. not that he seems to need them -- he tucks his fetlocks -- but i figure better safe than sorry with a horse facing a new task. he doesn't interfere, even at hard pace (which he can do) and i think i've only ever see him wing outwards a bit (which i suspect was the fault of a poor shoeing job) -- in any case i never saw damage to his legs i think bell boots would have protected him from on the flat. --vicka
