A matter of balance
MOST horses are routinely booted up or bandaged for exercise. While some kind of protection is largely seen as essential, there are benefits and risks in covering or inadvertently constricting the lower limbs.
A common misapprehension is that bandages act to “support” the limb by preventing over-extension of the fetlock. A well-applied layered clinical bandage can provide some such support in foals or very small ponies, but studies have found that this is not the case with an adult horse.
Achieving this requires the application of more rigid materials, such as a splint or fibreglass cast, or orthotic boots (EqueStride or FastTrack, for example). These newer boots
