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Leg protection

Western gaiters, boots and bandages for protection and show! 

A Western horse often gets into extreme positions during training - making sharp turns and hard stops, where they are at high risk of hitting their legs against each other. There is a lot of force behind the horse's legs hitting each other, and therefore it can cause major injuries if you don't make sure the horse is wearing leg protection .  

Leg protection can be boots, bandages and bells - and all three are frequently used in the training of the western horse. The horse is designed so that there is no natural "padding" on the legs from the front knee down and from the hock down. Since the horse has no muscles here, the tendons and bones lie almost directly under the skin and are very exposed if the horse takes a blow. This is where gaiters and bandages can come into play, both of which can cushion the blow so that neither tendons nor bones are damaged.  

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However, you should make sure to pay attention to the use of leg protection for your horse. It has been shown that the temperature of the legs increases quite a lot when the horse wears leg protection while riding. If the legs are exposed to high temperatures frequently and for long periods of time, the heat will cause the cells in, for example, tendons and ligaments to degenerate. This weakens the tendons and ligaments and can cause the horse to more easily suffer tendon injuries, fork ligament injuries or ligament damage. However, with the correct use of leg protection, this can be remedied and be a great benefit in protecting your horse's legs.  

Both boots and bandages are common in western sports. Typically, however, especially in reining you will see gaiters on the hind legs - here you use "skid boots", which usually have a plastic cap on the back that protects the back of the horse's fetlocks when it is down in the deep sliding stops. Bandages can also protect against impact, but not to the same extent as gaiters. Instead, bandages can be used as part of a show outfit, where brightly colored bandages can be combined with western show blankets and show blouses.  

Bells can be used in different contexts. It can be both in the paddock if the horse often steps out of its shoes and during training if the horse steps on itself and injures its ball. 

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