Scottie is a serial over reacher! Since I had him he has always over reached with one leg when he is relaxed and walking nicely. As he has built up muscle and has learnt to use himself properly, this overreaching has become a bigger problem. When we are riding in the school having a good stretch in walk you can regularly hear the click, clunk, clunk of Scottie overreaching for several steps in a row. He also can be very silly in the field and had a year or so where he was a serial shoe puller! Once he even managed to go out with 4 shoes and came back with just the 1!
Because of his overreaching he has been in overreach boots for a long time now. When I first noticed him overreaching when in work he wore rubber overreach boots for work. Then when he started pulling front shoes we popped them on for in the field too. When hind shoes started coming off too I bit the bullet and booted up all round! Scottie would live in these overreach boots all year round.
My overreach boot of choice are Shires plain and simple rubber overreach boots. They are incredibly good value and stand up to all the wear and tear Scottie puts them through. As I’ve already mentioned, Scottie lives in these overreach boots. They have to deal with the mud, the hosing down, the sandy surface and Scottie regularly standing on them. And I have to say, they last incredibly well!
Our current set of four boots I bought before I graduated University… so we are looking at pre May 2016. Now while he doesn’t wear them on all 4 feet all year round, he does wear them on his fronts every day in the field and every time we ride and often in the stable too – so that I don’t have to battle with muddy boots in the evening!
By now, these four boots are starting to really be on their last legs. Scottie has managed to rip small chunks off of them and I think all the boots are down to their last bit of working velcro. But they have been used in all weathers, every day for about 2 years. Which I think is very impressive going!
They come in a range of colours. I like brown for shows and clinics and baby blue for every day as this shows up nicely if he pulls one off in the field! They also come in a good range of sizes so should fit most horses.
The only thing you have to be careful of is that they will rub some horses if they are left on indefinitely. But this is an issue faced with all over reach boots. You can get sheepskin topped rubber boots which are great for riding. But I’m not sure wet sheepskin in the field will help the rubbing issue. So if you have a sensitive skinned horse you might be better going down the more expensive neoprene boot road.
I tend to get my overreach boots from VioVet!
Last Updated on 22/12/2021
