Should your horse wear overreach boots cross country?

I always do, she doesn't over reach but you never know she could slip and clip her heels! like you said I put them on just for extra protection and also brushing boots!

For a horse that doesn't overreach, I wouldn't and don't. I think adding something like this to the horse's legs has it's own risks, and the benefit of maybe sometime possibly something might happen must be weighed against the issues of changing his stride and the feel of his own legs. I think he's as likely to misstep because of the unnecessary boots as he is to be saved by them.

I tried, and it wrecked my mare's hind hooves; the hooves were chipped and grated from just brushing the boots at high speed and angle. You don't need it that bad; if you're really worried, you can put a wrap over the coronet and ergot a bit. Splint boots usually have a longer bottom portion to add protection for the areas below the ergot; worked fine for my bouncy Arab-Paint.

does your horse have the tendency to overreach? you pretty much answered your own question. simple stuff, depends on how over protective you are I guess.

My horse has no tendency to overreach and wearing bell boots actually makes him trip often because he's not used to them due to the fact that he doesn't normally wear them. But if your horse isn't bothered I would put them on. Safety First.

I would - they may slip and catch themselves on landing, going lame or ripping a shoe off (and possibly half the foot, again resulting in lameness). My behaviour teacher at college told a story the other day when looking at conformation faults as a bit of a detour from the actual lesson of a horse she worked with at a dealer's yard when she was a teenager - it overreached and sliced the whole of one of the bulbs of his heel off and had to be on box rest for a year to allow it to grow back. He didn't even have back shoes on! Better to be safe than sorry.

I do with one of my horses, who has a tendancy to overreach when she gets excited. My other horse has really thick feathers (trad. cob!), and doesn't ever overreach, so we think it is unnecessary for him to have them - plus, it's really hard to fit them over/under his feathers!

It depends, my horse wears brushing boot too. My horse has over reach boots although she doesn't tend to need them. I don't use over reah boots cross country, but if your horses over reaches badly then yes, it would be a good idea to use them.

As long as your horse isn't bothered by bell boots then I would use them. Just for extra protection. I mean they are only $20 and could save you in vet bills! Plus, they look and sound cool haha