How to Measure a Horse for Bell Boots
Serious injury can occur when a horse overreaches and its rear hooves hit the tender areas at the back of its front hooves. Named for the shape they make when wrapped around the feet of your horse, bell boots protect the coronary bands, heels and bulbs of a horse's front hooves. Bell boots should be properly sized so they fit snugly around the pastern and cover the entire backside of the hooves. Producers of bell boots generally sell them in three or four different sizes, indicated either as "small, medium, large and extra large" or "pony, cob, horse and draft." Measure the height of your horse and the size one of your horse's hooves, then refer to the bell boot producer's sizing chart to determine which size to get.
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Instructions
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Measure the horse's height in hands using a horse height-and-weight tape measure. A "hand" is equal to 4 inches. A horse height-and-weight tape measure is flexible and has hands, as well as feet and inches. Measure from the ground to the withers (the shoulder bone area where the back is the highest).
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Measure the circumference of the horse's pastern (in inches), where the bell boot will be secured. The pastern is like the horse's ankle--that skinny pace between the fetlock joint and the hoof.
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Measure from the center of the pastern on the rear side of the hoof down to the bottom of the hoof to determine the boot height.
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Measure the circumference of the hoof, where the bell boot will flare out. Measure starting at the bottom of the back of the hoof. When you wrap the tape around the front of the hoof, bring the tape up about 1 1/2 inches to 2 inches up from the bottom. This is because the bottom of bell boots sit an angle, covering all of the back of the hoof, but not quite all of the front of the hoof.
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References
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