Horse boots and bandages: the FEI hind boot rules.

The FEI's rules site refused our requests, so the FEI Jumping and Eventing rules below are read as reproduced in Equestrian Australia's 2026 rulebooks, and the FEI Dressage rule from a 2019 text published by Equestrian New Zealand. Nothing here describes how to put on boots or bandages; that is learned in person.

The 500 g limit

FEI Jumping Rules Annex VIII 2.2(b), in force during 2026, limits the total equipment on any one leg, front or hind, to 500 grams, shoe excluded. That covers single or multiple boots, fetlock rings and similar items, and the limit applies under any circumstances, including when the equipment is wet. The FEI Eventing Rules (Annex O 3.3, 2026) apply the same 500 g limit in the eventing jumping test. Breaking the leg equipment rules in the jumping arena means elimination (Jumping Rules Art. 263.4.22), and the same is true in the eventing jumping test.

Hind boots: young horses and seniors

The senior rules also cover FEI World Jumping Challenge events. Under the same annex, lightweight bandaging such as Vet Wrap is allowed under hind boots, preferably put on with a steward present, and the steward may ask for it to be removed and redone. Fetlock rings are allowed if loose and within the 500 g limit, and pastern bands if not overtightened.

Boot and bandage control

FEI Jumping Rules Art. 266 makes boot and bandage control mandatory on every horse in the Grand Prix (or the competition with the highest prize), Nations Cup and League of Nations competitions, Puissance and Six Bar competitions, and recommends it in others. Control follows the FEI Boot and Bandage Control Protocol, a 2025 document on the FEI site that we could not open.

Eventing's cross-reference

The 2026 eventing rules say hind boots in the jumping test must follow "Annex VII of the Jumping Rules". In the 2026 Jumping Rules, Annex VII is about medical services and the hind boot rules are in Annex VIII. This looks like a reference left over from an older numbering, but we have not confirmed that.

How the rule developed

• 2013. British Showjumping announced on 23 May 2013 that it was applying an FEI ruling (in a document dated March 2013) to some national classes: 500 g in total per leg, hind protection no longer than 16 cm inside and at least 5 cm wide, smooth inside, and non-elastic Velcro-type fasteners only.
• 2019. Equestrian New Zealand reported that an FEI Jumping Committee decision barred one hind boot model with a plastic insert from 1 January 2019 on welfare grounds, with a clarification added to the 2019 Jumping Stewards' Manual.
• 2019 to 2021. According to a search summary of a World of Showjumping article, the limit to purely protective hind boots was phased in by rider category and reached seniors on 1 January 2021, despite the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. We could not open the article, so the phase dates are unconfirmed.

The rules are changing again. All FEI jumping tack and equipment rules are moving into a standalone document; EquNews reported on 1 September 2026 that the "FEI Tack and Equipment Requirements for Jumping 2027" had been published to take effect in February 2027, while the Jumping Rules text gives a proposed date of 1 January 2027. The bridles page has more on that change.

Where boots are not allowed, and other rules

• FEI Dressage (2019 text, Art. 428): boots and bandages are forbidden in competition, on pain of elimination.
• FEI Eventing (2026): boots and bandages are among the items permitted in training areas.
• Equestrian Australia national eventing (2026): hoof boots of any kind are forbidden for the cross-country test.
• Irish Pony Club cross-country tack sheet (2026): boots and bandages must be well secured, and studs may be no longer than 25 mm.

Any concern about a horse's legs is a matter for a vet, and a vet must be consulted. Whether particular boots are allowed in a class is decided by that body's current rules and its stewards.