Why is this stallion wearing knee-pads while he jumps?

Swiss rider Martin Fuchs rocketed to a seriously impressive victory in the Longines Global Champions Tour grand prix in Cascais, Portugal, on Saturday (22 June) riding the 12-year-old Chaplin.

But on closer inspection you’ll have noticed some rather unusual boots being used on the inside of the stallion’s knees, so we asked Chaplin’s 26-year-old rider to tell us more.

“He strikes his knees sometimes when he jumps,” Martin told H&H — the horse tends to make an “O” shape with his legs over the fences. “When he came to us we were told he needed to wear protection on his legs but the boots they gave us were not a good solution and kept falling off during the course as they didn’t really fit.”

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Article written by: Jennifer Donald