Best turnout boots/chaps

C

Christmas Crumpet

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 August 2007
Messages
4,035
Visit site
I've got a grey horse with pink skin who has got a touch of mud fever on the sides of his pasterns and scabby heels. We have pretty much got the scabs off and I am liberally covering the pink skin in Barrier Hoof to Heel cream.

The fields are pretty dry at the moment so he is coming in with fairly clean legs/feet and I can wipe the cream off and reapply. However, as soon as it rains, it will turn into bottomless wet clay ground and I want to avoid his skin getting any more sensitive.

What turnout boots do people recommend? I spoke to PE who said their boots don't actually cover down to the coronet band which is where I would like the legs covered to.

It is only his hinds as his fronts aren't pink skinned.
 
Equi chaps are probably your only option if you want coverage all the way down. They're tricky to get the right fit though, I have had several pairs over the years on the same horse and they all slip down regardless of what size I get.
 
I brought Equilibrium Close Contact ones for my previous horse, a mud fever prone TB. I used them twice and then sold them as all they did was get his legs sweaty (which made the mud fever worse) and they still allowed mud to get up under the boots. I found the barrier Hoof to Heal stuff to be great and you don't want to be washing or wiping it off too often as it will continue to protect the skin even once caked in mud on top. In the muddy winter I would just cake his legs in it once a week. When it came to reapply, I would just rinse off, rub lightly with a towel and reapply. Once his mud fever disappeared, I used pig oil and sulphur applied every 2-3 weeks for protection and the mud would just slide off when he came in overnight.
 
I tried the equilibrium turnout boots that go over the coronet. They were terrible.

You have to do them up tight, but wet mud seeps up under them anyway. So you then have soaking wet boots on your horse that you have to try to dry overnight, ready for the next day. Then they get wet again as soon as the horse goes through any wet mud. Then they rub. So I swapped to Muddy Marvel barrier cream, stopped using the boots and the horse hasn't had mud fever since.
 
I have a pink skinned overo who got bad mud fever last year I used the equichap close contact boots all round till he recovered and all wounds had healed, I had to clean the bottom parts of the boots every night as mud got under the hoof area but legs were always clean and dry. since I have been back combing the hair on his legs with a soft body brush and liberally rubbing in kerratex mud shield powder and we haven't had any mudfever back I do this every morning he is out all day bring him in at night to deep straw that dries his legs and in morning I brush off the dry mud and re apply the kerratex
 
I used Equilibrium Hardy Chaps last year on my white legged, pansy of a chestnut!

They kept most of the mud off, and I also dusted her legs underneath with Keratex Mud Shield Powder.

This combination helped me clear up existing mud fever and prevent any new patches developing. The boots needed washing and tumble drying every night though which was a pain.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top