Cobs, hoof boots and mud

[canteron]

My lovely, currently barefoot, cob has the best feet - well shaped and strong, but we live in a very stony area and to get to the hacking we have to do about quarter of a mile of “ouchy” stony track. Another bit is so muddy the poor horse slips and slides.

So do boots give more grip in mud and anyone used them on their cobs (he is a lightweight type).

I will shoe if I have to - but it doesn’t really seem worth it for quarter of a mile of stony area before we reach the grass tracks.

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

I used Cavello hoof boots on those of our native ponies who were a bit sensitive on stones if we were likely to encounter any ( certain hacks and box park hardstanding ) . They seemed to give pretty good traction in mud and on wet grass - never came off either . Some of the bigger Highlands have cob sized/shaped feet .

 

[milliepops]

I think it'll depend on the size of your horse's feet and what boots you can get hold of. My sec D has ginormous feet and the only boots that would fit her were worse than barefoot for grip on slippy areas; i gave up and shod her. one of my other horses could wear a choice of boots and i found ones like renegades were fairly decent though I personally never found them better than bare feet.

 

[PapaverFollis]

I can't comment in mud grip, although I have seen good things, but I really rate the Scoot boots. Very low profile so don't seem to interfere with natural stride. Had a pair stay on when one if the horses went paddling in a deep ditch instead of just walking past a cement lorry like a normal animal. So that was a thumbs up!

 

[HelenBack]

I don't know about deep mud but we have clay soil here that gets quite greasy and I find my current hoof boots (Cavallos and Easyboot trails) don't cope very well with that at all. I'm currently looking for better options and the main recommendations seem to be for Renegades or Scoots.

As an alternative could you consider leading over the problematic section if it's only short and then jumping on when you reach the decent hacking?