Footiness (and hoofboot advice)

[SaffronWelshDragon]

Hi all,

Saf's now had her front shoes off for 3 months. She's coping fine schooling on grass, but hacking is becoming a nightmare. As long as we're on smooth tarmac she strides out beautifully, but what with all the gravel being washed onto the roads, she's having trouble managing on this rough stuff. She just slows right down and picks her was across carefully. She's out 24/7 in what is basically a lake now, as you know we've hardly had any dry weather. Not really sure what to do for the best. I don't want to put the shoes back on anyway at this stage. I just wondered whether all this water isn't helping? I'm in the process of desensitising her to the stable as she hates being in, but I assume that if she can spend a few hours in per day that must help?

I'm currently looking at hoofboots so we can continue our hacking (cavallos seem good value, we won't be going off road in them).

Any thoughts?

 

[Andalucian]

A horse develops a foot to match its environment. If your is in a swamp 24/7 it won't cope with hacking out unprotected. You can either leave the hacking until the conditions are better or add protection.

 

[webble]

Love my cavello hoof boots, they are great value and easy to use. They hold their value second hand too

 

[fishy]

I have some cavallos and they are great, very easy to use. I'm having a similar problem my horse has been barefoot for just over 6 months and been great to the extent that I've only used the boots as and when she's going somewhere stony or further than usual. Unfortunately she's now in 24/7 and footy and I'm having to use them more.

 

[Fransurrey]

If Cavallos fit, then I'd recommend them. Definitely protect her feet and I'd consider a thrush treatment, just in case. I use field pasteand tthen ride out in hoof boots to make sure it has a significant contact period.

 

[ester]

Definitely boot up - she is still at the stage where the feet often become more sensitive but aren't really conditioned. I spent about 6 months hacking in boots on the road - in part because of the same problem with floods and they also resurfaced near us! I use easyboot gloves but plenty of people like the cavallos - though sometimes use mens socks inside to prevent rubbing. Ensure you are treating any thrush too. Frank doesn't have any but am using red horse sole spray once or twice a week just in case.

 

[SaffronWelshDragon]

Thanks for all your replies! I will definitely look at the boots then. She's has quite round hooves which I believe at good for cavallos. I've just started cleaning her feet and spraying on 50:50 cider vineger:water mix to guard against thrush. Nice to know i'm not alone! We have a rough builders sand arena with round pebbles. I was wondering whether to do some gentle walk only lunging with her in there?

 

[SaffronWelshDragon]

Any thoughts on the above? I'm definitely going to order some cavallos. Saf is due a trim soon so will measure after that (though I very much doubt he will take much off the toe. What else do I need to know? Do I need to have gaiters with the boots?

These are the most recent pix of the tootsies, do you think they would suit the cavallos? They look pretty round to me

 

[stencilface]

Thanks for doing this post, mine has become footier too so I need to invest in some of these. I think my horses feet are round too, certainly the fronts are.