Hoof boot help please!!

toothfairy87

toothfairy87

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Help im lost!! I need to find some hoof boots for my 16.3hh ISH to help him transitioning to barefoot while his feet harden and strengthen. There are so many makes and so many people saying all are good and bad, so am hoping someone possibly in a similar situation can offer some advice or experiences.

His feet are more oval shaped than round, and his toes tend to grow quite quickly. I live in the shetland islands so farrier visits are not as often as I would like. This means the boots will have to be able to cope with a bit of growth in between trims.

He has a big movement and tends to scoop his feet when trotting or cantering so they will need to be secure. I have read various reviews and people have had problems with different brands rubbing. Of course I do not want anything that is going to cause a rub, but he is quite thick skinned and should hopefully be able to cope with quite a lot. I will only really need them for hacking out on roads as he is fine being ridden barefoot in the field or school, but could potentially be out for up to 3 hours later in the year once I have built his fitness back up again.

Thanks for taking the time to read this :D
 
In theory my preference is gloves but in practice I get on best with Old Macs G2. I'd go for Old Macs in your situation - they are a bit more forgiving on fit and will give you room for manoeuvre between trims, they are secure and the gaiters are good. My 16.3 ISH wears his in the spring/summer cos I can't control his diet well enough on livery to get him rock crunching in the spring/summer. He's had them 4 years now and they are nowhere near needing replacing. They've been great on all surfaces except really (unexpected!) deep mud where they stayed put but we slipped around a bit. However, I expect we'd have slipped just as much if we'd been bare or shod.

The Saddlery Shop are good for advice :)
 
toothfairy, the best boots are the ones that fit the best, you will be governed by the sizes that his feet are now, to keep them nice and tidy ask your farrier to show you how to keep the edges neat and tidy, its relatively easy to do and just needs practice. that way you can keep them tidy inbetween infrequent visits. if you go onto www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk there is a size chart for most of the easily available boots, the lady there is also really helpfull. i had the added disadvantage that my boys feet were wider than long so i'm unable to get boots to fit him any more, he's now wearing his first ever set of shoes :( he just couldnt cope without boots.

best of luck, and hope you get sorted soon,

by the way i've tried easyboot bare's and marquis boots and old macs, all seemed to fit well and horse seemed happy with them, sadly he's retired now but transitioned well
 
do not buy new, rent a couple of pairs before you decide to buy, this can be done from thesaddleryco (I think) also remember once your horse has been barefoot for a while his feet will become flatter and wider therefore bigger and no amount of trimming in between trims will keep them the size they were when shoes were removed, so better to rent now and then rent again in 6 months time, then decide on your choice of purchase. I know and it cost me £150 that are sitting in the bag too small to be used and worn on 5 times as boys feet widened so they rubbed.
 
Cavello boots are great, hard wearing, have not rubbed at all, reasonable cost (£76 of the net)and so easy to put etc, they come with gel pads too for extra comfort. My farrier measured his foot for the right size but if you follow the guidelines you should be able to measure yourself. Farrier also recomended he wear them in the field to help with wearing in a little, say half an hour each day, by day four we out hacking and they never rubbed. Towards the end of the 6 wk trimming interval they do start to be a little tighter to put on but we always seem to get by between visits, I would love to be able to rasp for this reason. Good luck
 
Thanks for all your replies guys. I'll deffo look into the old macs and the cavallos. Its difficult being up in Shetland as we dont have any shops or suppliers up here for me to try things on so I can only go on my length and width measurments. No-one ever wants to send anything to Shetland and when they do they charge a fortune! :(

I dont know who Ross Barker is. Possibly from Orkney? I will ask around :)
 
V good advice to try before buy. Even if from measurements a boot seems the right fit it might not be - just the same as with our own shoes.

But hooves don't necessarily become flatter and wider. Some will get smaller and more concave. Some change shape completely including position of heel and angle of toe.

And some don't change size or shape at all.

In the UK there is a strong demand for second hand hoof boots so it is fairly easy to sell unwanted/used boots.
 
I'm where you are just now and I had 2 sets of boots to choose from. I bought a pair of new (had only been tried on) Cavallos off ebay and my pal lent me a pair of gloves.

My boy is perfectly happy with the Cavallos but he clearly doesnt like the gloves??

Needless to say, it was back to hunting for another pair of second hand Cavallos. I found a pair on the uknhcp forum - they have loads of folks selling second hand boots.

I am so glad I didnt fork out full price for the expensive gloves. I think in this case, the moral is "buy cheap because you will probably have to buy twice" ;)
 
I use the Cavallo boots on my horses as well and we LOVE them! If your horse has a more oval shaped hoof they have the new Sport boot that is shaped for a narrower hoof which sounds like it would be the best fit for your horse. Their customer service department is very helpful, if you contact them with your horse's hoof measurements they can recommend a size for you.

www.cavallo-inc.com
 
TBH I'd contact The Saddlery Shop if I were you and have a chat with them once you've got the correct measurements of the feet you wish to boot. I did this last week and opted for the Cavallo boots for my mare's hinds (more round than long, in her case.) They were really helpful.

The Saddler Shop website also has a really good section on which type of hoof boot suits which shape hoof and is well worth a look if you haven't already (http://www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk/MeasureHoofBoots.aspx)
 
When my lad was diagnosed with severe side bones I had to start using Hoof boots for hacking out in to stop any percussion.

It is a bit of a minefield but I ended up buying a pair of Cavallo Easy Boots and both he and I are delighted with them.

So easy to put on and off, come complete with Gel Pads and a set of gaiters for under 80GBP from the net. Non slip even on some of our very slick tarmac roads and even survived an accidental fast canter through very thick mud.

You measure from the toe of the hoof to the Buttress line for fitting (diagram below) and my recommendation would be to forget the gaters and invest in some large size mens socks which fit over the whole hoof and work perfectly as protection (never had any rubbing at all).

Look at the uknhcp forum for great advice and often they have second hand Boot bargains for sale.

hoofmeasurement.jpg


My chap wearing a pair of very chavtastic white socks:-)
myyboots.jpg
 
I think that I may have used every sort of hoof boot at one time or another for all sorts of horses.

I have recently trialled the Equine Fusion Jogging Shoe, I've found this an excellent boot, easy to fit, doesn't rub, superb in rough terrain.
 
Cavellos are really good boots, my boy is currently turned out in his while we are waiting for him to grow some foot.
These boots really take a hammering, he tears about like a lunatic in them and they stay put I bring him in at night to let his feet and the boots dry out.
Now the question is do I reshoe him or have another go at barefoot?
 
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