Hoof boot suggestions

[Cecile]

I haven't a clue about hoof boots so could anyone recommend a make of boot or web sites for me to study?

It has to be boots which would be good for an American Miniature for turn out for a few hours so fairly small,
he has seedy toe and I am about to embark on using an IV bag and cleantrax <I could fit all of his 4 legs together in a cleantrax boot bag> so an IV bag it has to be as that is about the best idea we can come up with for now........

I want to look at buying boots to turn him out for a few hours at a time whilst I try to get the seedy toe under control and hopefully try to keep his foot as clean and dry as possible,
I will improvise tomorrow with vetwrap and chopping up an old barbour coat but I also don't want his feet to sweat so would like some idea's on boots

 

[ester]

minis I think your options will be cavallos https://www.cavallo-inc.com/product-category/hoof-boot/mini-hoof-boots/

but they aren't waterproof as they have big drainage holes- When pouticing I have lined them with a rubble or feed sack but they do sweat a bit.

or easyboot minis
https://www.easycareinc.com/our_boots/easyboot_mini/easyboot_mini.aspx they might be better (I do like easyboots)

 

[coss]

ditto the cavallos. I've used cavallo/old mac for treating abcesses on horses that are on 24/7 turnout. I'd suggest a fair amount of gamgee as that itself is dry and/or a nappy over the hoof then i usually cut up old feed bags to cover the hoof with plastic then boot over the top since the boots have drainage points. I wonder if you could do the same for the seedy toe?

 

[supsup]

I used Equine Fusion Ultimate boots for turnout for my pony mare for a while. They go down to quite small sizes (I think 60-75mm length/width is the smallest size). They are a pretty soft boot, and I chose it because I wanted to avoid rubs with longer term wear.
This mare came to me with big cracks and seedy toe (very overgrown), but I used the boots later on when she became footsore on hard ground (turned out to be Cushing-related), not for the treatment of seedy toe.
IME, the hooves will sweat inside the boot, it's unavoidable if you use them for any length of time, and particularly in our wet climate. I don't think I would use them to treat seedy toe. I battled for months to try an grow out the cracks/seedy toe on my mare, but it would just eat up underneath the hoof wall as quickly as it was growing down. In the end what helped was a more aggressive approach to trimming, opening up the crack to expose all the seedy toe area to air (and turnout out without any covering). Any and all attempts I made to try and clean out the area from underneath and tread/block with antiseptic didn't get me anywhere in the long run.
Otherwise, the Fusions worked well for her with virtually 24/7 wear.

 

[Cecile]

Thank you for all the suggestions it is appreciated, I will measure him and see, he went out this morning with lightweight waterproof coverings on, not sure if they will be on later as he wasn't amused and walked away for a few strides and acted like I had tied bricks to his foot but got over himself quickly and cantered off

Yes I agree supsup I would not normally cover it but have it cut out and then let the air get to it but farrier is coming out every few weeks and in between I am scrubbing with salty water and using Alamycin with little benefit seen so far, I wish we had some dry hot weather but yesterday we had the dremel going rather than hoof knife as it seems so persistent so we thought we could try a different way of dealing with this problem until the weather clears, if it was just a hole I could pack it. I have never found seedy toe difficult to treat previously once the farrier has done his bit, I usually follow through just in case any is lurking with the scrubbing and spraying and all goes well after a short time. This time it is turning into a bit of a nightmare

Not looking forward to the Cleantrax, it had better work as reading how to use it correctly sounds like fun <not>

 

[HappyHollyDays]

One of mine got a tiny split in his hoof last November which resulted in seedy toe. The farrier cut the area away quite aggressively until just unaffected hoof was exposed and I sprayed it daily with Red Horse Sole Cleanse. Farrier advised not to pack it with anything as it creates the right environment for the bacteria to keep growing and by opening it up could breathe and harden up. He lives out full time and it has been wet and muddy but it's cleared up beautifully.

Have never used the Red Horse products before but I'm impressed with the spray and use it regularly on both ponies every few days and even in this manky wet weather neither have had any sign of thrush this winter.

 

[ester]

cleantrax is great stuff! as are the red horse products between soakings.

has it been resected and dremelled then?

 

[Cecile]

Yes up until now just used the hoof knife but it was just tracking upwards so had to get a bit radical last night, I don't do face book but his foot maybe on there somewhere later, you can actually see the blue of the Alamycin going up the hoof

I don't think it helps that he is a mud magnet either, any mole hills or mud anywhere he needs to dig it up, his half brother walks around any mud and I can normally see his hooves at any time of the day

I will order some red horse products for between soakings and keep him in within reason and keep it clean and dry whilst out and open to the air when in

 

[ester]

Just checking as I wasn't sure I had read it right just trying to imagine what the hoof looked like, other than very small!

The thing with the alamycin is that it does rely on it being entirely bacterial, rather than having a fungal element which is possible.

I'm pondering whether if you vetwraped it you could use some hoof stuff on it during turnout. Michen had her boy fully resected but I can't quite remember what she did with it after.

 

[Cecile]

Just checking as I wasn't sure I had read it right just trying to imagine what the hoof looked like, other than very small!

The thing with the alamycin is that it does rely on it being entirely bacterial, rather than having a fungal element which is possible.

I'm pondering whether if you vetwraped it you could use some hoof stuff on it during turnout. Michen had her boy fully resected but I can't quite remember what she did with it after.

I think you are right about it possibly being fungal too, when I saw how far the Alamycin had travelled I started to wonder what exactly I was dealing with plus the worry of the Alamycin hardening his laminae and setting him up for further problems without actually fully resolving the seedy toe issue

Horses always make me realise that mud fever, seedy toe and all the other things we treat just aren't always one treatment fits all, you think you know how to treat something and one of them will always prove you wrong, I think this is going to be trial and hopefully not any errors

He kept his home made boot on today....... he had a clean hoof, only people with horses can get excited about such things

 

[ester]

ha definitely rather than seeing it half way across the field!

 

[Cecile]

IV bag and Clean Trax arrived today
All Red horse stuff on its way
Farrier wants him off Formula 4 feet (Anyone want a huge bag of the stuff which I have only just opened before it ends up at the tip)
Can't remember what supplement farrier is suggesting but he gave his reasons
Boots, needs 2 obviously as I can't have him acting like hop along
Doesn't need the cushion pads as is totally sound ... unless there is a variation in left and right foot I am told
Take measurements with photo phone and tape (Husbands Sat morning job)

I've decided on the easy boot as my hands don't always work so well with fiddly stuff so I hope they are going to be easy
Made an ar$e of myself when I phoned as couldn't work out what the 2nd photo was....... I thought it was the inside of the boot and looked really uncomfortable....... I was told it is a picture of the tread _ ok so don't put them on inside out then lol

 

[ester]

haha! yes the tread would be uncomfortable. Fwiw I do like my easyboots, though mine are a bit bigger. Yup that is def the best way to measure.

 

[Cecile]

Clean Trax and IV was a mission in itself and after 30 mins I was really finding the funny side of this........ it slipped over his knee but no leakage, photo is with vet, farrier and the people selling me the boots as requested, it really does look as if he has a giant boil on his foot with the IV bag and fluid

Boots are arriving today, he has a 10mm difference in the seedy toe foot length and normal one, having never measured feet before this has me fascinated

Thankfully his half brother has the same boot size as him so they may be useful if needed in the future for him, so hopefully not just an ornament in the tack room

 

[Cecile]

I used Equine Fusion Ultimate boots for turnout for my pony mare for a while. They go down to quite small sizes (I think 60-75mm length/width is the smallest size). They are a pretty soft boot, and I chose it because I wanted to avoid rubs with longer term wear.
This mare came to me with big cracks and seedy toe (very overgrown), but I used the boots later on when she became footsore on hard ground (turned out to be Cushing-related), not for the treatment of seedy toe.
IME, the hooves will sweat inside the boot, it's unavoidable if you use them for any length of time, and particularly in our wet climate. I don't think I would use them to treat seedy toe. I battled for months to try an grow out the cracks/seedy toe on my mare, but it would just eat up underneath the hoof wall as quickly as it was growing down. In the end what helped was a more aggressive approach to trimming, opening up the crack to expose all the seedy toe area to air (and turnout out without any covering). Any and all attempts I made to try and clean out the area from underneath and tread/block with antiseptic didn't get me anywhere in the long run.
Otherwise, the Fusions worked well for her with virtually 24/7 wear.

Many thanks for posting about Equine Fusion and your experience, I went for the Equine Mini for the seedy toe one just to keep clean whilst out - but then your post got me thinking about another older one I have with EMS - I now have the Equine Fusion for him but had to go for the All Terrain ones as they have a thicker sole and I didn't want to put in pads if I could help it - now I have 1 without seedy toe as far as I can see <touches wood> and 1 who I always seem to have to micromanage now enjoying going out in all weathers/ground conditions without me breaking into a sweat