Hoof boots - help needed

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Hedwards

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After a failed attempt to get Connie barefoot earlier this year, my farrier suggested we try hoof boots to get her over the inital 'barefoot' thing. Her problem was only one of her feet - she had concussive lami in it a while ago, and once she'd recovered enough we went ahead and tried barefoot. She was fine to begin with, but the wet weather meant her foot just fell apart - her other three absolutely fine. (I had adjusted her diet 2 months prior to going barefoot to ensure she was receiving decent levels of vits & mins - was being fed for lami anyway). She was hopping lame (on her bad foot) and had to be on box rest for 2 weeks for her foot to harden and recover enough to put a shoe back on... in shoes shes absolutely fine.

So I'm looking for recomendations on hoof boots, she is retired so they are basically for her in the field (although actually for her walking to and from the field, as on soft ground she was fine without her shoe on. I'm looking for relatively economical too... so can anyone help?
 
I don't use boots myself, so can't really advise on the specifics of individual boots. I believe the best boot is the one that fits your horse the best (as unhelpful as that sounds :o). Perhaps you could arrange for a qualified trimmer to come and measure her up, and give some advice?
 
Nocturnal said:
I don't use boots myself, so can't really advise on the specifics of individual boots. I believe the best boot is the one that fits your horse the best (as unhelpful as that sounds :o). Perhaps you could arrange for a qualified trimmer to come and measure her up, and give some advice?
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Thanks, I'll be using my farrier to help ensure the sizing is correct. My main problem is knowing which boots will be suitable for a full day or night of turnout...so far most in their write ups talk about what 'work' they are suitable for...
 
Thanks for all the links everyone!!

looks like most boots are made for 'work' rather than turn out, but that the Old Macs tend to do quite well if used for turn out... so will start with them and see how I get on!
 
Agree with POR - even though the literature may counsel against, a well fitted, properly softened Cavallo can work well for turn out, even in deep mud and snow.
 
I bought the cavallo sport boots for our retired laminitic, who has dropped soles, to wear as a turnout boot earlier this year and they have been fantastic. From being very tentative at walking out on anything except soft ground she is trotting off across the woodchip and marching out on the concrete yard to go out. They seem to have help adjust her break-over point as well as soften the impact of each foot fall and so she is much more comfortable.
We started off with them on for an hour and built up gradually so now she has full days or nights of turnout wearing them. The only thing I've found is that if it is very wet and muddy the skin can be softened (like us wearing soggy socks in leaky boots) so I am careful to restrict wearing time for a few days after.
 
i have just bought the cavallos for my 4yo who had lost a lot of hoof so is barefoot now. She has them on all day while out and walks on the hard concrete to get to the fields perfect, only problem i have had is the velcro not sticking once it gets wet and dirty but i now use the keepers and they are fine. I bought the pastern socks and she did get a sore from where she got a bit sweaty so i stopped using them.
 
Bedsocks (or any soft tubular socks) seem to work better than the pastern wraps and are easy to wash.

Some of my clients seem to 'appropriate' their husbands socks. But of course I am sure the husbands know and approve.................... :-)
 
I also use the Cavallo boots for my horses, both for riding and out in pasture when needed, and they work great! Very durable, very secure and most importantly provide comfort and protection for my horses!
 
I'm glad I found this thread as had the same question. My 21yr old TB has an abscess near her heel as a result of the wet ground softening her feet. Her feet are a mess this year so my farrier actually suggested taking her shoes off and using boots once the abscess has healed. He said alot of horses are getting soft feet from this weather then getting bad bruises when hacked out on stony ground.
So after years of being told her feet were not suitable for barefoot I am going to give it a go and try boots for hacking. I was thinking of Cavallos unless there is a better boot for hooves which are wider than they are long?
 
LucyPriory said:
Bedsocks (or any soft tubular socks) seem to work better than the pastern wraps and are easy to wash.

Some of my clients seem to 'appropriate' their husbands socks. But of course I am sure the husbands know and approve.................... :-)
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:) You can get a pack of 5 sports socks for a fiver at Peacocks, just cut the toe off!
 
Another fan of cavallos. Use them on the fronts of our recovering lamanitic when he is on turn out - they have been great and can't fault them. Easy to clean (pony seems to find the muddiest part of the field to walk through), put on and they stay put. Pony doesn't seem bothered by them either and has been prancing about in the field with them on.

Vet and farrier came out last week to see whether we were ready to have shoes back on so we can start some light driving work. However when vet saw how well pony was getting on in the boots suggested we start driving out with the boots on (vet and farrier both very impressed with the boots) and leave feet to have another 6 weeks of growth before shoes. :)
 
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