Hoof boots left on overnight in stable

[BBP]

Has anyone done this to improve frog/digital cushion?

I have been trying to improve the above in my horse and with the wet weather and reduced exercise I am failing to get enough stimulation to the frog and digital cushion. He is out in a fairly wet field in the day and in at night, with access to a stable, concrete yard and slightly soggy carpet over mats and limestone area. I’m wondering if putting boots with pads on overnight would provide the extra stimulation he is lacking at the moment, and would give a head start in the spring when I can get him on a track system and out hacking more. I’m worried about his feet ‘sweating’ inside the boots or them rubbing of on for so long. He uses renegades when out hacking but these don’t work well with pads so have ordered some cavallo treks for use with pads (even if it’s just for walks out rather than stabling). Thoughts? Anyone left boots and pads on 12 hours and seen improvements in hoof structure?

(I am adjusting diet etc but he is notoriously hard to get to eat the good balancer, he leaves most of his feed).

 

[ester]

I would definitely want socks/gaiters on if leaving cavallos on overnight. What pads were you going to use? I would definitely preemptively treat frogs before leaving them on too and I think you would just have to see how bad they were sweaty hoof wise, they do have vents on the sides.

 

[BBP]

I’ve got both the dense EPS pads, and the 12mm and 6mm easycare medium pads so I can see which ones fit inside the boots best. I’ve been treating the frogs with red horse products but was thinking about trying the NT dry when putting the boots on, almost like a talc, rather than adding a moist product into a closed environment.

 

[stormox]

A numptys question- why do you think his frogs need more stimulation? I have never heard of a horse lacking this before.

 

[Antw23uk]

Replace your bedding with pea shingle and leave him BF

 

[HappyHollyDays]

My trimmer swears by sheeps wool inside boots for extra padding. It has to be the raw wool so it contains the lanolin but it allows the foot to breathe where some man made inserts don't.

 

[BBP]

A numptys question- why do you think his frogs need more stimulation? I have never heard of a horse lacking this before.

He has a weak digital cushion and narrow frogs with deep thrush related central sulcus that’s will not consistently fill out despite consistent treatment. He is toe landing and getting into a cycle where he is not adequately loading the back part of his foot so the frogs fail to do their job. He camps under with the forelegs when standing. At least that’s what I believe from reading around it and studying all my horses and their feet. So my thinking was if I could give him part of the day with pads that would increase his heel comfort, stimulate the frogs and digital cushion and over time increase his tendency to use the heel rather than the toe. I am prepared to be corrected if I am talking Horlicks though!

 

[BBP]

Replace your bedding with pea shingle and leave him BF

Interesting idea!

 

[BBP]

My trimmer swears by sheeps wool inside boots for extra padding. It has to be the raw wool so it contains the lanolin but it allows the foot to breathe where some man made inserts don't.

Does this provide the same sort of stimulation to the structures that a foam pad would, as I don’t want the pads for comfort but to help improve the hoof structures?

 

[Hepsibah]

My mare is currently recovering from laminitis and I have her on wood pellet bedding; it works very well for packing into the hoof in the same way pads do.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

Does this provide the same sort of stimulation to the structures that a foam pad would, as I don’t want the pads for comfort but to help improve the hoof structures?

I can't say for sure but he uses it to support the frogs by rolling the wool into a well packed cigar shape and putting it into the crevice either side.

 

[stormox]

He has a weak digital cushion and narrow frogs with deep thrush related central sulcus that’s will not consistently fill out despite consistent treatment. He is toe landing and getting into a cycle where he is not adequately loading the back part of his foot so the frogs fail to do their job. He camps under with the forelegs when standing. At least that’s what I believe from reading around it and studying all my horses and their feet. So my thinking was if I could give him part of the day with pads that would increase his heel comfort, stimulate the frogs and digital cushion and over time increase his tendency to use the heel rather than the toe. I am prepared to be corrected if I am talking Horlicks though!

So it sounds like he is uncomfortable in the heel area (toe landing/camped under) - and this is causing his problem. Have you had his feet xrayed to see if theres an underlying problem within the hoof?

 

[BBP]

So it sounds like he is uncomfortable in the heel area (toe landing/camped under) - and this is causing his problem. Have you had his feet xrayed to see if theres an underlying problem within the hoof?

That’s basically it, but vets are happy to see what improvements we can bring around via boots/pads etc first rather than jumping to diagnostics as the diagnostics wouldn’t inheirantly make us do anything other than what we are trying to do. (We had great improvements over summer in his movement pattern so are confident this is the way to go, the question is whether I can increase the rate of improvement by leaving boots on for longer than the hacking time that we do).

 

[BBP]

My mare is currently recovering from laminitis and I have her on wood pellet bedding; it works very well for packing into the hoof in the same way pads do.

He does have wood pellet bedding but because he has access to both stable and an outside yard area he doesn’t spend much time standing on the bed. I think the benefits to his breathing, RER and mental health of being outside are too great to shut him in the stable, especially if the option of boots and pads would work. I guess the best way is to try it and see how dry his feet stay.

 

[Auslander]

I'm not quite sure I understand why you want him to wear boots and pads, rather than him have his feet as nature intended. Aren't boots designed to replicate the way the barefoot hoof contacts the ground, whilst protecting transitioning feet from stones during ridden work?

 

[BBP]

I'm not quite sure I understand why you want him to wear boots and pads, rather than him have his feet as nature intended. Aren't boots designed to replicate the way the barefoot hoof contacts the ground, whilst protecting transitioning feet from stones during ridden work?

Based on this article and others like it on the benefits of using pads:
http://www.hoofrehab.com/bootarticle.htm

At the moment his frogs aren’t loading as a functional foot would, as he is taking the weight onto the toe. So I want to use the pads to distribute the loading pressure more evenly across the hoof structure rather than peripheral loading (which boots alone wouldn’t correct) thereby improving the frog tissue. I am not currently having success at this by leaving the hoof as nature intended. The whole thing started when I managed him badly and allowed him to get bad thrush which atrophied his frogs, made his heels sore and pushed him into loading the toe, which then took more pressure off the heel area and weakened the digital cushion, I’m now trying to recover from that position to get his beautiful healthy barefoot feet back again.

 

[Auslander]

Based on this article and others like it on the benefits of using pads:
http://www.hoofrehab.com/bootarticle.htm

At the moment his frogs aren’t loading as a functional foot would, as he is taking the weight onto the toe. So I want to use the pads to distribute the loading pressure more evenly across the hoof structure rather than peripheral loading (which boots alone wouldn’t correct) thereby improving the frog tissue. I am not currently having success at this by leaving the hoof as nature intended. The whole thing started when I managed him badly and allowed him to get bad thrush which atrophied his frogs, made his heels sore and pushed him into loading the toe, which then took more pressure off the heel area and weakened the digital cushion, I’m now trying to recover from that position to get his beautiful healthy barefoot feet back again.

Gotcha. Wasn't trying to pick holes - just didn't quite understand what you were trying to achieve. Now I do!

 

[meleeka]

The only thing I would say about boots on for long periods is they are likely to make sole and possibly the frog soft as they do ‘sweat’ in them, a bit if you wore a plastic bag all night.

 

[BBP]

The only thing I would say about boots on for long periods is they are likely to make sole and possibly the frog soft as they do ‘sweat’ in them, a bit if you wore a plastic bag all night.

That’s what I’m abit worried about, especially since he will then go out in a wet-ish field. I wonder if even doing it once every couple of days and then a night or two without would be beneficial.

 

[BBP]

Gotcha. Wasn't trying to pick holes - just didn't quite understand what you were trying to achieve. Now I do!

No problem, I don’t know everything so I’m happy for people to quiz me as I might have bits wrong.

 

[meleeka]

Do you do a Milton soak or similar? That tends to try the feet so could possibly counteract the dampness.

 

[vallin]

What about something like the woof wear medical boot instead of proper hoof boot? Much more breathable and could presumably have the same inserts...

 

[paddy555]

That’s what I’m abit worried about, especially since he will then go out in a wet-ish field. I wonder if even doing it once every couple of days and then a night or two without would be beneficial.

I totally understand what you are trying to do but if he got with way with thrush I don't think it is going to work. I think you will just in up in a thrush situation. His feet are going to be wet from the field and you are never going to be able to dry them out. You will be putting wet feet into boots which will just get sweaty and manky.

I think ATM you may be stuck until the better weather comes, you can dry the feet up and exercise more.

 

[BBP]

I totally understand what you are trying to do but if he got with way with thrush I don't think it is going to work. I think you will just in up in a thrush situation. His feet are going to be wet from the field and you are never going to be able to dry them out. You will be putting wet feet into boots which will just get sweaty and manky.

I think ATM you may be stuck until the better weather comes, you can dry the feet up and exercise more.

You may be right sadly. At least with the new boots I can pad him up whilst riding, perhaps even for a few hours in the evening if I can be bothered to go back up to take them off again. Bring on drier weather!

 

[ester]

I’d also wonder if he moved enough in the stable to really help too? Just a pondering

 

[Hepsibah]

He does have wood pellet bedding but because he has access to both stable and an outside yard area he doesn’t spend much time standing on the bed. I think the benefits to his breathing, RER and mental health of being outside are too great to shut him in the stable, especially if the option of boots and pads would work. I guess the best way is to try it and see how dry his feet stay.

My vet packed Daisy's sole with dental impression material then put her boots with medium density pads in over it. She kept them on for two weeks solid before the farrier came to do her realigning trim yesterday. Her hoofs were in great condition when the boots came off.

 

[BBP]

I’d also wonder if he moved enough in the stable to really help too? Just a pondering

I was thinking because he has the extra outdoor space he moves about more than a lot of stabled horses so better than nothing. He has his hay in different places and seems to wander into stable, then come out for hay, then wander over to pester the other ponies, then back into his stable.

 

[BBP]

My vet packed Daisy's sole with dental impression material then put her boots with medium density pads in over it. She kept them on for two weeks solid before the farrier came to do her realigning trim yesterday. Her hoofs were in great condition when the boots came off.

My sisters horse had similar which is what gave me the idea. He had them on solidly 23 hours a day so his feet did get a little sweaty. Thanks.

 

[honetpot]

First of all I am not critising your theory but I do wonder if the frog really does act as a pump.
I used to own a NF mare, who from the age of 3 when I got her and for the rest of her life, her frogs were never in contact with the ground. Her feet were so boxy they grew straight down, and hardly at all out. Even when her feet where trimmed her frogs did not touch the floor and apart from being very small, that was the only difference. She had a totally mismatching hoof pastern angle.
If the 20 odd years I owned her she was never lame, never had thrush, and being forest bred NF her feet were hard. We read lots of things in text books that biologists have hypothesised, but in function is that really true? And if it is true why did she never have any problems?

 

[Regandal]

http://articles.extension.org/pages/10378/blood-pumping-mechanism-of-the-hoof
It is definitely a pump.
One of mine wore boots (therapy boots) for weeks. I had a few sets of pads and scrubbed and dried them, changed every 12 hours. No problem.