Hoof boots- Old Macs?

[littlen]

I would love some advice or experiences of hoof boots please!

I have a gelding who i am bringing back into work after some time off. He has been barefoot for around a year with no problems, infact his feet are now fantastic. It is now he is starting to come back into work he is finding it hard to walk on surfaces such as stones or very hard ground, especially with the wet weather it is doing his feet no favours. He has no problems on softer ground, but it is mainly with distance hacking on harder ground he is finding hard, for example yesterday he was obviously sore when standing on stones etc.

I would love to keep him barefoot if possible and this is why I am looking into hoof boots for him, as an alternative to shoes as his feet are so much better barefoot.

I like the look of old macs, and a friend has them with no problems and I think they would suit the kind of work I wish to do, has anyone got or tried old macs?
Is there a better alternative? I thought about boa but have heard bad things. I also didnt like the look of the easyboots but dont really know anything about them.


Also with measuring, the size chart says to only measure after a fresh trim. He has another 3 weeks to go before a trim (and sometimes the farrier does not take any off just tidies them up) is there no way I can measure him now... does it really make a massive difference to the fit?

Any other experiences of old macs would be great before I go off to spend a fortune

Thanks

 

[A1fie]

Hi - Sorry I have no experience of the old macs but I have the easy care epics and I think they are wonderful. My boy similar to yours - doesn't like the hard ground. I bought some pads to go in them to give him a bit more comfort and he seems really comfortable in them.

If you want some great advice contact the Saddlery Shop. I found them really helpful and they will help you decide what boots will suit your lad best. They also let you have them on trial to see if they suit.

I think that it does make a difference when you measure. The sizes are really precise and just after a trim will give you a precise mesurement.

 

[Azabache]

Second vote for the saddlery shop, really, really helpful and they hire boots out so that you can try before you buy! I would speak to them tomorrow to answer all your questions. I know from talking to them and a barefoot trimmer that it is really important to measure the hoof just after a trim. You can then work out what type of shape your horse's hoof is which will largely determine the right hoof boot for him. For example some horses feet are wider than they are longer, vice versa, or equal etc. I can't recall which way round my boys feet are but I know that only G2s really suited his hoof shape. Have a look at the saddlery shop's website and it will explain it all on there much better than I can.
I had old mac originals for my pony and use G2s for my horse and can't rate them enough. Really easy to fit, are hard wearing and the horses take to them like a duck to water.

 

[scribble]

i have used the hoof boot cant remember who makes them but they are rubber and pull on with a metal clip on the front. did look at old macs but they worked out more expensive. i think with all hoof boots you have to make sure you get exaclty the correct size. I got one pair and they last a long while as i just put them on for stony groun d and road work (not in school) and we went theroguh forests, peat wet areas up to their knees etc and it stayed on no trouble, galloping,jumping etc. someone got a new pair for me a little bit gigger by mistake and fell off half way down a grassy track in long grass. you could put studs in the ones i had. I used them on a 17.2 swedish warmblood so not a polldy pony.

 

[soloequestrian]

I use Old Macs and Boas on my various horses and really like both. It is really important to get the right fit though, otherwise you will just get frustrated. You could get a very good idea about which boots you need by measuring between trims - remember the boots can't be absolutely snug over a fresh trim or you won't be able to get them on after a couple of weeks! The EasyCare site has some helpful print-out sheets that you can use to get the shape and size correct, and I think that as long as you are really careful about not getting the boots dirty, most places will accept returns. All the pairs of boots I've had have lasted several years so although it seems a lot to begin with, if you get the right size they work out very cheap over time.