Old Mac G2's

[star]

Measured Dan's feet today and looks like these should fit him best - he has fairly round feet, just about 3mm longer than they are wide. Just getting confused by all the accessories - do i need gaiters, pastern wraps, sole pads??? He has got extremely shallow soles, there is absolutely no concavity there. They're quite tough as he'll walk on gravel and not be footy, but he does have a tendency to get bruised if i take him out on our stony hacking. He has very furry pasterns and is not known for having sensitive skin. He has been barefoot for a couple of yrs now and coped fine on my old hacking which was roads and grass but new hacking is stones and sand. Help!

 

[piebaldsparkle]

THe wraps do stop and grit/sand/gravel working down inside the boots and rubbing. Old Mac's often come with a set free.

 

[brightmount]

As Piebald says, Old Macs should come with gaiters/pastern wraps, at least my last pair did. (If yours don't for any reason PM me as I have a new set I don't want you can have).

They are handy when the boots are new because like the boots we wear, they sometimes take a little bit of breaking in to soften up, and it can be in the first few weeks you may get a bit of rubbing, though unlikely to be significant, especially with hairy feet! After that you will probably do away with the extra faff of gaiters.

Pads can be inserted if you're transitioning a horse to barefoot as they are therapeutic and fabulously comfy for a horse that is just feeling its feet. But the sole mates pads I have used in the past are quite thick and can be awkward to stuff in boots, though they squash down quite quickly once 500kg of horse is on top of them. They aren't strictly necessary though, Old Macs are fine to use without pads in them.