Please tell me how annoying are hoof boots?

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canteron

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My girl has had an abscess that has kept reinfecting over a period of months and cost a fortune in vets and farriers - poor farrier is now my best friend the number of times the shoe has gone on - and off - and on.

For that reason, I am considering hoof boots, the original abscess was from a blackthorn anyway, so that would give a bit more protection.

I am pretty much a get on and ride type person, so are hoof boots going to drive me completely mad. Do you have to wash the feet and get them dry before putting them on and are most of them quite quick and easy to fit or are the one with 'special' tools so much better?

All advice gratefully received!
 
They're not. I don't use mine much now as my girl doesn't need them any more, but my G2s have never been much of a faff. Clean feet are a necessity, but with gaiters I've put mine on R with her feet still wet and never had a rub. They're quick and easy to fasten, never move or come off no matter what gait or terrain, and are quick to rinse clean if you get filthy out hacking. I'm usually short of time and doing things in haste and I don't find them a problem at all.
 
Depends which one's you get, I personally couldn't go for the easyboot types that require a mallet!

But other such as cavallo and boa are very quick and easy to put on.
 
Not really that much more bother than putting on overreach boots. You can't put the feet in sopping wet or caked in mud but I literally just ensure they are brushed clean and picked out (which I would do anyway so no real bother)

The only bother really is finding a pair that fit!
 
I used to use Cavallos, and after a couple of weeks they're no more of a faff to put on than brushing boots. Just a case of getting your horse used to having them put on - my old mare would lift her feet up for me after a week or so.
 
ApacheWarlord said:
Depends which one's you get, I personally couldn't go for the easyboot types that require a mallet!

But other such as cavallo and boa are very quick and easy to put on.
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the easyboot types don't usually require a mallet. The only ones that may do would be the gloves. I put on 6 gloves a day and not a mallet in site. It takes me about 30 seconds to put a glove on and about 15 to take one off.

the most important thing is not how annoying they are but how much traction they provide in mud. I found the boas to be absolutely lethal. It was scary going over slick grass in them, and I was leadiong the horse at the time. Far too scary to ride.
The gloves, epics and renegades are the best for grip.
 
paddy555 said:
the easyboot types don't usually require a mallet. The only ones that may do would be the gloves. I put on 6 gloves a day and not a mallet in site. It takes me about 30 seconds to put a glove on and about 15 to take one off.

the most important thing is not how annoying they are but how much traction they provide in mud. I found the boas to be absolutely lethal. It was scary going over slick grass in them, and I was leadiong the horse at the time. Far too scary to ride.
The gloves, epics and renegades are the best for grip.
Click to expand...

I don't use a mallet either :), but if I use tape under the Glove for extra stick when out hunting then it can take a long time to get them off! I would also put Renegades into the rubbish grip on grass category as well as the Boas.
 
At first they drive you mad but you get better at it and they get less awkward as the newness wears off in the end they are as much of a faff as an set of complicated XC boots .
I don't like using them though.
 
I'm a get on and ride person too, I get very impatient with people faffing around brushing tails and stuff :D

I've used Gloves and Old Mac G2s. The G2s are easier to get on, provided your hands and the boots are dry. A quick towel off of horse's foot if it's wet or a bit muddy is enough. Cavallos are like this too - the down side is that they're a bit clumpy looking.

The Gloves are bit more effort if they're not an exact perfect fit. I have just put 4 on about 15 mins ago and horse is eating his hay while I get my breakfast before riding out. It took 5 minutes to put on 4 boots, including tapping the front ones with a mallet. It's because his feet aren't currently quite the right shape for them. When they fit perfectly (when I bought them about two years ago!) they just slipped on like slippers and they take only seconds to put on. Again, if hooves are muddy you need to pick them out, brush mud off with a stiff hoof brush and then pop into boot.

My horse doesn't need them all the time, just a bit more in spring and on really rocky tracks, so to be honest the occasional 5 minutes to put them on is more than balanced by the times I don't need to do anything to his feet at all :)

ETA reading the posts above, I should point out that I ride from the field - we don't have hard standing and horse doesn't live in a stable, so his feet are always a bit muddy. It would be much quicker/easier with a stabled horse.
 
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Clava said:
I don't use a mallet either :), I would also put Renegades into the rubbish grip on grass category as well as the Boas.
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I trust renegades on slippery grass above all other boots. Just don't like the price or that they take longer to put on than gloves and have less wear in them.

Not all grass and mud is equal. In our area the gloves don't perform as well on the saturated old turf which is very slick as well as renegades but on other surfaces they are better.
I think finding the right boot for the horse, the rider and the area it is ridden on is very personalised.
 
Not at all annoying.

I have cavallo simples and a horse that is a fidget who dislikes having her feet picked up. I love the boots and have no problems using them.

I pick feet out well before putting boots on but don't wash feet. I only clean my boots when they get very muddy.

They were easy to get the right fit. Steel ruler to measure foot width, ordered appropriate size and we were good to go.

First time she wore them madam did the "travel boots walk" but otherwise took to them well even on her hinds.

We have been using them since October and they are still going strong. I have schooled, lunged, jumped and hacked on all terrain (including snow and fording streams). They have only come off once and it was the first time OH had put them on without me there and she was turned out and having a hoon about.

I love them. They go on super fast and give amazing grip compared to shoes, even with road nails.
 
My mare wears renegates. Takes me a total of 30 secs to do both her fronts. And very easy to learn to do. First time may have been a bit longer, maybe a minute ;)
 
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