Pony hates his new boots

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Greylegs

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My highland has been barefoot all his life (14 years) but I recently decided to get him a set of hoof boots for his front feet as he seems to be more sensitive on harder ground these days and I do sometimes hack on local roads.

Fast forward trough a process of choice and elimination and finally settled on a pairs of Old Mac G2s. He's got quite big feet and these seemed like the right choice for his size etc.

Problem is, although he's OK with me putting them on, and I've had my farrier look at the fit of them and he agrees they fit OK, ponio seems to hate them and will only walk in them. Under no circumstances will he be persuaded to trot either in hand or under saddle, even on a good school surface. I've now tried them on him 4 times and he's just not having it at all.

Another one for eBay or shall I keep at it? Are some horses just not suited to boots? I guess he needs time to get used to them, but any thoughts would be most welcome.
 
Sorry, I can't answer your question as I'm relatively new to barefoot but my pony hates his G2s as well. I bought them because our roads have had a really rough top dressing put on which he's struggling with but he actually walks out much better without the boots.
 
When I first got G2s, they did rub a little, and took a while to break in. Hooves (well, more heel bulbs) can be sensitive at first and need to toughen up. Can you e.g. put socks on the pony (don't laugh :D) to give a bit of extra protection and see if this makes a difference?

They do soften up quite fast with use, and my horse never had any problems with the G2s (or the Gloves we've used since) after the initial slight rubs.
 
it maybe that they don't feel quite right to him, boots can affect breakover. Finding the right pair of boots can be tricky-my old horse wouldn't trot in Cavallos and they twisted due to his action, he went well in hand in Gloves but they twisted under saddle. we eventually ended up in wide Back Countries where he felt completely comfortable and they didn't twist. My other pony has been fine in G1s from the outset but he mainly walks anyway.


a friends horse was insistant that she couldn't walk with boots on-until firend walked her down the gravel driveway to the school-mare suddenly realised she was comfortable and was fine. maybe try him on a hack and see if he forgets they are there after a bit? they need breaking in first anyway..
 
My TB moonwalked backwards the first few times I used them. He simply could not believe his feet were "normal" in them. I chucked him in the school with a friend, and left him to it for a while ( watching them secretly ) and he eventually realised he could in fact walk normally, and by the end of the session, he was fine, and never worried about them again.
 
I couldn't get old lady to walk in them when she first got her cavallo sports. She actually tried to run off when she heard the noise of them underneath. She then related them for going across the stones and having grass. Can you try and relate the boots to nice things?
 
Brightbay said:
When I first got G2s, they did rub a little, and took a while to break in. Hooves (well, more heel bulbs) can be sensitive at first and need to toughen up. Can you e.g. put socks on the pony (don't laugh :D) to give a bit of extra protection and see if this makes a difference?

They do soften up quite fast with use, and my horse never had any problems with the G2s (or the Gloves we've used since) after the initial slight rubs.
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Mine have never rubbed my pony, he just hates them. I used them alot when I first started riding him again and I thought he was stiff to start with but he was very noticeably better once we got to nice smooth tarmac. I don't know whether he could still feel the rough road through the boots or I did wonder whether they were just too grippy combined with the rough surface. Anyway I ditched them and he is much happier now walking out in bare feet :)
 
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