Pro's and Con;s of support boots

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FrankieDurleigh

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Hello,

My 14 y/o ex racer had a field accident and sprained his hind fetlock...
After 3 weeks of box rest and 5 weeks of restricted field rest, vet has recommended walking/trotting 3/4 times a week, 20-40min a day (as long as swelling etc stays away)
I must add; he is sound trotted up, but i have not done too much due to being scared and not wanting to take 2 steps backwards.

A friend recommended support medicine boots, now I've grown up around horses and my dad used to run a racing yard...i was always told boots could do more harm then good.

What do people suggest? Would he benefit from support?
We are not going mad, and won't be anytime soon (hard ground is NOT helping) but i don't want to rush his recovery and help/support the best i can.

(I do have a set of premier equine support medicine boots that i have considered trying)

TIA
 
As xgemmax said, they won't provide support and could cause excessive sweating in this weather. You'd need scaffolding to support a horse's joints.
 
Agree boots don't do a lot except prevent knocks and most of the ones that go around the feltlock sag so do not do anything imo. Bandages are better than boots if you can do them well. I use Woof club boots for preventing knocks.
 
They are *sports* medicine boots, not support. No boot or bandage is a long term good idea for anything. It just makes the structure weaker long term. All a boot can do is protect against knocks. However this is at the cost of heating the tendons.
 
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