shoeless boots

G

gally

Well-Known Member
Joined
24 September 2006
Messages
324
Visit site
a friend at the yard is having a real hard time with her mare and her being shod. She really hates aving her shoes placed and is becoming dangerous (the farrier has said she will need to be sedated in future). She has been throughly checked over and nobody can find a reason why she is being like this.

Her owner is thinking of taking her shoes off and is pondering on the idea of getting some shoesless boots (e.g. boa or old macs) and was wondering if anybody knew of any that were ok for jumping.

Thanks
 
I've jumped mine in Old macs, not big stuff though. Why is she suddenly objecting to the farrier though? Will has a dodgy pelvis and can't stand having his back feet yanked up too high so farrier has learned to let him get comfortable and it's one reason he's only shod in front.
 
No one has a clue it has been getting worse over the last 6 months and it is her front legs that she really objects to she has been checked by everyone (vet, chiro, massage therapist etc) and no-one can find anything to explain it. Sheis happy in every other respect just this. She would not be jumping huge stuff just your everyday sort of fences, her mum is just a bit worried about her feet when putting the pressure of jumping on them when she has been used to shoes all these years
 
Before my horse was diagnosed with navicular she behaved just like this with the farrier, she really couldn't take the impact of nailing. It's just a wild stab, but maybe there are some early navicular issues going on with your friend's horse, especially as you refer to the front feet, in which case she would be doing the very best thing by going down the barefoot route.

This is what we did with my horse and it is no exaggeration to say it saved her life. There is a lot of evidence for barefoot podiatry turning navicular cases around. Pete Ramey has written articles based on case studies that are worth reading.

Even if the horse does not have early navicular changes, your friend would be helping prevent them in future by allowing the hoof to function as nature intended, but it would mean scaling the riding back to start with, and following the Equine Podiatrist's programme, as too much too soon is why a barefoot transition can fail. Once transitioned the horse should be able to jump without hoof boots. They may only be needed during the first year or so.

It could well be worth looking into. I recommend a DAEP trained under KC LaPierre. There is a list that includes UK DAEPs here:

http://www.aepsupplies.co.uk/index.cfm?sid=21583&pid=330568
 
I have used Boa Boots and recommend them although (as with all hoof boots i think) there's a knack to getting them on and if the horse doesn't like having its foot held up for any length of time this might be a problem. I think you can buy jumping and road studs that screw into the bottom of the Boa boots for extra grip.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top