Vettec Sole-Guard

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keeperscottage

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Vettec Sole-Guard.....has anyone out there used this product and with what results? Our 9 year old 17.1hh TB has terrible feet and our farrier has advised us to turn him out for three months without shoes but he's absolutely crippled at the moment and I wondered whether this would help him. He's prone to punctured soles, too, which is another worry whilst he's without shoes.

We've tried various supplements and topical applications without success, so we thought we'd give this a go!
 
a friends oldenburg gelding has had major problems keeping shoes on this summer.His feet would break up more with each shoe he was losing.The farrier was out to him on a weekly basis as he was so foot sore he couldn't come out of his stable comfortably.My friend brought some boots for his fronts as the farrier eventually had no foot left to put a shoe onto and these did help but still meant he couldn't go out 24/7 as he wasn't able to wear the boots for that length of time.In the end she changed farrier and the new farrier put Equitech Hoof Casts onto both front feet and he was instantly comfortable.They last around 3 weeks I am told and are not cheap but then when you consider your horses comfort and the fact he is able to be a horse with these on they are well worth it,plus the shoe can be placed over the top of them if there is enough foot for a shoe to go onto.
 
By odd coincidence I was looking at a few products by Hoof Wraps in my local saddlery the other day. Their hoof wrap and the replaceable foam pads you insert into the bottom for support look amazing! I've no idea if this is the sort of thing you are after but it could really help your horse!!
 
I've just Googled Equitech Hoof Casts and they appear to be a sort of temporary "first aid" product and I don't think this will help in our case. My farrier actually wants our horse turned away for three months in the hope that his feet will strengthen without shoes (ie, he won't be ripping lumps of hoof off every time he loses a shoe) and Sole-Guard is a new product which is applied to the sole and (quoting from their ad) "creating a protective coating that bonds to the foot for three weeks..........providing comfort and support". Don't want to buy it though if Forum members don't give it the thumbs up!!
 
Well my tb has really been struggling on the hard ground lately and has just had sole-guard applied yesterday. It certainly does seem to protect them well enough, but can't honestly say it's made any difference to her footyness.

but it's been such ltitle time it's unlikely any difference would show up yet.

I could keep you posted if you'd like?
 
Mt TB came to me with very very bad feet, I used Sole-Guard on his feel (along with Equicasts) and his feet are fantastic now. Having the sole-guard on really did help as we were able to hack out without him becoming unsound we managed to build him up and now he doesn't need the sole guard and can hack out barefoot and is fine - he would become unsound immediatly if he lost a shoe or anything in the field before. I would recommend it I have found it lasts quite a while so can imagine it is good value for money (as we were experimenting with products I had the sole guard for free from my farrier).
 
We tried it on my unshod shettie last year because he doesn't like walking up our gravel driveway to his paddock! It was good while it was on but fell off after 2 weeks so we tried it again and it still only lasted 2 weeks so never bought it since.
 
Thanks for your helpful reply, jesterfaerie! I'd be interested to know how you used the Sole-Guard and the hoof casts together; after spike123 recommended the Equitech Hoof Casts, I Googled their website and, from a quick look at the product, I got the impression they were only for "emergency" use. Perhaps you could let me know how they work together!
 
My farrier squeezes jelly 'stuff' into my horses front feet after he has put the shoes on in the summer, it sets like hard rubber in the foot, it really helps the horse on the hard ground as he is really footie on the hard ground without them - with them he is fine - no problems.
 
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