My new 3 yo hunter prospect has been at the house only 5 days, and already ripped a shoe off today. She was known to do this often as she over reaches (my trainer had her in the barn for one month prior to me buying her and she pulled two shoes in that time, once when I was trying her out). I know at least one of those two times she did not have bell boots on. First day she was here I used a pair of generic no turn bell boots which were turning and useless, so I put the gum bell boots on, which seem to be the proper size, but alas, it is off. Any ideas? My farrier will be looking at her shortly and will see if he has any ideas from that side.
Despite claims, there is no bell boot that really works.
But what does work is TWO bell boots.
Get one pair of med and a 2nd pair of Large (or L and XL). Pull on the smaller bell boot. Turn it inside out so it covers the ankle (and is out of the way).
Pull on the larger bell boot, then pull the first bell boot down over the top of the larger bell boot.
The smaller boot keeps the larger boot down.
Viola~! You have a system which keeps a bell boot around the heel where it is needed even when the horse is in full stride, or overreaching.
I have found the Back on Track bell boots are nice. I have both the Royals and the regular.
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HORSES CAN FALL - so I use the Royals (no turns) on one of my horses that stepped on a regular bell boot and fell really bad. He chipped his tooth and skinned up his knees. I was so lucky he was okay. So be cautious - it can happen. Reason I like the no turns. Less easy for them to grab. Only no turns that work are the Back on Tracks or the Professional Choice brands. They run really small.
Bell boots generally are for protection of the heel bulbs - so a shoe can become fair game for a playful horse…
I had period of time where my horses were pulling shoes in turn out and worked with the farrier and made sure they wore boots in turn out and (knocking on wood) so far so good.
Talk with your farrier about this issue and hopefully he/she can find a solution.
I use the Prof Choice no turn bell boots. They DO run small though I had to buy size large for my large pony lol.
I use what my reining horses wore - Davis Bell Boots. I have one gelding that will go through any other brand in a matter of days. I’ve found that the velcro wears out on the Davis boots before he actually damages the boot itself. Each pair lasts about 6 months and he wears them 24/7.
This horse can pull a shoe in his stall. I feel your pain.
The tried and trues for me have been the Professional’s Choice no turns. They run small. (I use XL on a 16.1 hand who wears size 2 shoes).
They almost NEVER turn unless he rubs a rail pretty hard, protect well, and hold up!
Good to know guys. I have a feeling that I am going to lose 1-2 shoes per cycle at the moment. Ugh. However my retired farrier (my father) thinks she will grow out of it. Will believe it when I see it. Have a few ideas to try, and am meeting with the farrier next week and go from there.
[QUOTE=sandsarita;8793192]
Good to know guys. I have a feeling that I am going to lose 1-2 shoes per cycle at the moment. Ugh. However my retired farrier (my father) thinks she will grow out of it. Will believe it when I see it. Have a few ideas to try, and am meeting with the farrier next week and go from there.[/QUOTE]If it’s any comfort, my horse who didn’t make it through a shoeing cycle for the first year of being shod and, in fact, threw a shoe as the farrier (who had just tacked one back on) was pulling out of the driveway, did grow out of it. Pull-on gum boots that I kept on 24/7 probably kept him from losing even more shoes. He was in a dressage barn at the time and their collection of bell boots was interesting and fairly useless and made more useless because they didn’t always remember to put them on. They also never figured out how to remove the pull-on ones so I knew he’d always be wearing them.
[QUOTE=sandsarita;8793192]
Good to know guys. I have a feeling that I am going to lose 1-2 shoes per cycle at the moment. Ugh. However my retired farrier (my father) thinks she will grow out of it. Will believe it when I see it. Have a few ideas to try, and am meeting with the farrier next week and go from there.[/QUOTE]
If it’s any consolation, my now 6 year old was a master at losing shoes as a 3 and 4 year old. He did lose one every cycle. It was so frustrating. He did grow out of it, although he loses the occasional shoe as any other horse would.
The farrier that shod him did sand down some of the back of his shoe without compromising the support so that it was harder for him to grab it with his hind feet. That helped quite a bit.
Good to know it does get better! I sure hope so. But she is lovely enough that it will be worth it.
I had a young horse who went through a terrible shoe-pulling phase. He grew out of it but I found that the only thing that ever prevented shoes being pulled was the Shoe Secures I ordered for him (www.shoesecure.com). Bell boots are not designed to keep shoes on, they’re designed to protect the heel bulb. With that being said, I love Pro-Choice bell boots and have used gum rubber pull-ons on many horses.
I have Woof Wear ones that don’t normally turn, similar to these: boots. I was also under the understanding that they are to protect the heel & not the shoe.
I’ve used the Professional’s Choice boots, as well (I also have to go up a size for my guy). My OTTB had an over-reaching problem for a while, but he wouldn’t just take off his shoes, he’d cut up his heel. Ended up rockering his toe so he broke over faster, and that helped a ton. Eventually I added back shoes as well, and he hasn’t over-reached since (knock on wood); I was really worried about adding back shoes because I thought if he did over-reach, it would be a far worse result, but it seems like the shoes have slowed down his hind end :lol:
Let us know what your farrier says.
Cashel also makes a no turn bell boot. Very tough, rigid material as well… They are the only bell boots that my horse did not immediately destroy. For her, it actually WAS a growth phase. She keeps her shoes on now, except for rare, freakish occasions. Also helpful: an even better farrier who a) is known for keeping shoes on feet and b) shoes most of my barn. (She will come out within 24hrs if a horse pulls a shoe. VERY lucky to have her!)
I went out hunting yesterday in my Professionals Choice No-Turns. We still came back with three shoes (right front went AWOL).
Realistically, especially when it’s a little muddy riding out, there’s really only so much a bell boot can do for a shoe. A properly fitted bell, as others have said, will protect the heel bulbs from overreach, but it won’t keep a shoe on when it’s grabbed. It would seem to me that in order to protect a shoe from being pulled, a bell would need to be so oversized that the bell itself would become a grab-and-trip hazard. Not something I want.
Luckily, our farrier will be out today to replace it (and the others that were lost-- it wasn’t just us).
(-:
Yeah, I know that bell boots aren’t perfect at making shoes stay on, that getting her stronger and working with the farrier are the best things to do. My 75yo father who is a retired farrier came and put the shoes back on (oh yeah, my broodmare that I still ride for no stirrup work also lost the RF). He made the comment that my youngster’s shoe had too much hanging off the back so he filed it down some to fit better. Ironically, in 24 hours both LF shoes are currently gone. That’s 4 shoes in 5 days. And the closest farrier is 1:30 away from me that will touch aluminum shoes, so unless it is scheduled I have to go to them.
