I put my Ol Man in a pair of Easy Boot clouds on his fronts about 4 weeks ago. He has a lot of issues with his hooves (previous white line, recurrent abscesses, crumbly soles…) Long story…the short version is I had rehabbed him from a neglect case and adopted him out when he was better but those people pasture boarded him with A LOT of other horses and no shelter for 8 months until I was called to take him back. I think the farrier his adopters used cut out an abscess from his sole and they weren’t able to keep that clean. Now he has abscess coming out his coronary band about every 6 weeks. and has an appointment with vet for his annual next month (May). His farrier doesn’t have experience with boots. My Ol Man immediately walked better. The boots were an immediate comfort for him. I was amazed at how dry and hard his soles became. Thought I’d found a miracle. Have a pair of new inserts for when farrier comes out again next week. Well… now its getting hot and his heel is rubbing and the soles are not so dry. I take them off and clean them out inside everyday so I know they have kept his feet dry until now but I also know a little sand has gotten in daily… just a little. So reading Online I found that wool socks and corn starch or Gold Bond powder work well to prevent rubs in boots. I put him in a pair of old wool sock sprinkled with corn starch until I go out and get Gold Bond. But being in Florida and just at the beginnning of the hot seasons, I’m wondering how well the wool sock will keep him comfortable and if there are any other alternatives. Will cotton work as well? Is there a better ventilated therapeutic boot for the Florida heat?
I would think that thin cotton socks would work. I would try and protect the rubbed heel areas with some type of tape.
Maybe medical tape or gorilla tape otherwise you will eventually get an open wound. Can you take boots and sock off
overnight so his feet can dry out? Some boots are hard to fit properly. Don’t ask how I know.
Hi, Thank you. I will look for thin cotton socks.
Do you mean that I can tape directly on the rubbed parts with gorilla tape or put the tape on the boot? I can remove his boots at night. Just want him comfortable … btw, I love the Darwin quote in your sig. I absolutely believe that.
Since you are diligent about keeping the insides of the boots clean every day :). Try sticking Dr. Scholl’s mole skins onto the area of the boots where the heel bulbs touch:)
You will have to cut the mole skins to fit and they should come off every night, putting fresh mole skins on for the next wearing:)
I used the moles skins on my horse’s grazing muzzle when he had to wear one and they worked great:)
I have the Clouds BTW for the same horse and love them. He hasn’t needed them for a long time — I shouldn’t even be talking about them 
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Thank you. I understand…
I would stay with the wool socks and not cotton. The wool will help keep his feet dry - the cotton socks will get soggy. Can you let him stay in a dry stall overnight without the boots? Otherwise, I would have two pairs of boots so that I could switch them out daily and let them get good and dry in between wearings. Use lots of foot powder as well. I have also cut up a wool saddle pad to make wool pad liners. These help to keep the feet dry as well.
As long as you can keep the feet dry - or let them have time to air dry, then I wouldn’t worry too much about the heat. I live in Coastal South Carolina and have used Cloud boots during the summer without issues. Moisture is your enemy - not so much heat.
IME Gold Bond works great when sprinkled in boot on surface of insert pad to keep sole and frog from getting smelly/funky. But it’s NOT great on heel bulbs to prevent rubs. Caused a severe reaction in my guy who needed boots for a while = swollen, red and raw bulbs. Some ingredient in the Gold Bond totally aggravated his skin.
Moleskin or socks are good solution to try. But having two pair of boots ($$$ I know :() worked best for me because I always had a pair that were clean & dry. The rubs started when he wore wet boots – didn’t happen when I swapped out wet for dry.
Use on hooves what I used for my big dog years ago when he had 4 surgeries to save his foreleg. He had to wear an orthodic clamshell device which rubbed his leg raw when he ran.
Goggle “stump socks”. You can buy them online. What works for humans works for animals.
He is on sand or grass most of the time. When it rains, he has a barn with dry sand to take shelter in. The moisture is basically him sweating. I’ve taken to removing his boots at night (thank you Maria 100) Two pairs of boots (ouch!) I’ll see what can be done. Thank you for all the advice. I’ll let you all know what works for him. Very grateful.
It sounds like his feet have improved, and I wonder you couldn’t try him without them for a day or two? Looks like you said in your first post that he’s been wearing them for 4 weeks. Unless there’s something acute going on, I’d try him without and save them for the next abscess. That sweaty boot is a good environment for something funky to get started and it sounds like you’re providing a pretty great environment for his feet outside of them. Maybe go every other day to try to wean him off and see how he does? Sound’s like this guy couldn’t have landed better that back with you!
ETA- If you haven’t already I’d do a White Lightning or Cleantrax soak on those fronts, and maybe on all 4 feet to kill off anything that might be brewing in those frogs. I’m gun shy, but the first thing I always think of when a horse is lame or had cruddy feet is thrush. It’s caused me some real aggravation in the past and I’ve seen a slew of vets and farriers look right past it. Just wanted to put that bug in your ear.
I had the very same problem. I second white lightning or cleantrax for the white line. I use about 3tbs. Per boot of non GMO corn starch since gold bond powder has talc in it and I want to stay away from that. I also switched from the cloud boots to equine jogging shoes. They have a mesh upper that breaths much better then the clouds and they make my horse even more comfortable then the clouds did. Cavalo makes a little pasturn guard to go inside the boot that covers the heels. I have not tried it but it might be worth looking into.
I use and love my clouds- i do use anti fungal powder in them every time I take them off. I also have two pairs- one on the horse and one drying.
If you know your size you can buy them on open box or warehouse deals pretty cheaply.
Thanks everyone. Very good advice. I did actually take them off and his feet returned to crumbly. The rubs improved right away. His 2X Farrier’s Formula arrived today. Thank goodness and Farrier should be here Friday to trim. I’m going to try the White Lightning, he had mentioned it before. Going to look into the Equine Jogging Shoe for summer. Thank you! He doesn’t need them for anything specific that I’m aware of right now. Next month is his annual and I’m having his fronts x-rayed but there is no doubt he simply walks better, more fluid and looks less pained with the boots on so could be something is going on We’ll find out . Thanks for all the help.
Is he turned out 24/7? I have one that has problem feet and there are times where he goes barefoot. He usually wears boots when turned out but I leave them off when he is in. He doesn’t like sole pressure so I bed him on straw with a bit of sawdust under it for absorption. This works really well for him.
He is in a dry paddock with coastal hay at night and is turned out during the day on grass. Last time farrier was here he noted a definite improvement in his fronts. His backs are healthy. I’ve taken the boots off for now and started using Keratex hoof hardener and he has continued to improve. Other supplements are Farriers Formula 2X and Buteless Performance. I can tell from his expression he is feeling better and I’m able to ride him starting with 10-15 minutes on grass (he is very out of condition and so am I) and he is walking fine so I’m very happy with his improvement. But there is still a bit of hesitation that doesn’t seem to be his hooves… I 'm going to get a massage therapist out here to see if he has something muscular going on. Vet appt is in 10 days and we are doing x-rays.
