Easyboot sizing

I’d like to get some hoof boots for my horse’s front feet for trail rides as she doesn’t seem to like walking on pavement and course, rocky gravel. I’m looking at the Easyboot Trails or Easyboot Back Country. I think I would have preferred the Gloves but they won’t fit her wide feet. One foot will fit nicely into a size 5. The other would fit lengthwise into a 5 but the width would make it a 6. Right now that hoof has quite a wide flare on the outside that hasn’t shown up in a while. (Possibly a combination of a different farrier for the past 9 months and fresh grass and new hay causing some extra growth). I will talk to my farrier about gradually bringing that side back in. If we were to get rid of the flare, I think the hoof would fit into a size 5 also. Her hooves also aren’t freshly trimmed when I measured like the instructions say. (What happens if your horse’s freshly trimmed feet measure just inside a certain size? Is that ok, will they still fit when the horse’s feet grow out?)

The trail boots to me seem like they don’t have to be a perfect fit (like something like the gloves) because of the Velcro attachment. The hoof is about 4 mm wider than the measurement of size 5. So would her hoof fit into a size 5 until its trimmed and fixed up or should I wait to purchase the boots until we get her hoof sorted out?

I’d appreciate any insight on this or even other types of hoof boots.

ETA: I’d also consider the Cavallo boots or other Easyboot Easycare options which may be easier to get and return. So same questions about the Easycare New Mac and simple Cavallo boots.

Before you do anything, get the hooves trimmed. And have them trimmed correctly - NO flares (your farrier just needs to hit them hard with the rasp and get them off), toe short, heels low.

Then go look at sizing for the foot. Easyboot does have a wide category - I purchased some wide Gloves for my neighbor’s horse, and they fit beautifully. The regular Gloves didn’t fit the horse at all.

What I meant by a flare isn’t just the bottom of her hoof spreading out on the side. The whole length of the hoof bends outwards. Sorry maybe that isn’t actually called a flare. It’s her hoof conformation but her farrier 2 farriers ago, was able to bring that whole side in a bit. She is on a regular 6 week trimming schedule, she was trimmed only about 2 weeks ago. The farrier is competent.

Her feet are naturally fairly wide and round. I checked the wide Easyboot glove measurements and she will not fit in them. But the other models seem like they might fit. I’m just wondering about the exactness of the fit.

Pictures would help. Just saying…

What if I ask the opposite. If I get the New Macs they come as a pair because the left and right are different. If I get the bigger size (which is size 7 in the Macs) would my horse’s right foot slide around too much? The Velcro fastening seems like it would be form fitting around the pastern and at least keep the boot on. Does anyone have experience with using a size too big? Or is that ok because there might actually be a size difference between freshly trimmed and ready to be trimmed hooves?

Is there anybody who can offer some insight? I thought this was a big topic on this forum.

Perhaps ask this on one of the endurance riding pages on Facebook? There seem to be lots of knowledgeable people there. The AERC facebook page is a place to start.

The manufacturer’s web page should talk about this, but if it doesn’t (I have looked at so many boots, I can’t remember which is which and who claims what anymore), my understanding is that it is better to go a size up. If the boot is too tight, the hoof doesn’t sit properly in the boot and the boot will pop off and/or affect the horse’s stride. If the boot is alittle too big, that can be addressed with an inexpensive insert (piece of felt or some other thin pad). I think a lot of people use inserts right after a trim, and remove the insert as the trim cycle progresses.

I just bought a pair of EasyBoot Trails (I think… or maybe they’re another brand or model… again, I can’t keep them straight anymore), as they seemed pretty accommodating in their sizing, but I may go back for Renegades after my horse gets a few more trims (he is new; his feet are a work in progress).

I had the Easyboot Back Countrys and used them for several years on my previous horse.Their fit (in terms of measurements) is the same as for the Gloves, and I believe both Back Countrys and Gloves have Wide sizes. My horse also had very round hooves, although not as big as the OP’s horse.

The Back Countrys are somewhat more accommodating than the Gloves are, because of the cloth attachment that velcros around the pastern. With Gloves the measurements have to be pretty exact and a friend who used them had to use a rubber mallet to secure them on the hoof.

But even though the Back Countrys are more accommodating, I would not get them if the measurement in one direction was way off. If you do, they will probably stay on, but they’ll twist and be very uncomfortable for the horse and may cause rubs.

I second the suggestion that you have the hooves trimmed before you measure for the boots, and talk to your trimmer if he or she is knowledgeable about hoof boots. If the trimmer isn’t knowledgeable, then I would take some good pictures of the hooves, and then call up the Easy Book customer service and talk to them about what boot might work.

Easy Boot also used to (and maybe still do) sell a Glove fit kit where you order the size that you think your horse is based on the measurements, and they send you a boot of that size plus one that is one size larger and one that is one size smaller. Then you can tell if you’ve got the right size and if the boots will work for you (or least have a better idea if they’ll work).

My gelding has a high/low hoof confirmation, and I rode him in the Easy Boot trail size 3 on the smaller more upright heel hoof and the size 4 on the other wider, lower heel hoof. They fit each of his front hooves perfectly HOWEVER the break-over is affected when you use boots that are not the same size. Going in a Cavallo Trek, the boot fit a bit tighter on one hoof, looser on the other although it was an ok fit on both. My farrier, vet and chiropractor suggested shoes vs boots that do not fit perfectly (or evenly in size). I rode the gloves on an Arab with a wide foot narrow foot- same issue - boots fit perfect in different sized gloves but not overall ideal for biomechanics of horse movement.O n my horse with round little hooves, the Easy Boot Trail fit perfectly, I like them better than Cavallo, they lasted forever and worked great, but again – she easily wore the same size on both fronts and they did not slip, move, rub or rotate.

This article might also help you decide. https://www.easycareinc.com/our_boots/easycare-hoof-boots.aspx#&panel1-1
Towing Springfield VA

My assumption is that if Easyboot says in its directions to measure after the horse has been trimmed, they build growth cycle into their sizing calculations.

I.e. don’t try to size up to allow for growth – Easyboot did it already.

Happy user of Easyboot Trails for one horse and Easyboot Gloves for my other horse. I would have liked the trails for both horses, but they had different hoof conformation-- one round, the other very oval.

I have the Easyboot Epics to use as “spare tires” for my TB mares. My younger mare tends to be alpha in the pasture, so she is barefoot behind. I have a pair for hind feet when we will be riding on rocky footing. The thing I like about these is that you buy individual boots rather than a pair. That might work since your horse’s feet sound like different size/shape.

I have Cavallo boots for mine. When the last pair of Simple Boots wore out I tried the Trek Boots. Despite what the size charts indicate the plastic sole is identical between the two models. The Trek size chart had my horse too big for the size 2, but he’d been wearing the Simple 2. I looked at the Trek 3, thought it looked huge, and then physically examined the sole dimensions of a Trek 2 held sole to sole with a Simple 2. Exactly the same, and sure enough the Trek 2 fits. The Sport model does have different sizing.

With the Cavallo boots you aren’t going to get the hoof into the boot if it’s too tight. There have been days late in the trim cycle where the hoof won’t go into the boot without a bit of rasping.

I chose to try the Trek’s because the last pair of Simple boots wore the leather upper out and I hoped the synthetic upper would last better through the mixed footing. The previous pair of Simple boots had done mostly roadwork and had large holes worn in the toes while the uppers were still in decent shape.

My first pair of hoof boots were Easy Boots, the original model. My horse evidently did not have the ideal Easy Boot angles and proportions as he could not walk across a field without stepping on the heel of a boot and tearing it off.

Next pair was Boa boots which seem to have been discontinued.

​​A.friend tried Boa Boots, then Easy Boot Bares on his horse, both of which were failures. Then he tried the Cavallo Simple boots and had great success, which was why I tried them. The Cavallo boots seem to be a bit more forgiving of flares and flatter angles, though they don’t work for Coke can hooves (as another fellow boarder discovered).