Anyone have a favorite boot for when your horse pulls and shoe & you are waiting for the farrier to be able to come back out?
My guy lives out 24/7 so something he could wear in turnout would be a plus!
With memorial day weekend sales & a current lost shoe, I’m ready to order something now. What is your favorite for this?
My Easyboot Sneakers stay on for weeks at a time with 24/7 turnout
I use EasyBoot Clouds in the stall, and Scoot Boots with a pad in turnout. The Scoot boots fit the hoof tightly, so they don’t twist or chafe. They stay on well even on soft ground. In full mud? …nothing stays on my kid.
I have successfully used an Easyboot Glove Soft for this purpose. you need a precise measurement for it, as they fit snugly.
Lots of good options given. I personally like Cavallos for turnout- when well-fitted I’ve found they stay on quite well even with a bit of mud and general turnout antics. I’ve used scoots successfully as well, but they are less forgiving on fit.
I have one of the trek Cavallos (in bright green) with a gel pad for when my gelding loses a shoe. He’s also out 24/7. I suggest switching out the velcro tab with one of the buckle tabs, much more secure.
The longest he’s had to wear it is six days. He did end up with a small rub, but that seemed like the lesser of the evils.
Second vote for the easy boot glove. I like the pastern wrap because you don’t have to be perfectly precise on fit and it’ll stay on. I’ve ridden w/t/c, jumped small jumps, trail ridden all over the place, and turned out in them.
Dummy question … My mare has only lost a shoe once which was a few weeks ago when we had rain for days on end and horrible, boot-sucking mud. She lives out in a drylot paddock 24/7. Luckily I was able to locate the shoe and the farrier was able to come relatively quickly to put it back on.
In cases like this in the future, would a boot have had much of a chance of staying on? If so, I might purchase a “just in case” pair of boots to have on hand but my sense is they would not be the greatest in that type of mud.
We’ve had such little rain/mud over the last 5 years or so but this year has started out quite wet already.
I have an old pair of Cavallos that I used for this purpose (my thoroughbred is barefoot again but I’m happy to do this again if he’s ever in shoes). They work really well for us. I used them in mud, but not crazy deep mud (I have both). They’re slightly too big for him (they were not purchased with him in mind) but they’re forgiving and he’s happy with them. I do have a pair of renegades that I could use but he’s happy with the Cavallos so we go that route. I believe they’re the simple boot.
If the mud is really soft and gooey, your horse is probably fine with out a boot, since the footing is soft.
(Clearly this is specific horse dependent.)
A properly fitted hoof boot designed to fit the shape of the hoof it is on, can stay on in some pretty serious mud.
My answer to the original question is - duct tape.
It fits all stages of the trim cycle.
Thanks! I went out last night for my first dressage lesson in 55 weeks (finally at a place in our hind suspensory rehab that we can lesson again) and my mare lost her OTHER front shoe. Sigh. Texted the farrier, spent an hour looking (unsuccessfully) for the shoe, and resigned myself to waiting another few weeks for the next lesson opportunity.
Cavallos are the only boots my young horse did not destroy turned out 24/7. Easyboot sneakers lasted the second longest, but were destroyed within a couple weeks. Renegades/easyboot epic/easyboot bare/easyboot trail were all properly fitted and all destroyed.
We use Woofwear Medical Boots when needed. They hold up well for us, even in turnout.
Using fiberglass casting material for this purpose is fab.
I’m interested in the fibreglass casting. I have a TB in my barn with the most terrible feet I’ve ever encountered and we just can’t keep shoes on him since he runs like a maniac and pulls like a pro. He can’t be barefoot because he can’t walk, his soles are so thin. Believe me, we have tried. Can you tell me more about the fibreglass? Please!!
That’s not a purpose I would address with a cast without professional guidance.
Casts are good in the short term for tossed shoes. They are good for injuries and transitioning to barefoot, but you have to redo them every couple weeks. You can do damage with them if they are applied tightly and left on.
There are a lot of videos about applying them. It’s not much different than wrapping a hoof. You can order the materials from any farrier supply place and they are pretty cheap.
We had one w just awful feet- sounds exactly like yours. You’re probably done this, but we added copper, zinc, and biotin to his diet. We also have a farrier who is brilliant.
When he’d pull a shoe, we’d put the WoofWear Medical Boot on him. He actually has pretty good feet now but it did take some time. If the footing was iffy, we’d turn him out on Ace. He also went out alone. Hope some of this is helpful.
slight spinoff (since my mare just pulled a shoe today so she’s in a boot (can’t remember the brand but I love it!)), those who turn out in boots - do you worry about traction vs regular shoes? i was debating just putting her in run tomorrow so she can’t yahoo, as I have a fear of her slipping on it in the grass. tia!
Casts don’t always stay on. My vet likes to use them for a limited time because long term casting can make the foot contract and pull the heels forward. My mare, who had terrible feet from foundering, did not have under-run heels. But we had to use casts for a lot longer than optimal because it was a last resort. She did gain sole depth but her feet contracted and her heels were pulled really forward. And that made it harder to keep the casts on. After the 3 hour roundtrip to the vet and farrier I would come down to the barn the next morning and she would have pulled the cast off. AUGH!!! I think I would finally just slice the cast in two and reapply it with elasticon. That worked OK but not great. However if you have more foot to work with it is a lot easier to keep a cast on. They also can hold moisture in the hoof wall and if you are dealing with crumbling hoof wall that is a problem. They can be a good short term solution though. I have more luck these days with boots but they have issues too.
Nobody uses duck tape anymore?? I had one fly stomp off a shoe ( they never lose shoes) and my farrier is scheduled to come this week. I just duck taped it up to try and keep any breaking to a minimum.
He doesn’t need shoes to be comfortable so he is sound .
The hardest part was getting the roll started so I could use it.
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