Hoof boots? Hind shoes?

[jklein4800]

I’m thinking my guy is going to need some hoof protection behind.

He has typical tb feet: flat footed, longer toe, not a lot of heel. His feet have improved tremendously since seeing Dave Duckett.
Duckett also thinks he needs some shoes behind, but wanted to wait and see how he does with an increased workload (5-6 days a week, mostly flat work).

I’m hesitant to do hind shoes because of 1, the cost, and 2, the barn I board at wouldn’t want him out with the other horses. It would be changing the whole routine up if he had to go out by himself.

I have him on Shur-Hoof supplement with pretty good results, I’ve also been applying Keratex to his soles.

Barn owner suggested looking into hoof boots. Would they help at all? They seem like a band-aid to me. The ring we ride in is mostly sand (a little deep).

If we would do hind shoes, is there any way to protect the other horses from kicks?

[Simkie]

In general, hoof boots are something worn when the horse is working. They’re not left on. You can glue on something like the easy boot glove, but I’ve not found them to work real well for a horse with under run heels.

I think boots can be awesome when the horse is fine on home footing but sore on “going out” footing–like a trail horse who is a-okay in the field, but ouchy on the gravel road. For a horse that just needs more support and protection in general, though? Shoes seem to be the better option.

If you do go with glue on boots, they don’t really cause damage with kicks, so no worries there. The easy boot gloves, at least, are just plastic, and aren’t particularly hard. If you go with metal shoes, the only sure fire way to protect other horses from kicks is to turn your horse out alone.

[netg]

Barefoot was the only way to improve my guy’s hooves. And he needed boots behind for quite a while. Riding on caustic footing can wear the hooves, so sometimes you need boots even for home footing if it’s wearing hooves. Besides that, I had to get my horse trimmed very frequently - as in, every two weeks frequently. Trims were tiny amounts, but it was the only way to get his toes under control, and couldn’t be done with shoes on.

[Misocksgal]

I use rear hoof boots on my horse for that very reason. We only need them occasionally and he’s out in a group of horses. He doesn’t usually kick but I don’t want him to hurt someone. I’ve used both Renegades and EasyBoot Trails with good success.

[Flash44]

I never use hind shoes unless a horse has a specific problem that warrants them. It’s been 10 years since I had hind shoes on a horse. Did the 3’ hunters and won everything, now trail ride extensively and do obstacle courses and show Western without them. I don’t think a little ring work will cause any problems for your horse.

[Simbalism]

My older TB mare is pretty flat footed. I do a variety of things with her and she has shoes on all 4 feet. She is low on the pecking order and doesn’t kick anyone. My younger OTTB mare actually has slightly better feet than my older mare (not quite as flat footed). She also is more alpha than my older mare and will kick occasionally( getting better), but not going to put hind shoes on her for now at least. I have some easy boot epics for both the girls. Of course they couldn’t wear the same size. Older girl uses them when she has thrown a shoe. Younger one also when she throws a shoe, but have considered getting a second one so she could have a pair (for hind feet) for when we ride on rockier trails.