Hoof boots - most comfortable ?

[SquishTheBunny]

One of my horses does well barefoot except for on the gravel road…he doesn’t like the rocks. I’d prefer not to shoe him as when they come off he takes a long time to adapt back to barefoot. I road hack him at most once per week in the summer.

I had old mac g2s for him a while ago and they really rubbed his heels. He has a fairly round hoof aND heels are quite low (thoroughbred feet).

Has anyone tried cavallo simple boots or the trek boots? Looking for comfort over durability as they would only be used once a week not for daily riding…but at the same time nothing that will fall apart after 4 or 5 rides!

[JLR1]

Renegades! They are easy to put on and take off, stay secure and don’t rub.

http://www.renegadehoofboots.com

[SquishTheBunny]

I was thinking of those, unfortunatley not sold in stores around me so buying/trying on/returning if needed will be a huge pain

Son far my local choices are cavallo and Davis. .

[arlosmine]

I’ve used cavalos and have not had problems with heel rubs, though they do make little “socks” to help with that…

[Nezzy]

my Easyboot Edge are amazing. they never wobble, and they never rub. they come with a gator( is that what it is called? and so they strap around the ankle as well as staying on the foot. Idk if they still produce them, but i saw a similar product with the new Easyvboot gloves with the Gator attached. Seriously, with the edge, i could use one boot and have 3 shod hooves and gallop and my horse was never out of balance.

[2miniB]

As far as I know, Davis are just therapy boots. Not for riding.

EasyBoot makes a lot of different options, and they have great customer service. Can’t say enough good things about them. The Trail might be a better option for your horse.

[dazed]

I use hoof boots for pretty much the reason you describe… my pony is otherwise great barefoot but is slow and cautious on the many gravel trails in our park. The Cavallo boots work great for her and her round hooves. She is definitely much more comfortable on gravel with them on and they’ve never budged.

The only time I’ve seen rubbing was with boots that were too loose… made sure things fit nice and tight and no more rubbing.

The Simple boots work great but when mine wear out I’ll probably try the Treks since they’re a bit lighter.

[Scribbler]

The Renegade website has instructions on how to measure your hoof, and I expect that they would allow exchanges if you got the measurement wrong.

But the Renegades will only work if you have a horse with a well-established “barefoot performance trim,” meaning that the heels are well back, the toe is back and short, and there is no flaring in the hoof wall. If the heels are underrun or the toe is slipping forward, the Renegades will not fit. And if there is flare, the boots will pop off.

It’s a small company, and they have good customer service, and a Facebook group you can join to ask questions. You could post photos of your horse’s feet and ask if he could wear Renegades at this point.

I am on my second pair (we wore the first pair out on gravel trails), and have never had a rub with them. I would absolutely recommend them if your horse has a good barefoot trim. If not, other brands would be more suitable.

When I got my first pair, I had to wait through the winter to grow out some damage and flaring from the previous summer.

You can also ask the company if someone in your region is a distributor. For instance my vet (who is also trained as a farrier) sells them, but doesn’t advertise the fact as far as I can tell. I think they are sold more by hoof care practitioners, not in tack stores.

[RedHorses]

I have had two pairs of Simple boots and bought Treks this time. The Simple boots are leather and I found the bottom edge of the leather tended to wear out (my rides include road, brush, fields, etc so there was more wear than just roadwork on the uppers) and I was hoping the synthetic Trek uppers would wear longer.

I don’t think the Treks are as good. The leather uppers of the Simple boot will stretch and shape to the horse’s specific feet. My horse has a thickened part at the base of one pastern due to scarring from an old injury. This scar gets rubbed occasionally by his boots, though the Cavallo gaiters definitely help prevent that. The leather Simple boots shaped to the scarred pastern and his heel shape (which was much lower than the boot was designed for). Much like our own shoes/boots shape to our feet. I stood the old, worn out boot up beside the new one and was very surprised at how much of a difference there was.

The Trek’s synthetic upper doesn’t have that give and shape ability that the leather does. If the Treks fit your horse well off the shelf then shaping ability is not an issue.

My Simple boots lasted several years and were well worth the expense. I broke them in carefully to get them to shape to my horse’s feet. First I took them home and mangled them by hand while I watched TV. Meaning I squashed, twisted, rolled, etc the leather to begin the break-in process. On the horse I started with about 20 min of walk every other ride (often taking them off and doing some more riding). I added trot if all was well, as in no rubs. After a week or so it helps to ride through a puddle at the beginning of the ride as the water helps the leather form.

I brushed and rinsed mud off (using a hose or bucket of water - preferred the hose) and used saddle cleaning and conditioning products on the leather.

[DJohn]

Cavallo Trek boots are excellent for TB feet. My horse is a size 4 in the Trek. He has rather round hooves that are quite large (but still low heel). I tried using the socks initially but they just got in the way. I oiled the inside of my Treks with hoof oil the first few times I used them. I also kept the first few rides to 20min or so in order to break them in. My horse never got a rub or anything of the sort.

I can w/t/c my horse in the Treks and they never come off.

[SquishTheBunny]

Thanks! Renegades definitely are out as my horse has too much flare, feet are wider than they are long.

I tried a cavallo simple in size 4 (based on the package measurements) and we’re a tad top big would rotate around too easily.going to try the size 3s and hope for a snug fit! I’d like to try the trek ones because they look less clunky but the simplest shape seems to look good for him.

[danacat]

I have an old T-bred who has laminitis in one front foot. He wears a boot on that foot 24/7 - except for a few hours a day to dry foot and boots.

He has a completely round, flared foot - heels are supporting him along with flares so he needs to keep those. Because of the flares he has to wear a boot that is one size bigger (in order to fit the width) and the ONLY boot that stays on him is an Easy Boot Epic with an extra thick pad to take up some space.

The ski boot type latch on the Epics can be cranked down hard, which insures a really snug fit! I actually have to pry the latch back up with a sturdy hoof pick when I want to remove the boot.

Bottom line: the Epic stays on! No rubs, the boot doesn’t rotate at all and my guy is pretty active during turn out. Also the Epics can be filed down to insure an easier/swifter break over – as if he was wearing a smaller size.

You might give the Epics a try.

[Nezzy]

here is a link to the easyboot edge and what they look like. but as i mentioned i don’t know if they are still being produced or not, i think they are doing something similar with the newer version of the easyboot Glove

http://www.easycareinc.com/Our_boots/Easyboot_Edge/easyboot_edge.aspx