I’ve tried icing my horse in a variety of ice boots, including professionals choice, dura tech, and most recently a pair of Finn tack boots. (The kind with lots of cells and 4 Velcro straps that ice hock to hoof.) Whenever I ice him, his legs simply don’t get cold. I am putting the boots on correctly and snug. The boots are well frozen, and I’ve tried putting them on my arm to test the efficacy and they are COLD. After 20 mins in the boots, his legs are mildly cool at best in places, and still warm in other places. Does anybody have recommendations for different ice boots or wraps that will get the job done? I would like to have an option other than cold hosing, but for some reason so far nothing else gets his leg cold!! (???) Something that won’t break the bank would be ideal. Thanks for input.
Wet the legs first with ice water before you put the boots on.
Yes, legs need to be wet first. I’m a big fan of Cryochaps for even cooling. No ice boot is as good as actual ice/ice water.
I wet the inside of the boots. Also, when you pack ice in the pockets don’t pack it too tight. Then the ice ends up bulging in the pocket and the bulging part touches the legs but the non-bulging part doesn’t; that’s when you get spots of cold and not cold. Try putting less ice in the pockets and pressing on them with your hands before you put them on to make sure there is ice at the top, middle, bottom and corners of the pockets and that all these parts are in direct contact with the leg. I lay them on the ground to spread the ice out in the pockets, then sort of pat them down with my hands once they’re on the legs. You know you did it right when your hands are frozen by the time you’re done 
If you’re using big ice cubes its much harder to get a consistent icing. Crushed ice is best - you can crush it yourself with a hammer. And, depending on how hot it is outside or how hot your horse’s legs are, you may need to repack periodically (like 20 minutes).
The ones that are more gel pack can make better contact than some of the others. The best ones I’ve found are the Equifit ones. They don’t stay cold as long but they actually make contact better with the leg so you don’t have as many gaps like in the pro choice and other boots you’ve tried. Ice vibe are also gel but last even shorter amount of time—the leg warms them too fast, and they aren’t as big as Equifit if you have to get fetlocks.
I’ve unfortunately had to do a lot of icing over the last year and also took an Emma Ford clinic and asked about this. She said that nothing works as well as whirlpool boots, but you have to be careful to make sure that the horse’s skin doesn’t get too compromised from all the moisture. She also recommended putting loose ice into a cut pantyhose and wrapping it around the area with a polo/vet wrap/stable wrap. I haven’t tried this method yet I also have used ice vibe and finn tack wraps as well as some cheap hock ice wraps that aren’t worth a penny. The ice vibes are by far the best for actually staying on the hock, but they do get warm after 20 mins. I bought a Finn tack wrap last year that was fabulous and actually got the leg close to as cold as actual ice, but it popped and I had to buy a new one this year and it seems to be filled with a lot of air rather than ice pockets. I’m not sure if it is a new design or something. If you can get the older version of the Finn tack wrap (heavier than the newer version) I think that is the best bang for your buck.
I have luck with the Ice Horse boots. My only problem is I’m icing a proximal suspensory injury and my horse doesn’t like them up so high… so he kicks his legs till they slide down. As long as I get the leg wet and break up the ice packs so they lay flush on his legs, I’ve had some really ‘effective’ icing.
I say ‘effective’ as it isn’t icing the part I need it to…
I also tried the dura tech and returned them. They were garbage.
Thanks everyone. I might need to go more along the gel pack route for better contact. I tried again last night with wetting the legs first, and when I took the boot off, the leg was hot. The ice pockets of the boot that had been directly against his leg were warm and soft and no longer icy at all. For now, I guess it’s standing holding the hose!
Don’t forget that 20 mins is the max time for each icing session before your start risking damage to the tissue.
I have been using Cryochaps and have really liked them. I like them better than Equifit, Ice Vibe and Ice Horse. I used my thermography camera on them and they are still pretty cold when I remove them. Pretty handy and not as bulky.
