[QUOTE=beowulf;8187989]
ok… no boot offers support BUT as the study indicates, CERTAIN boots can prevent full extension - which is useful for keeping the ligaments “quiet”. SMB boots offer more restriction than polos… and no, polos are not more supportive than boots. they are equally ineffective.
i like SMB boots. i have not had a problem with them. heat build up really only happens if it is 90 degrees out or if you are doing intense work - IE gallop sets… for anything else, no, I don’t think there’s enough heat generated by SMBs or any boot for that matter.
but i second you need an ultrasound to ddx a suspensory…[/QUOTE]
I live in SoCal so it IS routinely 90+ here, especially now with it being almost summer. I’ve also had issues with rubs, so I just avoid those types of boots now. But if they work for you, then use them :)! I think boots are a personal choice in most cases anyway.
[QUOTE=gumtree;8188016]I think the OP fully understands that an US is in order. What people don’t seem to understand that she is in a “Vet Challenged” area of the country. Like a lot of people who live in “sparsely horse populated” areas. There are not enough horses to justify a number of vets “setting up shop”. US machines are not cheap a lot of “single practice” vets don’t own one. If there are several vets in an area they tend to share one. But even then IMO and experience knowing how to read and interpret an US takes years to “speak fluently”. So I would not rely on a vet’s “findings” based on limited to no experience.
Not everybody is in a position to a ship a horse to a clinic many hours away and back. Along with the cost of the US. Before US we had to rely on feel, experience and “gut” as to what was going on, what was needed to rehab and how long the horse should be rested.
IMO and experience soft tissue injury is my worst nightmare. Give me a fracture any day. Straight forward easy to diagnose and easy to find out when the horse can go back to work. That being said without the benefit of an US now and US to determine how things have healed. I would error on the side of caution. If everyone thinks several weeks should be good enough I would most likely double that. Moving to soon with couple but the horse back to square one, if not worse. Giving more time sucks because it is boring and if paying board, downtime is expensive.[/QUOTE]
Thank you :). I moved up here from a vet-rich area so it was definitely a bit of a culture shock! Especially the quality there vs where I am now. There are actually A LOT of horses here, but it is a “rural” type of place where the majority of horses go without any kind of vet care. Since there is no demand for vets here, we don’t exactly have a lot of choice!
Thanks to everyone, I do know an ultrasound is recommended, but I am waiting for a call back from a vet I used to use to see what she would also recommend. The horse is also already retired and not ridden much as it is, so I have no problem giving him extensive time off. I just wanted to know everyone’s opinion on SMB boots, since I had never heard anything really positive about them. I think I will avoid them and stick with just wraps and icing.
Thank you everyone!
