As happened last summer, as soon as the ground dried out, my fool mare, who likes to sleep on hard ground rather than in her nicely bedded shed that has rubber mats with a good layer of shavings, developed a sore on the front of her left front fetlock. Last year it turned into a full-blown summer sore, which required treatment and daily bandage changes and so forth.
Since the sore is still tiny, I’d like to avoid last summer’s expense and hassle if possible. I am putting Alu-shield on it, which seems to keep it from getting worse, but it’s not healing.
I know some people swear by upside-down bell boots for this, so I want to give it a try. She is outside 20 to 24 hours per day, and does get mud in her dry lot if it rains. She is lightly built; the circumference of her pastern is about 7 to 7 1/2 inches around, and her shoes are size 0 or 00. Medium bell boots are definitely too big.
Questions:
- Must I do pull-ons, or are velcro ones OK?
- Material – rubber, hard plastic???
- Any features I should look for, or avoid?
- How do I get smaller bell boots that are still long enough to come up over the sore?
- Do I need to put them on both front legs even if the right front shows no signs of trouble?
- Success stories and cautions welcome!
