Would hoof boots help with this?

[tbchick84]

I should just rename my horse goldilocks. He doesn’t like his footing too hard or too soft. He refuses to go above a walk on wet or mushy ground when we are out hacking. I kind of like it because I know he’s not going to hurt himself because he is so careful.

That all being said, when I ride him in our indoor arena, he frequently slips in back. It mostly happens when we are coming off of a turn. He either cross canters in back to transition down or his hind end completely slips out from under him. Last year, when we had that really bad winter, after 4 months indoors, he developed hind end stiffness. He began refusing jumps and tossing his head at the canter. I opted for hock injections. It took months for all the soreness to work itself out. We missed most of the show season. He’s now back to his bold, happy jumping everything in sight self, but I am worried about him becoming sore again now that we are starting to ride in the indoor again. I had never put the footing and soreness together before, but we just now started riding in the indoor and he went straight back to slipping.

I was thinking, would putting hoof boots on his hinds help with traction at all? I talked to my farrier last week and he does not think a different shoe would help. The footing in our indoor is a smidge deep for my liking and it can be slippery when it’s been watered.

[gypsymare]

There are boots that you can put studs into but if he’s already wearing shoes I’d just have them tapped for studs.

Slipping behind was the first sign of major hock arthritis for one of my horses.

[tbchick84]

We did think it was a hock issue last year, but has not slipped all summer in the outdoor rings and has been great on trails and hunter paces. As soon as we’re back inside, he slips again. This is likely an issue of the deeper footing causing him to work harder and I’m sure the frequent slipping ads up in terms of soreness and it eventually shows up in his hocks.

I didn’t think about having the shoes tapped for studs. That would be worth a try. Too bad we just did shoes this week.

[Highflyer]

I’m not sure studs or hoof boots would help much with traction on footing. It sounds like maybe he struggles with the tighter turns inside? It might be worth just backing off a bit and conditioning him very slowly to the different footing (start out by just cantering on the long sides and trotting the turns, for example.)

[tbchick84]

I’m sure the walls come into play somewhat. The first few rides in there, he acts like he forgot how to canter. Since it happens mostly at the canter, I will probably just try to keep cantering to a minimum and hope for a mild winter so we can still practice jumping outside. It’s a bummer. I drive far just to be able to afford a place with an indoor. To not be able to use it fully kinda sucks.

[wildlifer]

No – I have used/use several kinds of hoof boots on my older horse, they reduce traction.

I have a similar issue with my younger guy. It’s like he forgets he has back feet sometimes & has twice (like now, grrr) strained muscles being an idiot. Yeah, he got hind studs at Novice. Now I put in road studs (I only stud behind) for just about any work if the ground isn’t dry (I don’t use arenas much).

His issue (aside from doing stupid things, i.e. being a horse) is partially due to arthritic changes in his back (common in most riding horses, but some are symptomatic, some aren’t). I would never have guessed or found them, but I had insurance on him for the first year I owned him; he’d raced 3 yrs & retired sound, but horses are horses! He vetted fine, but when work got harder, he started getting sore & trippy behind, so we did a bone scan w/ rads. Hocks & stifles are pristine, as are withers. He gets injected (haha, like me) from T14-S1 about once a year, he’s at T.

Well, he is when he’s not being stupid. Injections don’t help the “hey, you have FOUR legs” memory, LOL, when he’s OMGWHEE RUNRUNRUN OHCRAPMUDISSLIPPERY…

[Beam_Me_Up]

I don’t know that studs would help in an arena.
I agree with your inclination that the deep footing might be tough on his hind end, causing him to fatigue/get sore more quickly.
Maybe going a little lighter on the tight turns/deep footing arena time and letting him get stronger would help? I have one who tends to fall out behind when he’s not fit, it goes away after a few weeks of work.
It’s also possible that his hocks need injecting again?

[tbchick84]

He’s only 12 and he has a muscle butt that rivals his racing years’ photos. He is absolutely fine in the other rings, trails, fields, etc. He goes up and down hills like a mountain goat. It is just this one surface. To me the chicken/egg reference = ring footing is resulting in slipping & eventual soreness. If I cannot find a way to improve his traction in that ring, I just won’t ride him as much in there.

[wildlifer]

I agree about studs not helping in footing, sorry, brain fart missed the arena part somehow.

[Bogie]

I used hoof boots for a long time and agree that they reduce traction rather than improve it. I’m surprised you would need more traction in an indoor – it sounds like he doesn’t like the footing. I have friend whose horse went lame when she moved him to a place with an indoor. He’s pretty much fine when she rides him outside but inside he struggles. Their footing is deep and I think it doesn’t work for him. If your horse is fine everywhere except for the indoor, it’s probably the footing.

[netg]

I’d be looking at something wrong - while it takes getting used to footing, a year later and if he’s been working that whole time, he should be perfectly capable of turning a corner. The exception to that would be if the base is too hard/slippery underneath (in which case studs might actually help) or with this deeper, softer footing I’d be considering you missed the actual problem behind.

I’d be asking a vet about it if he still can’t canter in there a year later, because horses don’t do it out of fun or because it’s “easier” so I’d question what’s wrong. Whatever it is would likely show up elsewhere eventually if you don’t figure it out and take care of it now.

[PrinceSheik325]

Hopefully it’s not this, but slipping behind was one of the first symptoms of my horse’s digital deep flexor hole. The swelling came later, but slipping was around for a while first.

[sunhawk]

I would worry about footing that is too deep even if the horse had no trouble getting around in it. It’s like walking in beach sand…gives way too much it doesn’t support. Good footing absorbs impact but also supports. The indoor we have to work in has deep sandy footing. I can’t afford to board there, I haul in to ride. The winter I kept my eventer there and rode every day, he got grouchy from being body sore as that deep footing that gives out under their feet is tiring to work in and makes different demands on their body than firmer footing does.

[tbchick84]

Ugh. Sorry to keep beating this to death, but he’s still slipping and it appears to be getting worse. He used to slip mostly at the canter but not it’s all gaits. He jumps right back into the gait he was at, but I feel bad working him in there. Unless it suddenly gets mild and dry the next few weeks, we’re already stuck in there until spring. Would hind SMB boots help support him at all, or is slipping behind an overall body strain thing? I’m going to call me vet and see if he thinks this might have a medical cause, but considering he’s fine on all other surfaces, for now I am blaming it on the deep sandy footing.

I don’t have many choices of places to move him to. My area is extremely expensive, and I am single paycheck gal. My current board situation is great, but what good is an indoor if I can’t use it the months when I need it?

[Highflyer]

No boot is going to help with that. There are worse things than just taking the winter off. Compromising your horse’s long term soundness is one of them.

[Bogie]

Not really. Mostly leg boots offer protection from impact, but not any real support.

Here’s an article from www.thehorse.com that talks about boots. Support boots, like SMB boots, mostly restrict hyperextension of the fetlock joint. Whether this would make a difference to your horse is something you would need to discuss with your vet and weigh against other ways to condition your horse so that he can handle the footing.

“Support” boots allegedly provide stiffness to the lower leg to reduce hyperextension on the fetlock joints. The degree to which this can help is dependent upon the materials used in construction of the boot: the thicker the material and the more elastic it is, the greater the restriction on hyperextension.
Clayton comments, “The amount of fetlock extension determines the amount of strain on the superficial digital flexor tendon and suspensory ligament. Injuries to these structures most often occur as repetitive strain injuries due to loading of the limb during locomotion. By reducing fetlock extension, there is less likelihood of repetitive strain injury. During rehabilitation, it’s particularly useful to control fetlock extension to prevent re-injury.”

Clayton explains one of the pitfalls in relying too much on leg boots  to "support" musculoskeletal structures: "It is much easier to limit  fetlock flexion in the swing phase than to limit fetlock extension in  the stance phase. This is because the ground reaction force is so large  that the wraps or boots would have to be very tight--so tight you risk a  bandage bow (bowed tendon)--as not to loosen during work."


Clayton comments, "Most of the studies have not shown an effect in  preventing fetlock extension, and, in addition, any protection effect  disappears after a small amount of work."

[tbchick84]

[QUOTE=Highflyer;7878564]
No boot is going to help with that. There are worse things than just taking the winter off. Compromising your horse’s long term soundness is one of them.[/QUOTE]

Between my work schedule and the fact that I live in New England, my show season is a brief 4 months from May thru August which begins very shortly after we are able to ride outdoors. Not being able to ride/practice for the 5 months leading up to would make it completely unable for me to show. Since my horse is all I have, there’s really isn’t a worse thing in that case. If I cannot ride him in this ring, I have to look for another barn with better footing.

[tbchick84]

…

[Bogie]

I am in New England. We don’t have an indoor and I ride outside all winter. My horses come out of the winter fit and ready to go. We start hunting in April.

There are certainly times when I’d really, really like to have an indoor, but I’ve come to enjoy being outside even in the inclement weather.

[retreadeventer]

This sounds like a coordination issue of some sort. Why not have your vet pull some blood and test for things like Lymes and EPM?

The slipping will cause the problem. I’d stay out of the corners and cut the turns. I would work him in a straight line as much as possible. If that means doing driveway dressage a good bit of the time, so be it…I do a lot of training on a gravel driveway in the winter when my arena and riding field aren’t any good.

Just sounds like a problem that will require some vet sleuthing. I’d be careful riding him in there until you are sure what it is.

We have a local indoor that everyone always said has nice footing, and every single time I’ve ever been it, my horses have slipped in the corners as it’s greasy footing that is packed tight under the top two or three loose inches. I find it uncomfortable to ride in there and don’t go there anymore. I had a very surefooted horse (Mustang) slip and go down in a corner in there so sometimes footing is the issue.

Best of luck and hope you get it fixed somehow!