Bringing barefoot horse back into work after lami - boots or not?

[Bronya]

Do you think I will need boots at first to bring my girl back into work, if we will mainly do roadwork, or not? My main worry is that the feet might not grow fast enough as they have been ill recently, or generally that she's been in for a while and they might need to toughen up again. We will only be walking for the first couple of months, but hope to build up to several hours a day (it's summer after all!).

If so, what boots would be best? Her hooves are still a bit flared from the lami, but my trimmer said there isn't really a lot of hoof for him to trim, so we need to wait for some of it to grow out. As a result, they are more wide than long. He also said that the old style Old Macs (which I have) give a lot of knee action due to their more aggressive traction than the hoof would naturally have....

To be honest, I am a little confused :confused: - help?

[Bebe]

I would use boots in your situation, and hoof pads too. I'm surprised that your trimmer hasn't recommended this to be honest, it's fairly standard practice across the board.

As far as the traction thing goes, yes you want a little bit of slip but I've never, ever heard of too much knee action being an issue with any hoof boots bar the new Easy Boot Grips which are not recommended for road use. I have used Old Macs and Old Mac G2s for roadworks without a problem and I'd certainly notice an increase in knee action as my mare is a daisy cutter by nature and doesn't really do flinging knees as a general rule.

[Bronya]

Why hoof pads? Never really encountered them other than in people's posts... so honestly no idea :confused: .

He said whatever she's comfortable with (helpful, I know!:rolleyes: ). She's properly sound in all paces on grass and in walk and trot on tarmac (not that I've trotted her more than to check she is sound as we want to walk for a good time yet!).

She had lami in all four hooves, though worse in the front right than any others. Would I boot all round or just on the fronts?

[LokiSofi]

So glad you asked as was just about to ask the same question. Loki also had it in all 4 feet but has rotation in the fronts.
I've been told not to do any more than a walk (when he is back into work) on hard ground (roads etc) so I was thinking of getting boots to protect his feet on hard ground