Horse Boot Question

[Rarah]

This is actually a question on behalf of a friend. Her young cob (just turned 4) has started banging his hind hooves against each other when trotting - seems to happen more when he's getting tired (is there a technical term for this?).

Is there a boot to help prevent any damage when he's doing this?

She did have him in overreach boots on the front, because she could hear the noise but didn't realise what he was doing until I pointed it out to her.

[connieD]

if its catching near the coronet band she could use a sausage boot to stop the hind feet catching.

there are many reasons why they do this, sometimes it can just be conformation or lack of muscle. some arthuritic conditions can change a gait.

im sure there must be other reasons but they are the only ones i know of.

my mare treads on her self when excited so sausage boots can be a life saver when doing x-country

[showjumper-zoe]

Ditto ConnieD

Or put over reach on all 4

[Jaimee]

It is far more likely that the farrier has trimmed his hind feet unbalanced. Letting the insides get higher will do it. Especially if this is something that has just started happening, would you expect it to be conformation if that was the case??

Instead of treating the symptoms she should figure out the cause. I would start by talking to the farrier. Domestic horses tend to grow tall on the inside of the hoof in the hinds because they stand around resting one hind leg a lot. As a trimmer or farrier you have to be aware of this and keep an eye on it.

A good way to tell is by looking at the bottom of the foot. From the bottom imagine a line down the centre of the foot, does it looks symetrical either side? If the inside is high you will see the inside half looking narrower. Do you understand that?? It is simple to check.