Easy Walker Shoes .. Info??

[Cheeky]

Hey there,

Not sure if you guys in the UK get them over there, but I've seen a few adverts for the 'Easy Walker' Shoes.

Honey has WLD and my farrier has suggested to get her shod as her hooves are beginning to crack, and will do so more with heavier work (at least on her front), but if there's one thing I promised Honey, it was that I'd never get her shod with metal shoes if I could help it.

So has anyone heard of the Easy Walker? Anyone use it? I'd love to hear if it worked out for them .. if it didn't .. why? Why not? Etc. .

Cheers :)

[MelanieD]

I've never tried easywalker shoes but have had some experience of WLD. IMO the worst thing for a horse with WLD is to put shoes on because the anaerobic nasties that cause it really like to have a shoe to hide under, they are much less happy exposed to air.

For quite bad WLD or if it goes quite deep up the hoof then clean trax is very good stuff. For milder cases milton is meant to be very good, and I've had some success with hibiscrub for controlling really mild little bits that don't go too deep, borax also pretty good. Don't worry about a bit of chipping, anything that chips off was infected enough that it wasn't strong enough to be supporting the weight of a horse anyway so won't be missed. As long as you get the infection under control and make sure to roll the edge of the foot (mustang roll or whatever you want to call it) then the chipping should stop when the infection clears up and uninfected stronger growth reaches the ground.

Diet is very important to WLD, a diet with too much sugary stuff makes it far too happy and even a very mild bout of low grade laminitis can give it something to feed on.

If you want to avoid shoes but need some foot protection and can put up with a bit of extra hassle while tacking up then hoof boots could be used to protect the feet while riding until the infected wall grows out.

[Cheeky]

Thankyou so much.

I don't wanna put shoes on her, but he did suggest them. I thought that having the nails in the hooves would alow more water (its winter here) in to the hoof, and also would create more cracking.

what is rolling (mustang)?

On another forum, I was suggested to use Boitin .. a suppliment/pellets that help the growth of the hoof, and helps with fungus like WLD and a few others. Also helps keep the hoof strong as well.

I'd much rather go out and buy say, Old Macs (or simular) that can be used for ever, than shoes that may be worse for her.

I can't tell you how nice it is to see that there are alternatives. I have been sweating for a few weeks about this ..

I don't know how servere it is, I am guessing a reasonable amount. My idea (taken from other peoples help) was:
- Get her feet trimmed more sooner, and have smaller trims (so ever few weeks, rather than ever 6) to help the cuts grow out.
- Put her onto Boitin (or hoof suppliment)
- Wear boots when riding.

At the moment she is just on hay and grass, and in light (soon to be moderate) work. I was thinking of putting her onto a small hard feed (once a day) as well as the hay (2 x a day), as she is starting to show she'll need it.

Thankyou so much again .. I Really really do appreciate it :)

[MelanieD]

Have a look at www.hoofrehab.com, all the pics of feet look like the bottom edge is rounded instead of flat, that's a mustang roll.

Biotin is good, but there's a lot of other things that are needed for hoof growth so you really need a general hoof supplement rather than just biotin. Biotin won't get rid of infection so you'd still need to soak in something to kill it off, but sometimes just plenty of work on hard ground and not letting the feet get too long can grow out infection.

I've got old macs and they are good, G2s are nice as well, really depends on the shape of the feet which are best.