Horsey Hoof Boots

L

Lisa&Lady

Guest
I know this is in the wrong area mods, but wanted people to view it as would like some opinions.

Obviously, the majority of you know that my little pumpkin has got navicular.

I was just thinking, and yes it did hurt, about getting her hoof boots so I can hack out again once she comes sound, as I still havent cantered her out in the park.

So was thinking about hoof boots. I went onto my local saddlery's webpage and found 2 different pairs.

Have any of you used them?, can they be left on all the time, or do you only put them on when your riding or she's being turned out etc?

Pair 1 - http://www.ingatestonesaddlery.co.u...ots/Miscellaneous/Boa-Horse-Boots-100513.Aspx

Pair 2 - http://www.ingatestonesaddlery.co.uk/Horse/Horse-Wear/Horse-Boots/Miscellaneous/Old-Macs-100514.Aspx

Ive never used them or seen anyone else using them, so this is all new for me.

Im not saying im definately going to get any, just mulling the idea over in my head.

:)
 
They're not *supposed* to be used with shoes on, and they often mention they don't give a gurantee they won't break and stuff. I don't know how helpful they'll be for a shod horse, but then I've been looking at them from a barefoot perspective. Someone else might know about them for shod horses :confused:
 
LittleChel said:
They're not *supposed* to be used with shoes on, and they often mention they don't give a gurantee they won't break and stuff. I don't know how helpful they'll be for a shod horse, but then I've been looking at them from a barefoot perspective. Someone else might know about them for shod horses :confused:
Click to expand...

See that's what im thinking. Her shoe's are off at the moment because of having her x-rays, but she has go to have Natural Balance shoes put back on.

I will only ever be riding Lady on a school surface.

Its only if I go out on the roads, that my vet has said will cause the concussion to her little hoofies, so was wondering if hoof boots would help.

:confused:
 
I've got Old Mac G2s and I wouldn't say they were cushioned. The stuff about shock absorbing is about not having shoes on as shoes stop the horse being about to expand/contract hooves as they're walking (which can as you say contribute to navicular), so I can't really see how boots would help put on over shoes.
 
LittleChel said:
I've got Old Mac G2s and I wouldn't say they were cushioned. The stuff about shock absorbing is about not having shoes on as shoes stop the horse being about to expand/contract hooves as they're walking (which can as you say contribute to navicular), so I can't really see how boots would help put on over shoes.
Click to expand...

I think its more the jarring affect when the hoof hits the road (in trot for example).

Navicular is the crumbling of the navicular bone, so wold cushioned boots stop the jarring effect on her hoof bones and joints?

:confused:
 
(Going to sound very pro-barefoot here :p) When a horse doesn't have shoes as the hoof hits the ground it expands and then contracts as it leaves the ground. This absorbs most of the impact and therefore it doesn't jar inside the foot/leg. When you put shoes on a horse, it's a fixed piece of metal while the foot is in the 'up'/contracted state. When the horse then walks the hoof can't expand and absorb the shock so it is absorbed further up - which is then what causes the crumbling. I would say that while cushioning would absorb some of the impact, the boots aren't actually designed to be padded inside - mine are a flat piece of plastic. It's just that as the foot hits the plastic it doesn't wear, and at least for Woody, it's the wear that you're trying to avoid by wearing boots. His hooves are weaker than the tarmac so the tarmac simply erodes his hoof as there's no metal to be worn, so wearing boots means the hoof he grows stays there!

Sorry for the essay :p
 
See that's the problem, Lady needs the support of her shoes on her heels as she has the typical TB flat foot, which has also bought on the nav.

The vet said see how she goes with Natural Balance shoes, and if no better in a months time, consider putting padding between her feet and shoe.

I'll probably try the padded shoe route first (if she does continue to be a bit tootsy). One of the other horses at my yard also has nav, and he has got the padding between he's hoof and shoe, and he hasnt got lame since, so will maybe try that.

:confused:
 
I wouldn't know about what you can do with shoes, I'm a barefoot advocate I'm afraid so I'd always argue no shoes ;) I'd say shoes off & then booted for riding, naked in the field so long as she's comfy, but as with everything in the horse world there's no right or wrong answer, it's personal preference and for me barefoot is best and there's USUALLY a way to work round things.

Woody has typical TB feet too and being barefoot is the best thing for it IMO and it's certainly helped him, but I know it's not right for everyone :)

It's long but this a quote from a barefoot website.
The Navicular bone acts as a pulley for the deep digital flexor tendon. It also is a turn on/off valve for the blood flow to the hoof. Every time the horse steps down on a surface, the bone shuts off the blood flow to the hoof and allows the blood to be sucked back up into the Coffin bone and other parts of the hooves.

When the mechanics of the hooves are impaired due to shoeing, imbalanced trimming, heels that are left too long or toes that are left too long, the navicular bone cannot function at peak ability. This malfunction inhibits the correct blood flow to the hoof and increases the vulnerability of the hooves to further physiological damage.

Horses that are high risk for navicular are those that are forced to wear high heels, long toes and bars, confined to stalls for hours and hours on end and are used hard on rough and hard surfaces. Conventional treatments of specialty shoes do nothing to correct the CAUSE of navicular but simply mask the symptoms. As the hooves continue to deteriorate with navicular more and more severe treatments are administered with the last resort of nerving. Nerving is cutting of the nerves so the horse cannot feel pain. Again, this does nothing to "cure" the navicular; only mask the pain. Many horses have been condemned unnecessarily to an early death because the conventional treatments do nothing except provide a short-term quick fix, a band-aid of sorts.

Navicular syndrome can and is treated successfully and cured with correct trimming of the hooves. Lower the heels, bring back the toes, rocker the toes to ensure a heel-first landing, balance and level the soles -- all these play a large factor in the recovery of the navicular horse. A lifestyle that includes 24/7 turnout with free-choice shelter helps to ensure the horse's free movement that will, in turn, keep the navicular bone stimulated to doing its job correctly. Frequent physiologically correct trimmings to see that the heels do not grow too long nor the toe too long will help to keep the stressors at a minimum within the hooves.
Click to expand...
 
Only one problem with that, navicular can never be cured, once the horse has it, nothing can be done except to make the horse more comfortable, so there are some points in that quote that I dont agree with.

I do believe that barefoot works for some horses, but im not sure with Lady. I did try it before and he feet just cracked up completely, and she was soooo tootsy, it was hard to watch.

I've put the keratex on her as well, but that still didnt harden up her feet to a point where she could walk soundly.

Im in no rush at the moment, so will phone the vets next week, and speak to Ralph again.

So confusing lol
 
LittleChel said:
What's her diet like? What ground was she sore on, was she ok in the field? Was it crumbling round the nail holes where her shoes had been or everywhere?
Click to expand...

She's on 1scoop of hi-fi lite and 1/2 scoop of nuts for breakfast and dinner (this was advised to us by the vet after her colic op)

She sore on all ground, walking to the field, out in the field.

The crumbling was everywhere. They were splitting all over the place.
 
Yeah, diet sounds fine from a barefoot perspective. I'm quite suprised about her being sore even in the field, that doesn't sound good :( You could boot up for the field until she was less sore, but if it's not the route you want to go down it's fair enough. I suppose it could be she's going to be sore for a while as she's 16 now so she'll have had shoes on a long time. The longer they're shod the longer it takes to be comfortable without shoes, so luckily for me Woody being young meant that although he is still transitioning he wasn't uncomfy in the field at all and on hard surface for long. How long did you try her barefoot before re-shoeing her?

To be honest, I know how much you love that silly moose and you'll do right by her whatever you decide to do. I'm sure she'd say thanks if she could ;) xx
 
Only one problem with that, navicular can never be cured, once the horse has it, nothing can be done except to make the horse more comfortable,
Click to expand...

A barefoot trimmer is currently carrying out some research to try and back up the theory that it can be 'cured' as she found bony changes had been reversed in subsequent x rays of at least one of her rehab horses. If curing means making the horse sound and able to work normally again, then that's also more than possible and has been done.

As far as boots go they would be a great idea, especially if you also use pads in them as they will get the horse super comfy and landing heel first, which reduces concussion and could be the first step in helping the horse to recover. They would be a great idea in my book - I used nothing else on Tess for two and a half years, although she's currently shod for the summer for other reasons, so they're fine for Tb's. They can be used over shoes too.

My preference would be for Easyboot Epics or Old Mac G2's (or the new Edge boot) since all will allow you to use comfort pads. Have a look at www.thesaddleryshop.co.uk for more info :)

Tess was sore almost everywhere at first too, apart from the field, but you can turn out in boots 12/24 if you need to (done that too) and it would probably be beneficial. It didn't take long for her not to be on anything other than stones, a couple of months maybe. Unfortunately the grass may be contributing to the soreness too, it's not uncommon at this time of year.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sorry, have only skim-read responses so this may already have been raised, but if you're only planning to walk on the road can't see how this will cause concussion, so long as you support her on a good contact and keep a nice balanced walk. Concussion will really only be caused by trotting, letting her amble along on a loose rein, or getting her going at a fast pounding walk (and I'm certain you'd do none of these things) :)
 
Did actually mean internally as well as externally, as in low grade lami type symptoms, it's not that uncommon.
 
My boy has severe advanced navicular disease, not syndrome (sounds awful, doesent it) however, he was on danalon on a daily basis until we went barefoot. He has now managed to work out his own natural balance and since the whole hoof has to work, then the blood flow is now increased to its natural level. We do use Renegades on the front, and prior to that, we used old mac;s but when they changed to the G2;s they didnt fit properly however, the renegade folk cut the backs of theirs to make them fit properly.

He still has the odd flare up, but nothing like what he had when he had shoes on.

He was x rayed 3yrs apart and there was no more deterioration in the bone, i know, that this would not be the case if he had shoes on, not only the concussion, but, the hoof does not work naturally with metal shoes on, ok, it is not the soloution for every horse as navicular is such a big black hole, it is a case of trial and error. He is only on supaflex and frofeet at the mo, but, you must keep an eye on weight and if bare foot, you may need to put the boots on for turn out on severe frosty days or rock hard solid ground days.

I have bought some Gallium Nitrate from the States, it is still in my cupboard, dont know whether to use it or not...........I probably will, just thinking about it at the mo, but, it is an expensive piece to be gathering dust:eek:

We hack, walk trot and canter, no jumping tho...................:p best of luk, i am sure Lady has many happy years with you yet....:)
 
newrider.com
Top Bottom
Back