New pony - hoof boots or shoes? - Pics

mummblesmum

New Member
Sep 17, 2008
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Hi

I posted an earlier thread regarding the sizing of G2 hoof boots but still have not decided what to do. I have a new pony that has very worn down fronts although does not show any signs of being foot sore on any surface but I am trying to stick to soft surfaces at the mo as do not want to wear her feet down any more!

She also dishes slightly and was wondering whether shoeing would help this or whether boots would be okay?

She has virtually round feet (if anything a 5mm shorter than wide - as her toes are worn).

Some advice from hoof gurus would be appreciated. :)

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Hard to tell but the foot doesn't look particularly short, and it's basically a decent one from the look of it. Reason it looks worn is that the wall is quite flared (bell shaped from top to bottom not straight) and in need of a good tidy up, the pony is wearing her own breakover at the toe as a result. I would look to get that sorted properly before you measure up for boots or you might find they don't fit after a while :)
 
The quarters look like they need trimming, then the feet will be a bit narrower. And there's some flare that needs dealing with and they don't look balanced. Other than the bit at the toe they don't look really short. The toe probably is just wearing own breakover because of the flare but would be worth checking she isn't walking toe first instead of heel first.
 
Thanks guys I have the farrier booked in for next week anyway and will wait on measuring for boots until issues sorted.
 
You can see from the colour/texture difference that the internal foot is actually quite a bit narrower at the quarters than it currently appears to be from outside. The wall should be a pretty uniform thickness around the sole. You can see that it's much wider at the quarters and I'd bet the thickness is largely lamellar wedge.

If your pony does indeed end up with round feet - as wide as they are long - after a *good* trim or few, the original Old Macs might be a better fit on him than G2s.

While the toes look nicely worn, the rest of the foot looks a bit long & unworn, especially the frog/heel. This may be an indication that the horse is landing toe-first, due to heel sensitivity. Therefore the sooner you get boots the better, so he can move & land correctly.
 
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