The Therapeutic Use of Boots
For lame horses with heel pain, navicular, founder or abscessing, I often recommend a protective and padded boot like the Easy Boot padded Epic or padded Easy Boot Rx for a long term rehab.
I am a huge fan of riding in padded boots. Boots have made transition to barefoot riding seamless in most cases. Once rehabbed if you have a horse who can mostly hack out in his feet but may need protection on certain rides, the Glove, made by Easy Care is a nice alternative, easy to use, the least expensive of all the boots. I now use that on my TB if I think we are spending much time on gravel paths or road, otherwise, he is good to go.
But what of those horses who are so lame they can barely walk.
Navicular:
Horses with undeveloped internal structures (digital cushion and two lateral cartilages) present with the misnomer, navicular. In 99.9% of all cases, the horse has back-of-foot pain. They land on their toes to avoid the pain. No amount of special shoeing and wedging will resolve the problem. Wedges just move the pain around. But with lots of correct, heel-first landing movement in padded boots, the horse rehabilitates herself. Once the structures inside the back of the hoof develop, the heels will decontract and off you go.
Founder:
I followed Amir’s founder in Case Studies. He was so sore when I first met him that he didn’t want to stand on either of his front feet. Once I slipped a package of 2 pads under each foot, he was in heaven! We fitted his boots with these pads and he could shuffle. Within two weeks he was walking and trotting in his paddock with his two pals. Four weeks later, he is a wild man who can’t keep his boots on! Not quite ready for riding but boy did that protection help his case.
[remove?] Free choice movement heals.
Reminder though…in founder It’s the Diet, Sweetie! Dr. Eleanor Kellon is the best resource I know of on insulin resistance and Cushings disease and diet. She offers consults.
Abscessing:
Super lame horses who are abscessing are in the same bailiwick. Standing around sore can takes weeks (sometimes up to 8 weeks). Move around and the abscess will either pop or reabsorb quicker. There’s no need to release the abscess pressure with sole trimming; that can lead to a whole cascade of events needing even more time to heal.
**Please do not allow anyone to cut out an abscess.**
Boots don’t always work in the situation, but it’s worth a try. Just remember for the healthy horse, the abscess is far from the heart!
***
Easy Care has designed The Rx for therapeutic use. The pad it comes with is too thin so be sure to add a half inch pad. In my experience they have not held up very well; I still use the Epics. Here are some tips that I have gathered from my experience, input from owners and the experience of other trimmers.
Dolly in her epic boots
I recommend ordering the Epic which is just the Easy Care boot with a gaitor, modeled here by Dolly. I have had great success with the Epic and so has Pete Ramey who does a gazillion horses a year. Many very lame horses gallop off when put in padded Epics. It’s amazing. Never use an unpadded boot. The horse must use the entire bottom of her foot. We are essentially giving her a healthy digital cushion and frog while she grows them.
Some clients have already purchased Old Macs (OM) or Generation 2 Old Macs (G2). These boots are so easy to put on that they make life a lot easier when taking care of a really sore horse who can’t hold up a foot for long. I have a hard time recommending them as a first purchase if the measurements of the hoof call for an Epic. There is also a concern with rubbing with the OM or G2 as they fit above the hairline. Easy Care sells an OM Pastern Wraps for $20, see below. Bottom line, if the owner can afford a therapeutic boot based on correct measurements, that’s what I do.
Check Easy Care for current prices. Their customer service reps are very helpful.
Always trim a larger breakover on all boots. You will see on the bottom of the boot, at 12:00 a 1.5″ bevel. Simply continue that with a rasp, from 10:00 to 2:00.
In our moist area of Delaware, stinky, soft hooves can be an issue. When using a boot 22 hours per day, here are some tips.
- Clean the hoof thoroughly with a mild antiseptic soap diluted in water. Dry the hoof. Let the horse stand in a dry area munching hay. Clean the boot and pad and dry thoroughly.
Cover the clean hoof and inside of boot with Gold Bond antiseptic powder.- If you have room in the OM or G2, some clients cover clean, powdered hoof with a disposable diaper. This will greatly reduce moisture around the foot. Hooves are meant to be dry and hard. If I have fit your horse they probably won’t have room for a diaper.
- You would not go hiking for a day in new boots and neither should your horse! Try new boots for about 3 hours, then remove for 3 and so forth. OM, G2 and Boa may rub above hairline. Epics may rub the bulbs. You can cover area with duct tape or panty hose so the boot slips. Or cover area with one wrap of vet tape, then duct tape. Epics may rub the heel bulbs initially. It’s just something you have to work through. Pastern Wraps are available for with the OM or G2. The boot has to get worn in and the horse’s lower leg has to toughen up. You can manipulate the boot for a half hour while you watch TV to loosen things up. After break-in, when you feel the boot won’t rub, I leave them on for up to 22hours. Let the hoof dry out for at least 2 hours per day. The horse should be on comfortable soft footing. If the horse is stalled…which I hope she isn’t as that will prolong the rehab process, remove boots while inside. Often these horses are more comfortable on shavings as they can create hills and valleys and have the bony column well placed for comfort. As always Pea Gravel is a miracle cure allowing the horse to line up her bony column perfectly. Dr. Bowker reports his foundered horse walk, trot, cantering on pea gravel!
I always use a half inch, custom-cut, Easy Care pad with most horses. I am currently experimenting with the new, comfort pad system (below) to see if they make the horse happier. I may combine a sole pad and a frog “support” or “pressure” pad depending on the situation. Check and change the pads as soon as the heels or periphery lower by half. Green is softest, then black, then red.
If your pasture has few stones and turns soft or muddy, you can often turn the horse out bootless. Watch her closely and make the call on a day by day basis. In the early spring some owners were able to remove the boots in the day and put them on at night when they expected the ground to harden again.
For the challenges of winter, you will have to be creative. Lame horses can not walk comfortably either barefooted or booted on ice or frozen snow. Adding studs may work for some horses. It depends on where they are sore, how sore they are, how the studs will penetrate the surface, etc. Ideally you can make shaving paths that are not slippery.
Stalling is (almost always) a bad idea. Forced movement is never a good idea. Free choice movement heals. Spread hay or treats around to encourage movement. Add a friend to keep the sore horse company.
Putting your horse in padded, Easy Care soaking boots can often give relief. Add chipped ice for the laminitic or foundered horse who has a pulse. Change ice every two hours. Better double check any treatments with your vet of course.
For the acute onset, my local vet recommends changing the ice every 2 hours for 72 hours if you can. A dilute Apple Cider Vinegar soak (1 cup: 1 gallon of water) for abscesses. Plain old walking around in mud is great too. I pad these soaking boots too. A really sore horse can get protection in padded Soakers without throwing them off. But if your horse is going to canter off, the Soakers will not stay on.
I hope this helps you help your horse. If at all possible have a trimmer fit your horse for boots. It’s a little tricky and depends not only on the measurements but the shape of your horse’s feet as well. In other words, all boots do not fit all hooves.If the Unpadded boot rotates on the foot more than a nick, it is too big. Always fit the boots without pads. Then again, if the horse is dead lame sore and will not trot or canter off in boots, and you already have some boots that fit, sort of, I would try that. Just check for rubs.
Check out these sites for more information:
Easy Care
Pete Ramey’s article “Boots and Pads: A True Breakthrough In Healing” and any new articles that may be useful.
Good Luck!
If you enjoyed this article please consider making a donation via Paypal.
Posted in Booting, Hoof Articles, Pathology | Tagged boots and pads, founder, navicular, pathology 8 Comments
I have a Percheron gelding who I trim myself. I have learned some about natural trimming and do all my own horses. Anyway, he is always sore if I try to ride him down my dirt road, which has gravel on it. I have tried to get him some boots for his front feet, but he is big (8 inchs both directions) I have trimmed and filed any flairs but he is just a large size. do you know where I can have some boots made for him? Please let me know if you can help.
Sincerely,
Vicky
Hi Vicky: Most soreness is due to lack of development in the Back of the Foot. Make sure you have a healthy frog. Let the heels grow up a little. (A ground level coffin bone is not healthy. Pete Ramey finds that the healthiest feet have coffin bones that are 4 to 11 degrees off ground parallel. Trim for Soundness.) When you leave a bit more heels, they can take the first “hit”, soundly. If he walks on the back of his foot soundly, the pressure on the frog will then further develop his digital cushion, internally above the frog and his lateral cartilages, internally on either side of the foot. I am putting an article up on heels and the development of the back of the foot. Also you can’t expect your horse to hack out on rocks and gravel if there are no rocks or gravel in his life. We trimmers adore Pea Gravel which you can get from landscaper supply stores. I would make it 6″ deep for your big guy. Put it somewhere he naps. It’s a MIRACLE CURE for feet. I hope this helps! D.
HOOF WINGS!
I have looked at them on-line but they are appear clunky. Most folks in my area want as clean a look as possible (a lot of TBs). And they are quite expensive. I haven’t actually tried them so I don’t know which foot they fit best. Do you? The reason I like Easy Care Epics is because they are very forgiving and fit most feet. I can’t have a $10K inventory so that is a consideration. Since Pete Ramey does 1,000′s of horses a year, I pretty much follow his lead!
What type of horse do you have? What shape are the feet?
I do have one client who TWH just doesn’t like any Easy Care boot and I know she is looking at the Wings…but again with the cost. Thanks for any insight. I will be glad to add you comments to my page.
My friend and barefoot farrier, Laura Florence, likes another boot for the dead lame, bone penetration situation. Well now the name is eluding me but I will add it to the article too, after I call her!
Happy Trails!
Dawn
I’ve often wondered if the conformation of the western pleasure horse with the low head set causes the horse to do a toe first landing instead of heel first. As I have watched many qh with the more upright pastern they all seem to do this. I wonder if they have contracted frogs/heels as a result of this way of walking.
Joan…
You know the feral horses mostly “mozy” along with a low head set.
My guess is that the horrible feet are created by the environment (from birth on) and the hoof care. Contracted heels tell you the back of the foot is sore….sore frog, above it undeveloped digital cushion, to either side, undeveloped lateral cartilages. The walls essentially make a Bar Shoe to protect the foot. If you fix the frog, then the foot will start to open up. The internal structures will begin to redevelop.
I have worked on a few horses where only one heel opened up. They were all older and had been in shoes in excess of a decade or more.
Dr. H. Strasser recommends a type of trim that forces the foot to open by trimming an Opening Cut on either side of the back of the frog-heel junction. But then the horse is landing on a sore foot. That’s a rotten deal for the horse!
Often times these tiny feet we see on the QH’s may be caused by early shoeing. The race horses have the same problems. The coffin bone stops growing around 4 I think. Poor environment (stalling), bad trims and early shoeing will definitely deform the bone and thus the entire foot.
Take care and thanks for your comment,
Dawn
HELLO
just like to say your information is invaluable, I have a tb x with elevated paces and always lands toe first, she has been bare foot for five years and i trim her myself, she has been mostly sound but prefered not to walk on gravel. just recently i decided to lower her heels as she has very contracted frogs and soft digital cushions, i thought this might help to opem up the back of the foot, but it made her lame, on anything but pasture. i am assuming she is sore in the back of the foot and is now walking on her sensitive frogs. what booting system would you recommend. i like the look of the new easyboot trail, with pads? thankyou in advance for any advice
alexs
Nice to hear from you Claudia and thanks so much for your support. I still have some updates and tweaking to do. I would like to add more videos too. I think evaluating hooves would be useful and much easier done in video. Let me know if you would like anything in particular. Stay in touch!
Dawn