Hi all,

My bloomin pony who is determined to bankrupt me by xmas has had yet another hoof abcess which has left her with a rather large cavity under her sole which when she walks on uneven ground (ermmm that'd be just about everywhere then wouldn't it!!!) goes hopping lame and understandably so. With my total lack of facilities no hard flat standing and a field shelter that resembles a mud bath (all the water from the field drains down into it...heavy sigh). My last resort is to contemplate putting hoof boots for perhaps a few hours a day. The idea being that it may give her some relief at least for a few hours a day.

Firstly does anyone think this will work and secondly which boots would be most suitable (bearing in mind that I'm a bit of an old f*rt and will most likely be putting on and taking off boots in the dark)??

Thanks everyone,

Lucy

Hi Lucy

I was speaking to Abigail Hogg at the EBF recently as I went to visit both her and Rachel Bedingfield (founders of the Natural Horse Group in Masham) when I was researching barefoot management.

Abigail mentioned that Rachel was using some super new boots on her horses and had also been doing quite a lot of reserarching into which ones were best. I'm sure she won't mind if you contact her.

I've put the link below for you, hope its of some use:

http://www.natural-horse-group.co.uk/contact-us.htm

Good luck

Jo

Oooh thank you, I will try and contact Rachel.

Hi Lucy

Yup, the boots may help. But I would have thought that the more exercise you can give her on the lane to stimulate a bit more growth the better. Then the horn will dry out, harden and the abcess hole will cease to bother her.

Easier said than done in the dark evenings, I know!

Keep an eye on thrush etc if her feet are wet and then in warm boots for long periods. And build up their use gradually so that they don't rub

Catherine

Thanks Catherine,
I hope you are well and had a wonderful time in NZ! Caspar & Tina are now in a barn system with a patch of concrete out front and a small patch of grass. So it's dry and I have electricity! Hurrah!!!

However am now having a let's call it a debate to be polite with the folks about frost. They have been told by an "old boy" that it's bad for horses hooves...so now I'm being accused of neglect because I'm horror of all horrors allowing access outside at night!!

When they informed me of my cruelty towards my ponies my first instinct was what a complete load of b*ll*cks if you'll pardon the French. From my point of view surely especially with an abcess that surely the fact that it's firmer under foot is going to increase circulation and as a consequence promote healing...anyway, whinge over especially as the old "crock" is doing much better and has resumed her escape attempts...do you think 10ft electrified barbed wire fence is too much?

Fantastic, Lucy. really glad you've found somewhere.

And you don't want to worry about what people think of you! (Although I think there is a little bit of truth in the old laminitis/frost issue - might be worth checking that with Trevor as I don't know what current thinking is)

Hi Catherine,

Well I know that frost causes the grass to get stressed and hence ups the sugar/fructans (or whatever it is) content increasing the risk of laminitis etc...but I think this chap was talking in terms of it actually physically damaging the hoof? Ad lib hay which they are eating in preference to grass at the moment, (yay!) seems to be helping avoid another attack of laminitis. Anyway fingers crossed/touch wood she's sound at the mo...and I'm not sure but I think I could feel her ribs the other day...he he!