Well, it's official....I HATE cinders! Hooves and cinders don't mix well. Granted, they've proven great for traction, and interestingly, I haven't had any lameness issues. What I do have, however, is a significant amount of additional time involved after returning from a drive involving asphalt. I have to find and pick each cinder out of their hooves. It is backbreaking work. The horses are actually becoming very good at lifting their hooves and holding them up for me, which is something we have been working on, but those cinders imbed themselves so well I could see them potentially causing a problem if not removed. I have found a few that work their way up into the white line area. I literally have to pick out each individual sharp piece. We are definitley having hoof boots ready to go next year!

Why wait? Give Your partners a Merry Christmas (and your back,too) and get those hoof boots now. Easyboots, and others are available online. Check the barefoot guys like Pete Ramey's site for info and give yourself a great gift. Merry Christmas...and a Happy New Year.

You need to learn to help yourself to maker things easier.
I have posted this before, but it has been awhile.
Anyone on a farm should have a welder and a set of acetelyne torches.
Use a piece of 1/2" of steel bar and fashion a U shaped hoof holder that fits your heavy horses hock. Weld it to a steel bar, and put a 1/4 " thick plate on one side at about a 15 degree angle, as wide as the hoof and maybe 3-4 " long for a heavy horse's hoof. Find a piece of pipe that the steel bar slides into and affix it to a base plate. I used the hub of an old VW brake drum and a 1" OD pipe pressed right into it. The bar inside is a 3/4 " square. A disc plate would work also. This won't work for a wilder horse, but one that is docile will accept it pretty quick. Sure saves the back from holding up the foot. You can also buy a commercial one, but they are $300+. I work on my mule's feet s while I sit on an old wire milk crate.

Unfortunately, easy boot doesn't come close to fitting my boys! Their average hoof measurement is over 8 inches, and easy boot only goes up to around 7 or so in one style. I finally found a custom boot maker. It's risky, as there are very few reviews, and they are incredibly expensive. The hooves are traced and measured from all sorts of angles, so the boot can be made to a custom fit so it doesn't turn. Then, it takes 6-8 weeks for the boots to be made. Needless to say, I won't have them this winter! The great thing, though, is that I can add studs to the bottom for winter traction. I'm looking forward to them.

Mptclinics, I've been a hoof boot user since the 70s. I really hope your boot selection works, because when boots work, they're just so darn practical. May I make one suggestion, based on my own experience...you might want to check the copper content in your horses' ration. Deficiency is pretty common, and on our property, it's downright deadly. It's really vital to hoof integrity. My big horse's feet were literally delaminating in the inner wall area, and he was getting grit WELL up into the hoof walls. Along with deep central sulcus thrush (this is all when I first got him), his hooves were a mess although they looked okay on the outside. Supplementation and LOTS of hoof care have got his feet in great shape now. It's really good to stack all the variables on your side when it comes to anything barefoot! :o)

Vince, thanks for the pic and details! I've been considering a Hoof Jack. I actually sit on a foot stool with a hoof in my lap to work on them. All three of the horses are very kind with their feet.

Barb

I agree with the hoof holder. My hubby actually made me one a while back when I started trimming my donkey. These boys are still in the learning phase though, and don't stand for long without jerking their foot back. Definitely improving, since we've been doing it after every drive here lately, and often in between just for practice. I always try to be careful to release the hoof just prior to when I think they are going to demand it. Gradually, they are learning to relax and trust me for longer periods. At that point I will look into a hoof stand for sure!

Mptclinics, I also have a Belgian with feet too large for any of the boots readily available. I had a disastrous pair made by Hoof Wings a while back. They were very expensive and were not made to my measurements. They rotated on the hoof, weighed a ton and were very hard to put on! I hope you have good luck with what you had made and would love to hear of any boot that might fit "Big Foot"!!

Good Luck, Susan

Susan,

Now you have me nervous! Hoof Wings is the company that we had planned to use. After speaking with them about the importance of the measurements of the hoof, I decided to wait until our next farrier appointment, to ensure he was trimmed up really nice and even. Then, I was debating waiting about a week to get a somewhat natural wear and measuring at that point. As I said, I haven't found many reviews, but the few I found seemed really good. Even the rep I spoke with at Easy Boots said one of her draft customers had been using Hoof Wings successfully for years because it's all she could get to fit.

That being said, I'm not sure I would care much about a little weight in the boot. I once used an easy boot on a horse, and although it went right on and stayed on for the ride, I think it took me almost an hour to get the blasted thing off! I used a screwdriver, a pair of pliers, and hoof pick, and those little metal teeth was so imbedded in that hoof, it was all I could do to get that boot off! I swore I'd never use another. I've since heard you get better with practice, but I would think you'd have to be pretty desperate to practice that much!

Were you able to return your Hoof Wings, or otherwise work out the issue at all?

A few points to ponder about hoof boots.

Hoof boot companies do not take into consideration the considerable extra weight and force that big horses put on a boot. There is no difference in the thickness of tread between my Morgan mare's tiny little 00 boots and my half-draft's biggest-size-they-come-in boots. The larger boots wear out a lot faster.

The other thing is that if there is any "twist" in your horse's gait...i.e. the horse twists his foot a little when it takes off, or if he's heavy on the outsides (wears the outer walls faster) the boots will turn, at least on pavement. They have so much traction, they're just going to stay put on the ground and not turn when the horse' twists his foot a bit. And the bigger the boot and the more weight it has on it, I believe the more traction there is.

I've tried most of the boots out there that are big enough for Laddie. He won't stay in a pair of EasyBoots no matter how well and tightly they're set up. They go flying, even without opening the velcro on the gaiters. I started with EBs in the 70s and I definitely know how to set them up.

Laddie is now wearing a pair of new EasyBoot Back Country Gloves on his hind feet, with a pair of Simple Boots in front. Most of the twist is gone from his fronts, and his hooves are rounder...with the shaped heel of the Simple Boot, they stay put pretty well.

But even with the tight-as-his-hide fit of the Back Country Gloves, they will turn a little...1 o'clock for the right foot, 11 o'clock for the left, and there they stay.

He doesn't have the boot turning problem off-road. But he'll still fling his EasyBoot Epics, no mater what.

For removing Easyboots, you need a hoof pick and a screwdriver. You use the hoof pic (with a STRONG hook), to pull up the cable clasp. You slide the screwdriver between the hoof wall and the outer cleats and leverage the boot off. The modern day cable that EB is using on their boots is garbage. Always good to have a few extra sets of cables on hand. They've "solved" the problem by making it easier for users to change the cables themselves.

I bought a pair of custom made boots quite a long time ago and I don't know if it was Hoof Wings. The things were almost impossible to get on and off. But the worst part about them was that the sole of the boot projected out beyond the hoof wall toe, and it made for a pretty bad tripping problem for my already-trippy gelding. Most, if not all, the commercially made boots have the toe tread beveled and set well under the front edge of the boot, even with the toe of the hoof wall.

Barb

The Hoof Wing boots I had made had little loops that you had to cross and pull over a knob sort of thing. After just trying them on they started to show distress. And I used a hoof pick, screw driver etc. to try to unhook the things it wasn't easy!!
The people were very nice but ,no, we did not get the problem solved. They put wedges in the boots to make up for the fit and that didn't work. They offered to give me credit toward a new pair ( not total amount of the original boots) but with shipping it was getting way over the top. I gave them away to a girl in Ca. just for shipping and she was Totally unhappy with the boots. Sooooo, thats just one persons opinion but I would not buy from them again!! And I would love to find boots to work on my horse!
I hope you have better luck than I did. My measurements were tracings of his feet plus measurements. Our big horses feet are not proportioned the same as smaller horses in the heel and coronet band and I think that makes them very hard to fit.
Let me know how you make out. I use Cavellos on my smaller horse and they are so easy to use, stay on in mud and come off easily when you are removing them. Wish they made the big ones.
Susan