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Discussion on Bell Boots rubbing
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Member:
simonem
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Posted on Friday, Jun 26, 2009 - 9:33 pm:
Hey all,
I have a gelding who lives outside in about an acre pasture, and has a fairly strong overreach even when just naturally walking. I have tried time and again to leave him without boots, but he always comes up with a cut on his heel(s!) within a couple of days. So I have resigned to the fact that this horse will likely require bell boots 24/7.
My issue is that my horse has started to get a rub spot directly in the middle of his heal, where the bell boot rubs his skin. The skin's not broken, but I certainly don't want it to get worse. I don't want to try the bell boots with the sheepskin lining, because they will get disgusting and harbor bacteria. Does anybody have any ideas or tricks to avoid these rubbing him raw? Has anybody tried the quarter bell boots? Not sure if they would be great to leave on 24/7, but you never know..
By the way, I have tried 3 different brands of bell boots, and they all have rubbed on him!
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New Member:
rg77
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009 - 12:35 am:
Have you had a good farrier take a look at him. He might be able to alter his shoeing to reduce his overreaching. eg: If he can take off some toe on the front to quicken the breakover, that will help the foot get off the ground sooner.
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Member:
sdms
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009 - 7:49 am:
Hi Simone. Riyad offers a good option but if you've already looked into that with no luck you could also try a pair of pastern wraps made to wear with hoof boots. I bought a pair of Old Mac pastern wraps for trail riding as I was afraid the boots would rub going through rough terrain. They're about $15, easy to slip on and off and work great.
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009 - 9:15 am:
Both Riyad and Sarah have good suggestions. I have used carefully applied vetwrap to protect the heels but you have to catch under the heel well to keep it from riding up. In the long run Sarahs suggestion will be cheaper and better. The trick is to keep them clean and dry all the time. This will limit turn out in wet weather, at least with the boots on.
Concerning Riyad's suggestion if you post some good photos of the feet it might be possible to assess if any further changes might be indicated. Best are photos from the side and front while kneeling with the light coming from behind you and that include the pastern and distal 1/2 of the cannon.
DrO
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Member:
simonem
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009 - 11:47 am:
Riyad, Sarah and Dr. O,
I will have the farrier take a look next time around. I don't have him shod and don't want to any time soon, but I'll see if there's anything he thinks can be done.
I haven't ever seen the pastern wraps, but I will look into them! I will also get pics of the feet posted within the next day or two for you to look at, Dr. O. Thanks for the input!
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Member:
rtrotter
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Posted on Saturday, Jun 27, 2009 - 4:06 pm:
Simone,
What kind of bell boots is your horse wearing. If he is wearing bell boots with a velcro closure, you might want to find a pair of gum rubber bell boots a size larger than he would wear normally without the velcro closure. Check out Big Dees. www.bigdweb.com. They should have the pastern wraps as well.
I found when using these velcro closured boots that if the two ends of the boot did not match up when the velcro was closed it caused rubbing. I also started to make sure that when I used these type of boots that the velcro was in the front and not in the heel. I also had some luck with putting baby powder on the heels and the boots to prevent rubbing.
As far as quarter boots go, you can probably use these too, as long as the conditions are not muddy as they will slide up off the quarters in muddy conditions. You might have a problem with these too because your horse is barefoot and as such there is no shoe for the boot to rest on.
Rachelle
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Member:
simonem
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 28, 2009 - 9:43 am:
Rachelle,
Yes, all my boots are the slip-on kind. I don't like the velcro kind, as I find they rip off rather quickly. The baby powder is an interesting idea. I will definitely give it a try. And that's kind of what I wondered about the quarter boots. I feel like they'd probably be fine for working, but I'm not sure they'll stay put during turnout. Thanks for the advice!
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Member:
annaspop
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 28, 2009 - 10:04 am:
Simone, what type of soil do you have? Are you in sand (sandy loam) like me or clay like Cyndy?
Margy
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Member:
simonem
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 28, 2009 - 1:08 pm:
Margy,
He spends his days in a grass paddock with some sand in the corners where they pace around. It's stays fairly dry, and even when wet, the property drys up within a day or two.
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Member:
annaspop
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Posted on Sunday, Jun 28, 2009 - 1:46 pm:
I too, live in sand (more sugar sand then loamy sand). I have noticed that if wearing sneakers instead of boots, the sand can get in and I get rubs on my heels. I would think that could be part of the problem. The sand bothers me more that other types of soils.
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Member:
simonem
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Posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 - 11:56 am:
Here are the requested pics. Getting an antsy young TB to stand still in a certain position with no one to hold him is not the easiest feat!!! Let me know what you think Dr. O, and if you need me to retake any. By the way, he is due for his trimming in 6 days, so he is a little on the long side right now.
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Member:
simonem
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Posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 - 12:06 pm:
I'm a having an issue posting the rest...I'm working on it!
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Member:
simonem
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Posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 - 12:24 pm:
Alright I had to just link the rest of the pics. As you can tell I'm not super technologically savvy lol.
https://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww55/simone_cobbett/14.jpg
[IMG]https://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww55/simone_cobbett/12a.jpg[/IMG]
https://i705.photobucket.com/albums/ww55/simone_cobbett/10.jpg
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 - 9:54 pm:
You could try squaring of the toes Simone: on the front to quicken breakover and on the rear so the reach is not so far forward.
DrO
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