Hoofin’ It in Boots

Hoof boots aren’t just for emergencies or soaking injured feet; these boots are made for walking, running, climbing, and more. Today an increasing variety of boots adorn the other-wise bare feet of trail horses, working horses, dressage horses, and even highly competitive endurance horses. Are boots right for you and your horse? If so, how do you pick out the right boot? Read on to find out.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Hoof boots let a horse go barefoot with many of the benefits of traditional shoes.

Hoof boots aren't just for emergencies or soaking injured feet; these boots are made for walking, running, climbing, and more. Today an increasing variety of boots adorn the other-wise bare feet of trail horses, working horses, dressage horses, and even highly competitive endurance horses.

The benefits are pretty straightforward: The horse gets foot protection and traction when needed, while still going barefoot most of the time. There's no risk of tearing off shoes or misplaced nails.

However, boots aren't a license to be lazy about hoof maintenance. Booted horses require proper trimming and balancing, perhaps even more often than shod horses. And boots come with their own risks and challenges, such as sores from chafing if they are left on too long and/or incorrectly sized

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Christy West has a BS in Equine Science from the University of Kentucky, and an MS in Agricultural Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

How much time do you usually spend grooming your horse?
436 votes · 436 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!