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| Amira models her Gloves. You can hardly tell she's wearing anything on her feet at all! |
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This is Amira. She is a seven year old arabian mare. Amira has some of the best feet God ever put on a horse. This year, however, has been a challenge for her. We've had enough rain to fill up an ocean and the grass just won't quit. We've got a ton of clover in the field, and if left to her own devices, Amira will come up with clover slobbers every single day.
Amira has been a little tender on gravel this year due to the above issues. She doesn't have thrush or dropped soles, although they seem a little less tough than normal. I decided to trial Amira in a full set of glue on boots, just to see how she does, what their effect on the feet is, how the horse goes in them, etc. I tried to get pictures as I was applying the boots, but I was alone and could not manage it without the glue hardening up on me. But anyway, here are the pictures. On the front feet I used the glue like normal. I soap scubbed her feet and then trimmed them. Once they were dry I applied some copper sulfate goop to the frog and sole area to ward off fungus in the boots. I sanded the outer portion of the wall where I would be applying the glue, and then finally I applied the glue and then the boot. They fit her feet well, except that there is a bit of play in the front of the boot.
For her hind feet I decided to try wrapping them with athletic tape a few times, and then applying the boot over that. I've heard good things with this method and so decided to try it. I turned her out in the big pasture over night (with her grazing muzzle of course). They galloped around for a while and I checked the boots and they were all still intact. However, by the morning, she had lost a rear boot. (It would be nice if they were a bright florescent color)! I pulled the hind boot off that was still on, and it had not shifted or anything. It was very hard to pull off as it was stuck to the tape. I did not put any anti-fungal in the bottom of the rear boots. Normally I use gold bond power if I'm not glueing a boot on. When I pulled that boot off it smelled like something had died in there. Wheww. Next time I'll remember the powder! The front feet have the equithane packing so they should be okay.
Theses are going to be great trail boots when glued on, or probably even when using the athletic tape. I just need to use a bit more. A gaiter can be applied or left off. I think these are really the boot of the future. No possiblity of rubs, great traction, wonderful flexibility, allows for hoof expansion and contraction, and makes a horse more comfortable over rough terrain.
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| Amira's foot after trimming and before applying the glue on boot |
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| Amira's front, booted ooves |
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| This is the hind foot. You can see where I wrapped the athletic tape. The fit is very snug. |
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| Heel with boot on. The boot does not go above the hairline anywhere at all. |
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| Lots of black goo, rotten smelling foot. Phewwww |
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| The heels are a bit flat here right after removing the boot. In the future I may elect to cut the back down just a bit to prevent the flatness. Otherwise, the hoof shows absolutely no sign of rubs, marks, etc. |
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| This is what is left of the coppersulfate packing that was in the boot. It probably helped keep the foot fresher than not using anything, but it didn't do as well as I had hoped, probably because we've had lots of rain and water had seeped in. |
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| A little glue is still left on the hoof. It is brittle and seems to peel off without too much trouble. |
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