Hoof boots for the barefoot horse

[alove4horses]

For those of you that have barefoot horses, have you ever used any of the hoof boots that are on the market? My horse has been barefoot for a few months now but I would like to do some trails and rockier terrain and feel that hoof boots might be the solution I am looking for. Do they work? What brands have you tried and which ones do you like?

Thanks in advance!

[peppysan]

Yes! I think hoof boots are one of the best inventions ever. They allow the barefoot horses to have similar freedoms as the shod ones. I ride in arenas and show my horses without any boots, but when I hit the trails I just throw on a couple on the fronts and I am good to go. I have tried the old, Old Macs, and found they worked, but they did rub my horse's fetlocks. For this reason, I switched to the Easy Boot Epics. The epics have a gator that really holds the boot on well even in mud etc and the gator is made out of neopreen (sp) so it's really soft and won't rub at all. I have worn the boots for several hrs at a time and have had no problems with rubbing or them coming off. The only thing is they are a bit of thing to get on and off, you have to wrestle with it for a minute, but I figure its so worth it to be able to go on the trails and not worry about stone bruises etc.

[horse99]

I have a friend with the new style old macs, and they do not rub her horses' feet. I know she loves them, same like peppy, she does all her arena work barefoot, then when she is ready to hit the trails she throws the boots on and is good to go. You get the best of both worlds so I would totally recommend trying them.

[alove4horses]

Thanks for the recommedations. I FINALLY got a used pair of the old macs and went out for glorious trail ride yesterday in this beautiful weather we have been having here. The boots held up like a dream, my horse did not even know he was wearing anything and they did not affect his movement at all. Mind you I only walked and trotted, but so far so good so thanks!