Boot Rehab

Shorty's feet look much better after getting trimmed up over a week ago, but they still have lots of growing to do! The Cavallo Trek boots are working out great and he will still have several millimeters to grow into as his foot widens. He has since been doing really well with wearing the boots all day while turned out. So well in fact, that my barn owner and I were curious if he would manage being turned out on his grassy area without them.... nope! Just a couple days later he was short stepping and ouchy. So back on the boots go!

The Thinline pads wore very quickly and lasted just over a week. I did ride him a couple of times which seemed to be very nice rides, but then he went sore in the middle of my latest ride so I have decided not to work him until I am sure his feet are ready. My farrier is going to provide our next pads so I don't have to pay for shipping everytime, so to get by I bought a .99cent piece of  6mm thick foam from the hobby store. This time, I bought adhesive velcro to put the pad inside the boot with - the Thinline pads rotated and moved around a bit which no doubt sped up the wear and tear. So far this has been working out great.

I still don't think he moves quite as well as I saw with the Softride boots, but I suspected from the beginning he might have liked the frog pressure that those provided. Tonight, I cut out some triangle frog-shaped foam pieces and duct taped them over his frogs and put the boots on. I got the idea from who else but Pete Ramey! Here: http://www.hoofrehab.com/bootarticle.htm

He says: "For instance the increased frog pressure pads will dampen vibration and start to allow the horse to work the back of the foot, often for the first time in many years. As with any other weak, living thing we start to exercise, we can overdo it and create soreness. Don’t be discouraged; change your system. Usually switching to a softer or thinner frog pad, or switching back to a flat insole will “rest” the back of the foot while the horse stays comfortable for riding."

That's exactly what Shorty needs is to begin fully utilizing the back of his foot again! I think this is going to be an important part of rehabilitating those feet faster. I have also been a bit concerned lately about the feel of his tendons below the knees not being as tight as I know they usually are. Tonight after I put the frog pads and boots on, I walked him around, let him graze, trotted him a few times over about a 25 minute timespan , and he seemed to do increasingly better! Each time I asked him to trot he would over willingly leap forward as if he would like to take off, but didn't. He definitely looked sound and comfy, snorting several times as we walked, licking and chewing, and I believe more bright eyed and bushy tailed by the end. It hard to tell how he was landing since it was dark, but he was overreaching (touching the boots from behind) at a walk consistently especially when he had his head lowered and he began really, really marching forward in a nice walk as we went. I took the boots off in the barn isle and he walked back to his stall without the boots with no signs of soreness and his legs felt tighter. Wow, complete 180 from how he walked out of his stall just 30 minutes earlier!

Well....I guess I am going out every morning I can to duct tape frog pads on him! I would glue them to the pads, but I want to make sure the frog pads stay right over his frogs for maximum comfort! If the pads or his foot rotate at all, it won't work right. I can't wait to see what his feet look like in 2 months, 6 months, and then a year from now! I think they are going to be completely different.