Hoof Boots

Eventing: The Barefoot, Booted & Bitless Way

As we are preparing to enter our 2nd season of barefoot and booted eventing, I have reflected back on what it took to get us to this point, and wanted to share our journey. Many people are interested in having barefoot horses that can still be expected to perform at high levels. This interest is often squelched by the fear of having a lame horse... (read more)

Harnessing the Hoof Boot Market

Many of your horse-owning customers are shifting away from traditional shoeing and letting their horses go barefoot. The "natural hoof" movement is becoming steadily more popular around the country and around the world... (read more)

Peripheral Loading and the Pad Effect

Before I attended Dr. Robert Bowker’s clinic in January, 2007, it never occurred to me that a healthy horse should have pads placed into their hoof boots. Or that a horse without sore hooves would benefit from a regimen of boots with pads... (read more)

Azure's Last Chance

Azure is an 18 year old Akhal Teke gelding. He was a breeding stallion for 12 years. He is his owner's dream horse, a beloved friend…he was very friendly, just uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that his owner, who called him the horse of her life, had already dug his grave and decided to put him down... (read more)

Common Hoof Problems and their Treatments

This article contains basic information about common hoof problems, their causes, and guidelines for treatment. Please consult your veterinarian or hoof care professional for diagnosis and treatment recommendations... (read more)

Dr. Neel Glass - Is Shoeing a Necessary Evil?

Horses have been shod by nailing on iron shoes for over a thousand years. However, shoeing can cause a variety of hoof problems, and the cliche Shoeing is a necessary evil? is nearly as old as horseshoeing itself... (read more)

Granite Chief wins the Mileage Award in Hoof Boots - 2000+ Miles and Still Going!

Reprinted with permission from The Horse's Hoof. Click here for subscription information.

Chief and I completed the “Rides of March 50” on March 18, 2006 in Reno, Nevada. This was the same ride that Chief completed the year before—right after having his shoes pulled. In the last year, he has completed more than two thousand miles using Easyboot Epics or Bares over his unshod feet. He is the first horse to win the AERC Mileage Championship without using nailed-on shoes, as well as the first horse to do more than two thousand miles in a single year that way… (read more)

Pete Ramey - Boots and Pads: A True Breakthrough In Healing

When I started my own journey away from fixed metal shoeing and into the “barefoot world” in ’98, I looked at hoof boots simply as a crutch to help me through “transition”. When you pull shoes off a horse with truly healthy feet, or if you start natural hoof care early, with a foal there is little or no need for boots. In fact, we usually only need them long-term, when the riding terrain varies wildly from the living terrain. When you pull shoes off a horse with unhealthy feet, though, the boots are wonderful for keeping the horse and rider happy while we wait for the hooves to become healthy… (read more)

Think Outside the Shoe - Hoof boots make barefoot a viable option

When endurance rider Terry Banister felt her Arabian gelding, E-Bey, trip coming out of a puddle ringed with sticky clay mud around mile 15 of a recent 100-mile ride, she looked down at his foot and saw to her dismay that he'd lost a hoof boot. As other riders swept by, Banister jumped off her horse, wondering how she would persuade him to hold still while she replaced the retrieved boot. But as she pulled her Leatherman tool from her pocket and picked up the boot, her horse quieted down. In no time, the boot was replaced and E-Bay again was trotting down the trail. Had her horse lost a conventional shoe, Banister's ride would have been disrupted and delayed… (read more)

These Boots Are Made for Walking

When you say "hoof boots" to someone in the horse industry, you'll get varying reactions depending upon who you're talking to. There are many types of equine footcare devices that are labeled as "boots" – but each has its own unique purpose and function… (read more)

Horse Journal 2006 Products of the Year

At the end of each year, we look back on the products that we've used in our test barns. We consider what various manufacturers have brought to the market and how those products make taking care of our horses easier. We select items that have improved our ability to optimize health care--especially in ways that we can undertake ourselves. We look for products that keep safety in mind, work economically and/or simply solve problems. Above all, we look for products that make the biggest difference in our barns. (read more)

Horse Journal 2002 Products of the Year

When we choose our Products of the Year, we look for a combination of value, innovation, and overall usefulness in our Horse Journal test barns… (read more)