Measuring for hoof boots can be a little tricky. While the boot companies provide diagrams and tips to help you, the diagrams are of fictional hooves. Not many horses hooves look picture perfect like the diagrams do, so how do follow the instructions?
Because hooves come in all shapes and sizes, and to be blunt, the hooves most likely to need boots for rehabilitation will be the most ‘interesting’ shapes and sizes hoof boots are usually produced for hooves somewhere in the middle.
While that makes manufacturing the boots easier, it doesn’t always suit us, the people and horses using the boots, so well.
Getting the wrong size can be costly and time consuming with all the postage and returns and waiting for the delivery of a different size.
So I decided to write a guide to measuring hooves that don’t fit the norm. If your horses hooves fit into the ‘interesting’ category then there’s plenty of tips as to how to manage that. If your horse has wonderfully normal hooves, it will help you have more confidence that you’re getting it right.
Because – let’s face it – if the hooves were perfect you probably wouldn’t need hoof boots in the first place!
Debs
