When Freedom lost his glue on shoe, he also lost a good amount of hoof wall. It was one of those perfect storms — the glue was stronger than his hoof wall. He was left without enough hoof for any kind of shoe, and my farrier and I also worried that putting a shoe on would put too much pressure on his sole.

Luckily, there is a boot for every situation these days. Enter the Easy Boot Cloud, designed for horses who have laminitis or found. It comes with a special soft pad and the box says it’s suitable for “light turnout”.  I’m not sure if Freedom’s 24/7 situation is what most people would be considered “light” turnout, but he’s been wearing the boot for several days now and it’s holding up fine so far.

There are several things that I like about the boots.

They are easy to put on: the back folds back which makes it easier to get the hoof in, even if you have the hoof packed with poultice.

The boot comes with a padded insert. I can see the indent of his hoof in the foam, so it’s conforming nicely to his foot.

The hoof boot stays on. Freedom isn’t exactly quiet in turnout. Right after he damaged his hoof he looked pretty lame. I had him in a conventional Cavallo Simple Boot when it first happened. That certainly made him sounder, but I’ve seen him acting up a bit since he started wearing this one.

It seems to be comfortable. Judging by how Freedom is moving, it seems to have been a good choice.