Bellboots? HELP!

[C Eyler <eyler@mindspring.com>]

I reeeaaallly need advice from Ridecamp's collective wisdom.

Just started with a Natural Balance-trained farrier, and she wants my
gelding to wear bellboots while we're in the process of making adjustments
to the way his feet have been trimmed and shod (shoes are a tad wide at the
heel to encourage expansion, with a bit more of the shoe's heel extending
out the back).  The shoer wants the bellboots on him all the time, not just
when we're working.  He's on hilly pasture 24/7 (except when getting his
grain/supplements twice daily).

I have zero experience using bellboots.  Went to a good local tack shop and
got a pair of soft rubbery boots with double velcro (don't want to spend my
riding time searching for lost boots), size medium.  They seem to fit him
well -- loose around his pasterns, but not floppy.

Yesterday we were out for a very leisurely three-hour ride on a trail with
lots of short, steep hills, and he came back showing some barely
discernable irritation/heat on the rear of his pink pastern.  During the
ride, a friend noticed that the boots were creased, or bent, at one point.

The barn owner/manager (very caring, but very old school) says that the
boots should be on only when he's under saddle, but I confirmed with the
shoer that she wants them on him all the time.  Asked the shoer if I should
slather desitin or vaseline on him and she said this would be okay, though
she was surprised that he got any rub at all.  My riding buddy suggested to
me that sealing his skin from air on a full-time basis does not sound like
a good idea.  She advised me to try using the vaseline only when he's under
saddle.

I'll go out to the farm this afternoon to check on him (the boots are off
right now), but I'm not sure what to do next.

Thanks for your help.

Cindy Eyler
Baltimore MD




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