Jo (NZ)Dear David, Greetings from the Mainland, How are you all up there in Auckland ? Down here it is still hot and sunny. It has been a wonderfully long summer; the lack of rain is now not enjoyable as our paddocks look like it is mid January and not the lush green of May. No horse mushrooms this year.Thank you so much for sending me the Hooves Boots, we call them our "Miracle Boots" as with them we have witnessed a miracle. Let me tell you why. Friends of ours have a 14.3 Welsh Arab Pony cross gelding called chocolate Mousse who has had a recent history of severe lameness. About three years ago Mousse fractured his pedal bone and had been lame ever since with no hope of a full recovery. In September of 2000 he was shut away from the spring grass but had a very acute attack of laminitis. His laminitis was proving to be impossible to arrest and he was sent to me to see if a change of environment would help. Mousse came to "The Home for the Aged and "Infirm" on 6th January. A couple of days after he arrived he was x-rayed to help my blacksmith with the trimming of his feet. The pedal bones had rotated to the point of penetration of the sole and he was desperately lame. As conventional treatments bad been done already and had failed we were left with nothing and euthanasia was the only option. Dave and I, however, were not ready to give up so we searched the Internet for new ideas. We had previously looked a year or so ago for another pony and nothing new was available then. Quite different this time. We contacted a woman in Pennsylvania who was doing the "Strasser Trim" with a lot of success so we downloaded her entire website, printed it and set about learning the trim. With a couple of false starts we finally got it right (after a very long phone call to the States!) and we trimmed Mousses feet to the requirements. During our false starts we read about the 4Ewe Boots" and bought a pair. The boots were initially very helpful as they eased the pain for Mousse. By this time his pedal bones bad pierced the soles of his feet and what was left of his soles was like wet tissue paper I can't begin to tell you how much the Hooves Boots carne at the right time. I had been wrapping the pony's feet every few hours with wool, foam, tape in fact anything at all to help cushion his desperately painful feet. Mousse was only able to hold a foot up for 10-15 seconds at a time, when I got fast at wrapping his feet it took an hour to do each one! The boots took about two seconds to put on, they were so easy and the instant relief for Mousse was incredible. As for me my mental health improved considerably with the ease of the Hooves Boots. During our earlier attempts to trim Mousses feet we were plagued with not one but four abscesses (a good sign but hard on the pony and the nurse I might add) and the arrival of the boots caused much jubilation in the camp as wrapping soles and poulticing coronets is challenging with a pony who struggles to stand up. Thank goodness for Mousses stroppy I'm not gonna die attitude to life!! The cushioning of the boots enabled us to cut Mousses feet back to the requirements of the Strasser Trim. The trim is a very drastic change in hoof mechanics and enables the pedal bone to revert to its correct angle. Four days after the trim Mousse took his first pain free steps in months. We did the trim on 1 March and by 12 March Mousse was walking around sort of sound. He has worn his Hooves Boots every day since and I am very happy to say he has made a full recovery. Mousse is totally sound in all paces including bucking, galloping and leaping around. He has been living in a herd situation throughout this whole ordeal and now seems to be making up for lost time. His boots stay on regardless of what he does. They do not slip, rub or irritate him in any way His feet do not sweat or get hot and it has been a very long hot summer. I was taking them off every day for his daily soakings and trims (part of the Strasser treatment) and a teaspoon of Bluestone in each boot every couple of days has kept the hoof environment at a constant state. We have applied Stockholm Tar to his feet and apple cider vinegar and none of these substances has in any way affected the boots. As Mousses feet have got smaller we have added closed cell foam to the insides to keep the boots a snug fit I cannot fault the boots for our purposes and I attribute Mousses remarkable recovery in a large part to the wonderful Hooves Boots. Without them I simply would not have had the confidence to attack his feet as aggressively as we did. I hope you sell heaps of these boots. They have been a godsend and if I appear to be a tad enthusiastic I sure am. These boots are absolutely marvelous and I'm happy to tell everyone. So thank you again and if you get any in a 12 hh pony size I would love to get a pair for Ripple. We have been doing a lesser aggressive version of the Strasser Trim on him as he does not have rotated pedal bones but he really feels the hard ground and slows up a lot in summer. One other thing, Mousse is totally sound, even the fractured pedal bone foot is sound. The Hooves Boots have enabled him to grow such a solid sole that it is supporting his fractured one. He goes home in June and will start a new life as a pleasure hack for his owner's mother to enjoy. A miracle! We are currently compiling a video to send to the States, a magazine over there has picked up on our story and is going to do a feature on Mousse and he will be wearing his Hooves Boots. When I get it sorted I'll send you a copy. So bye for now, take care and have fun Best wishes JO |
