Homemade Soaking Boots

Why you need a soaking boot...

You need soaking boots to soften your horses hoof in order to trim it. In many circumstances the weather and lack of proper water holes for horses to stand in--can make their hooves brittle and hard. Re-hydrating them is important for the health of your horse's feet, not to mention easier to trim. This is much better than putting oil based hoof softeners on...which only repel water.

There are a couple of items on the market that will help your soak a foot, but they are generally expensive. Making them yourself is so much easier and cheaper.

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Nola Cooke from Tasmania sent me these instructions on how to make them:

What You Need:

• 1 car inner tube from a tyre shop (approx$5). diameter sufficient to fit hoof!
• 1 inner bicycle tube (free hopefully)
• Inflate and play rubber duckies to check for leaks!
• One tin contact adhesive (kwik grip)
• course sandpaper
• Paint thinner
• rag
• velcro

Method:

1. Cut car tyre into approx 13inch lengths. Important to cut the tyre the right way. this is not easy to explain! Hold the tyre between your legs so that it would stick out the front and also behind you if it was pumped up. In riding terms you would be straddling it! Then cut it straight across into the lengths mentioned above.
2. Turn the boot inside out.
3. Cut the bike tyre into lengths to cover the width of the car tyre you have just cut plus adding several cm extra.
4. Split the bike tyre by slicing along one edge to open it out flat.
5. Sandpaper all the inside of the bike tyre and also the outside of the car tyre - only enough to rough up where the bike tyre is to stick.
6. Clean off the sanded area with a rag soaked in paint thinners.
7. Apply the thinnest layer of contact adhesive to both the bike tyre and the car tyre making sure that you haven't any dry areas.
8. Allow to dry so you can touch it without sticking to it.
9. Holding the car tyre straight (like it was cut) place it on to the bike tyre with equal amounts on each end of the extra bike tyre. The car tyre only comes to half way up the bike tyre so that the remainder of the bike tyre can then be folded over to glue to the top of the car tyre.
10. So now the boot is glued together and there are two flappy pieces at each end.
11. Sand and clean the upper side of these and glue back over the toe of the boot. Allow to dry (overnight) holding together if necessary with strong paper clips or other weighted thing.
12. Turn the boot to rightside out and repeat with another bike tyre patch over the outside toe.
13. Glue velcro spiky tape to sides of boot and use the soft tape to fit. suggest you experiment with twine first to see the best placement of velcro. Other forms of strapping would work too.
    
    

• Back feet are harder to fit - easier if the boot is not too high or long.
• We put the boots on empty then add sufficient water to cover coronet.
• We also tie the horse up when using boots and spray them for flies to stop them kicking at them and splashing themselves with water and then fidgeting when the water tickles their tummies!!
• Sometimes they will stand on the boots and try to pick up the underneath foot but the boots stretch.
  
  

You can contact Nola Cook at: nolajcooke@tpg.com.au

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Last edited: 30 June, 2007
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