Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Product Review: Hoof Wraps Brand™

Recently after a trail ride, my young mare started showing signs of stone bruise. I was searching for something that could give her a little cushion and protection as the sole of her hoof healed. I found the Hoof Wraps Brand™ at my local Tractor Supply. It was a great alternative to keeping my mare in a stall and buying diapers and duct tape.


The Hoof Wraps Brand™ hoof wrap features a foam pad that is held on to the foot with a strong nylon wrap that secures with heavy duty Velcro. The Hoof Wrap states that their wrap is a one-size-fits-most, fitting everything from a horse that wears a 00 to a size 2 shoe. The hoof wrap is specially designed to be tough enough for a horse on turn out. Since my mare in on 24/7 pasture access, it sounded like a perfect solution to give her some comfort and speed up the healing without her having to be stalled.
Nylon outer of the Hoof Wrap Brand™ hoof wrap

Instructions are printed on the inside of the wrap.
I was surprised how easy it was to use. The nylon was very strong and was difficult to pull apart once stuck together; this gave me some ease of mind knowing she wouldn't be able to pull the Velcro apart. Although one person can put this on their horse, my mare only wanted her toe to touch the ground so I needed someone to hold my mare's foot flush to the ground to ensure that I was getting the wrap tight and secure.

What I liked most about the product was that as soon as I put it on my mare, she showed reduced limping instantly. The Hoof Wrap Brand™ hoof wrap effectively protected her feet from the hard ground and the foam provided cushion to the foot making it more comfortable for my mare to walk.

I left the hoof wrap on over night and checked her the next morning and she still had it on. It had stood up to a night of walking around a 40 acre pasture.

Wearing the hoof wrap gave my mare enough cushion and protection for her to heal more quickly from the stone bruise while still maintaining turn out.

What I did not like was that the wrap was "one-size-fits-most." My mare wears a 00 size shoe. She is on the small end of their suggested fit sizes. The wrap slightly gapped at the front of the foot.  The wrap is supposed to fit like the picture below.
Properly fitted Hoof Wrap Brand™ Hoof Wrap


To make sure the wrap was secure, I wrapped it with Vet wrap.



The wrap had slightly rotated around the foot over night, but nothing too major. I put the wrap on for her to wear over night another night without the vet wrap and she came back the next morning without it, somewhere lost in my pasture.

I would recommend this product to any horse owner that has a horse that is dealing with an abscess, stone bruise, tender footed after throwing a shoe, or anything that might require your horse needing some extra cushion and protection. The nylon outer is very tough, but the cushion would need to be changed every other day because it does get compacted. If your horse is like mine and wears a 00 shoe, I would recommend wrapping it as I did.

You can find more information on this product and other products offered by Hoof Wraps Brand™ on their website, http://hoofwraps.com/.



Pictures 1-3: are from the Hoof Wrap Brand™ website hoofwraps.com
Picture 4: SmartPak Website
Picture5:taken by C