One of our most asked questions when people start looking for boots for their horse is “what size does he/she need?” This question is often paired with the horse’s shoe size. Unfortunately, your horse’s shoe size won’t give you a very accurate answer as shoe sizes vary between brands. The good news is that measuring your horse for boots is pretty easy.
All you need to measure your horse for hoof boots is a ruler or tape measure, pen and paper to record the measurements, and (ideally) hooves that were trimmed in the last 2 weeks, though the closer to a fresh trim the better.
Once you have all your materials ready, pick up the first hoof and measure the width across the widest part of the hoof, to the nearest 1/8” (1/16” would be even better). The second measurement is taken from toe to buttress line, the imaginary line that connects the 2 heel buttresses. The heel buttress is the point where the outer hoof wall turns back toward the toe, so each hoof has 2 heel buttresses. A common measuring mistake is to measure to the heel bulbs but this will result in an inaccurate boot size recommendation. Repeat this process with each hoof that you wish to put a boot on as left and right hooves may be different sizes; the same goes for front and hind hooves.
*If you have any doubts, we recommend taking pictures of the ruler on the hoof each way to show your hoof boot specialist for an accurate size recommendation.
Cavallo Regular Sole boots are designed for horses with hooves that measure the same for length and width. Cavallo Slim Sole boots are 1/4” narrower than they are long. Slim soles would be a great option for a horse whose hoof measures 5 ¼” long and 5” wide, for example. Please note: slim sole boots are only available for sizes 0-6.
Using this chart, we can further narrow down a size for the horse we mentioned before with hooves that measure 5 ¼” long and 5” wide, this horse would do best in a 4 slim. A slightly less obvious example would be a horse whose hooves are 4 ½” long and 4 ⅜” wide. This horse would wear a size 1 regular because both the length and width are within the regular sole dimensions for size 1.
Hopefully this helps clear up any confusion about finding the right boot size for your horse but if you still have questions, we would be more than happy to help.
Stay tuned for our next blog which will help readers choose the right Cavallo boot model for their horse.
Please feel free to call us toll-free at 866-333-6337 or click here to visit our contact page.
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