I am a fan of efficiency (or I am lazy–however you want to characterize it), so anything that is easy and saves time and still works is going to end up in my tack trunk. Or in this case, the barn fridge.
Ice boots … the selection is endless and the price range is expansive. I was looking for a pair that met my criteria of easy, saves time, and works. While nothing can really replace soaking your horse’s legs in a muck bucket of ice water, few horses tolerate that so ice boots are widely used, widely available, and come in all kinds of configurations.
I ran across the Professional’s Choice Ice Boots on Amazon for a good price, and compared to other options, these seemed like a pretty good idea. They come in two sizes, presumably for fronts and hinds, although the large could double for fronts if you wanted the icey coolness to cover more of the leg from knee to pastern. They even come with a handy mesh bag to keep them together in the fridge/freezer.
The outside of the boots are fuzzy, so the velcro straps can stick anywhere to it. The inside is lined with nylon, so it stays cold without getting frosty and potentially damaging your horse’s skin. I only ever use them for about 20 minutes at a time, and they remain cold for that period, but not completely frozen that whole time because this is Texas. I like how Eli doesn’t mind them and wears them without issue, and he can roam around while I graze him with the boots on. The part that freezes is a gel, so it doesn’t get hard and molds to the leg well.
Honestly, there is no downside to these boots for me. I plan to get the large size for Eli’s hinds at some point. I can recommend these ice boots without reservations.
On a totally different note, being able to ride in the fields after work now because of DST is basically the most amazing thing ever! Don’t fence us in.
Great review! I wish I knew about ice boots when I had my old horse. She hated standing in buckets of water.
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They are so convenient!
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So because I’m silly, when and why do you use ice boots? I’m always interested about how different people care for their horses and why.
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I started using them after Eli had swelling above his fetlock to help reduce the inflammation, in conjunction with cold hosing–I would cold hose for 15-20 minutes and then throw the ice boots on for another 20 to keep the leg cold longer. I continue to use the ice boots after jumping lessons to cool down the tissues in his legs more quickly after they have heated up from the combination of wearing boots and exercise.
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I just bought an ice product and may be trying another one as well. I might actually do a review on something!…if I ever remember to bring them to the barn.
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Also, glad to hear these are working well!
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Yes, please do a review!
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Thanks for the recommendation, yet another thing added to my “to buy” list 😛
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They really are super easy to use
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So, they have ice packs, not ice? Sorry to be stupid.. I assume you put the packs in the ice boots?
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There is gel built into the boots that freezes … kind of like those squishy reuseable freezer packs, but sewn into the material. I’ll try to take a video of me using them so it’s more obvious.
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awesome!!! They sound super easy to use. i am still using the boots you pour ice cubes in…
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So one issue with a lot of ice boots is that they don’t mold well enough to evenly distribute the iciness along the canons–it sounds like maybe these are better about that?
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Hmmmmm… as fat as that goes, this would not distribute the icy-ness the way soaking in ice water would. However, the gel molds a little more easily to the leg than ice packs or boots that freeze harder. These stay squishy even when frozen.
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Good to know! It sounds like they might still be better with that squishy factor than a lot of boots on the market.
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