100% Hoof Protection for shod or barefoot horses. Your horse will travel and arrive sound, fit and ready to compete. Enjoy maximum comfort, protection and shock absorption during transport, turnout and light riding.
Transport Air boots offer shod horses, even with studs, less fatigue and give you the confidence of safe transportation.
Lightweight, fits left or right hoof, available in sizes 0 - 6 on Cavallo's Regular Sole.
Carole Herder has a genuine passion to help educate
horse owners. She speaks on her belief that caring
for horse’s hoofs naturally and keeping them
barefoot is best. Carole designed and developed the
range of Cavallo Boots to meet the needs of the
world wide hoof boot market.
Carole's background is in holistic and alternative health care. She coauthored the book The Cavallo Barefoot Trim, and most recently authored the international best seller "There Are No Horseshoes in Heaven". Learn more about Carole's book >>
THE CAVALLO TRANSPORT AIR
industry packages up and markets to us. Usually you get what you pay for. Look for good quality because often the less expensive products either have less active ingredients or cannot be readily absorbed by your horse. Of course, and as you well know, you should always make a good supply of fresh water and salt available.
“Let Thy Food be Thy Medicine and Medicine Thy Food”. – Hippocrates
LONG IN THE TOOTH
In the wild, horses have access to hours of grazing to trim their own teeth. Our domestic horses don’t have that, so they need dental help. It’s important to have a horse’s teeth balanced periodically, especially when their food and conditions are changing. Unfortunately, a problem occurs when these “equine dentists” get too heavy-handed. The industry now has power tools to make it easier for practitioners to float horses’ teeth. But power tools also make it easy to get carried away and shave too much off.
Horses’ teeth continue to grow, but only about three or four inches throughout their lifetime, and all growth ceases at around 12 years old. Some older horses are now having serious problems masticating their food because, somewhere along the line, someone has been a bit heavy handed with the power tools and shaved too much off their teeth.
I think of it like this: if our horses only grew three or four inches of hoof throughout their lifetimes, we’d be extremely careful who we let near them with a rasp or nippers. Similarly, we need to be very careful who we allow in our horses’ mouths. When choosing a “dentist” for your horse, make sure the practitioner is well educated, practiced and comfortable using hand tools.
THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR RIDING
Horses hoofs condition to tolerate the terrain of their habitat. During climate changes their hoofs also change. Many horses live on grassy pastures and bedded stalls, and then for 5% or even a generous 10% of the time, we ask them to pack us up a gravelly trail or hard asphalt road. Their hoofs may not be accustomed to this terrain and the load is increased with our weight and the weight of our saddles. This additional weight can be 20% of their own body weight, on average about 200 pounds. It compresses the soles of their feet even further into the ground. For this reason, they need additional hoof protection.
Most horses are uncomfortable traveling outside their living conditions with extra weight on bare feet. It’s clear that our horses do need protection while being ridden. I see horses trying to make their way to the soft shoulder at the side of the road all the time. Nailing metal shoes to their feet is not the answer. The shape of a metal shoe does nothing to protect their soles. The metal does not absorb shock, but in fact refers concussion further up the limbs. And the nails restrict the shoe and clamp the hoof in a tight position so that it cannot flex to respond to the weight of the horse. Taking care of your horse’s physical being is central to his overall well-being. When you get opportunities to ride your horse, you can very easily provide safety and protection to his hoofs with Cavallo Hoof Boots. Your horse’s grace, beauty, and strength are enhanced or diminished by his physical health and comfort.
I feel in my heart that caring for this glorious creature is an honor. In fact, I joke with my friends that I have worked hard all my life for the privilege to spend regular joyous hours shoveling manure! The non-horsey ones don’t get it.