I thought i'd start a new series of products I use regularly, whether it be at the cutting horse operation I work for, or just at home with Jingle.
First up is my my most favourite Iceboot in the whole wide world. I am not kidding, these are the best.
They are the Equomed Lumark Cold Compression Boots.
These are the ice boots on one of our show-horses.
The reason I love these boots so much is that they are convenient, easy and work to effectively cool the leg. The boots have velcro backs that you can fasten frozen gel-packs too. You literally just take the gel packs from the freezer, press them onto the boot, and voila - you are ready to put the boot on the horse. From there, you use a small pump to inflate the boot which then compresses the cold against the leg.
Here is a photo from the website showing someone pumping up the compression boots.
From the website, "The tighter the cold wrap can be fixed on the leg, the better is the cooling effect. Equomed-Lumark's Cold Compression Boots offer a unique method to deliver the cold directly to the horses skin. By using inflatable boots, the air compression will increase tight contact of the cold wrap to the horses legs and joints, compression effects to reduce swelling, and tight fit to keep the wraps in place."
Furthermore, unlike some ice technology the "cooling gel is made to stay over a certain freezing degree, so it can not burn or hurt a horse." Also if there's a hot point in a horses leg, once you take the boots off you can feel where that area had been, so it's easier to pinpoint areas of pain.
Finally, I've used lots of other types of Ice boot-esque technology. I've used the Professional's Choice Gel Packs that you wrap independently with a polo wrap, as well as multiple types of boots that you completely put into the freezer. The Gel Packs I felt were clumsy and hard to get perfect, while the boots that you freeze become so frozen they don't meld to the leg as well as these boots do because of the gel technology. Finally, although pricey, these boots are significantly cheaper and massively easier to use than cooling systems like Game Readys.
So, to summarize, they are my favourite because at shows, and at home, I am always looking for something convenient yet effective. These boots are all that and more. Easy to use, easy to transport, easy to switch gel-packs and use on multiple horses. They are all that & I highly recommend them.
