Patent ID: 7174858

Claim:
A protective sleeve for use with a horse boot that includes a support for bearing against a hoof of a horse and an enclosure for enclosing the hoof of the horse, comprising: (a) a pad of resilient material having a bottom portion for covering a heel bulb in the hoof of the horse and a top portion with two lateral bands for wrapping around a pastern of the horse; (b) means for fastening the lateral bands to one another over the pastern of the horse; and (c) a retaining flap coupled to the pad such that the flap is located entirely between an underside of the horse's hoof and an interior of the boot; wherein said top portion of the pad is sufficiently wide to completely wrap around the pastern of the horse, said bottom portion of the pad is sufficiently wide to wrap round a portion of the hoof which includes the heel bulb and the pad is designed to be spaced from a front edge of the hoof by a distance sufficiently large that a hairline of the hoof is exposed; and whereby a gap is prevented from forming between said enclosure of the boot and the pastern of the horse during use of the boot.