Horse Water Cooling boots or Ice boots which is best?

In this discussion we explain why horse water cooling boots may not be as effective as horse ice boots. Why does a horse cooling boot need to come out of the freezer to be effective at cooling horses legs?

Horse cooling boots, horse Ice boots – how cold do they get?

Some cooling boots like Cryochaps ice wraps are designed to be stored in the freezer because they contain gel or similar materials that can freeze. Cooling horse boots are used to help reduce heat and inflammation in a horse’s legs, especially after intense physical activity or during hot weather. When these boots are stored in the freezer, they become very cold, -20°C and below, and this extreme temperature is important for the effectiveness of ice boots in several ways. Horse water cooling boots you place in cold water for a couple of hours before use and even with ice in the water, temperatures can only reach as low as 7-9°C.

Why do you need freezing temperatures for rapid cooling with horse ice boots.

Leg temperatures internally maybe as high as 45°C after strenuous exercise, especially if the horse has been wearing horse boots or bandages, as some can insulate the leg. The heat is excessive as the tendon inside the leg creates its own heat during exercise. As the tendon expands and contracts to propel the horse forward, heat is released. The tendon continues to pump out elevated temperatures for a while after the horse has stopped working.

When you apply either ice boots, ice wraps or a cooling boot for horses, the two temperatures are very different. Ice boots are in the region of -15/20°C versus a horse water cool boot at 7/9°C. Both the horse cool boot and the horse ice boot will slowly absorb the heat from the horses’ leg, but the cold water boot will reach the temperature of the leg quicker, as it starts from a higher temperature. In tests we carried out the temperatures inside of a cooling boot rose very quickly and trials stopped after 5 mins when the outside of the leg was at the same temperature as it started at.

Ice boots or ice wraps can rapidly reduce the temperature of the horse’s legs when applied straight from the freezer or a cool box as they are at very low temperatures compared to the horse’s leg.

Do ice boots for horses and cooling water boots heat up on the horses leg?

Yes! But is is where they heat too, which is the most improtant thing, legs should be cold after removal and only a few ice boots can achieve this.

Horses body temperatures, like ours take a while to return to normal temperatures after exercise. Blood is still surging round the horse to help transport heat from working muscles to the skin for dissipation. This process takes a while and heat carried by the cardiovascular system is obviously driven through the horses’ legs so a continuous delivery of hot blood.

When you put a large amount of material around the horse’s leg. The leg will heat up the material of the cooling boots or the ice boots, as the heat has nowhere else to go. Cooling water boots become similar temperatures to the horse’s leg very quickly. When an equilibrium of temperatures is reached, the boot will then trap the heat and insulate the leg, as the heat cannot escape quick enough through the thick material. The leg begins to warm to higher temperatures.

This will be quite different to ice boots that have come out of the freezer at -15 to -20℃. The temperatures will also rise inside the horse ice boot but if you are using the ice boot for only 10-15mins the external leg temperature will stay cold and under the recommended 10-15℃ for the full 10-15 minutes*. There is another point to make here, BEWARE not all ice boots are created equal! The more frozen gel in the ice boots, the longer they will take to warm, thinner ice boots will warm quicker and could mean you have warm legs after removal. Always check the legs after use to make sure you are getting the best cooling effect.

*The 10-15°C is the temperature recommended to stay below in ice water therapy for humans.

Why horse water cooling boots or ice boots that have lost their cold, do not work.

In summary, cold boots for horses need to be able to be stored in the freezer to become ice boots, to be effective to keep the leg below 10 degrees for 10-15mins. A short sharp hit of freezing temperature takes the heat out of the leg as quickly as possible and when removed the leg will take a while to warm. Ice boots or water boots that go on to the leg, not at freezing temperatures, or very thin ice boots, will heat up very quickly as they create an insulating barrier around the leg to prevent heat from escaping.

The temperature differential between the ice boots and horses leg needs to be large to maintain the leg under 10 °C for 10-15 mins. If the internal horse leg temperature is as high as 40 °C after exercise the ice boots must be at least -15 °C, substantial in the amount of frozen material, to enable temperatures to stay cold enough for long enough. It is better to take them off after 10 mins if the legs are beginning to warm, to not reverse the effects of icing. If the horse ice boot or cool boots are not cold enough, do not use them! Wait to get home and ice, if within 3 hours of finishing the exercise.

Ice boots like Cryochaps are proven to cool the leg efficiently, provide an effective cooling recovery after exercise or injury and provide pain relief, and target any inflammation caused by over exercise or injury.