LEB ‘Long Ear Boot’ (Hoof Boot for Donkeys) – Turquoise (sold in pairs)

"Previously, Jitterbug had been wearing the CLB.  For comparison, we had to add a lot of padding and modify the interior of the CLB significantly to get them to fit correctly.  Somewhere in the Scottsdale Preserve, there's a CLB  that Jitterbug lost, and we were unable to recover. The fact that we had a successful hike with no modifications or lost boots is amazing.  

Jitterbug is a 5-year-old miniature jennet that I purchased as a weanling for my son, Tyler, in 2020.  She came from less-than-ideal circumstances with another donkey. The other donkey had to be euthanized after just 4 days.  Jitterbug was sick with a respiratory illness, but quickly bounced back.  My son has been taking her to races since 2022, staring with just short distances and walking.  When our vet gave the go-ahead, he started running her in races.  Jitterbug and Tyler have either won or placed in most races that they have completed in.  Jitterbug has a strong work ethic and loves to run!  She has been wearing Cavallo Boots since the beginning to protect her feet.  We train on a lot of decomposed granite trails, which really files down those hooves, and they can easily become too short and tender.  Our family currently owns 5 donkeys.  All of them, with the exception of the newest guy that we've only had for 2 weeks, wear cavallo boots.  We are looking forward to switching them over to the new LEB for a better fit.

Thank you for the opportunity to try the new LEB!"

- Alison McKee 

Megan Hensley, also known as The Donkey Farrier, is widely recognized for her fair, compassionate, and intuitive approach to donkey trimming. As a leading donkey expert, she has been involved from day one in the development of Cavallo’s new LEB (Long Ear Boots), designed specifically for Donkeys.

Recently, Megan had the chance to fit a pair of LEB Hoof Boots on a client’s mammoth donkey named Walter. Here’s what she shared about the experience:

“I’m very excited about the new LEBs - and had a wonderful time sharing them with a new mammoth donkey client.  At our first meeting, I learned that he had gone out to the backcountry a month prior and was a bit uncomfortable in some spots. The owner was concerned because they wanted to return to the Trinity Alps this weekend. They are new donkey owners and we’re not familiar with the different types of hoof protection. My eyes lit up, and I said I have just the thing!  I’ve got a brand new pair of LEBs that are not even on the market yet, and I just so happen to be looking for a mammoth to test drive them!  Let’s see if they fit!

And sure enough, they did!

Walter went the full 16 miles in his new LEB boots. He had no real chance to break them in - only a few hours in his paddock the day before - but he still had no rubbing or discomfort from the boots. His owners kept wool socks on the whole time, and even left his boots on overnight. Not only do the wool socks help with potential rubbing (as there was no time to break the boots in), but you can also spray fly spray on the socks. He has two pairs - a short pair and a long pair that can be brought up over the knees to keep the flies off when out in the wilderness!

The boots never twisted or turned, and they stayed in place perfectly. The back squished down to accommodate his heel bulb height, and I am absolutely thrilled! You can’t even tell that he was ever wearing boots- no sign of rubbing or discomfort.”

- Megan Hensley

“What are you wearing?” has been a much-criticized question on the red carpet these days, but we found ourselves yelling it out when we watched the 2023 Oscars! Out trotted a lovely donkey at Jimmy Kimmel‘s side, wearing our Cavallo CLB (Cute Little Boots)!

This beautiful little donkey was actually a stand-in for Jenny and Rosie, who were the two Irish donkeys that starred in the film The Banshees of Inisherin. The film also stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson and received nine nominations at the award ceremony.

Watch it HERE!

“I researched hoof boots like crazy before choosing Cavallo, so glad I made the right choice! We love them!! Duke is a mule. He is 26 and suffers from hoof wall separation and Laminitis. He wears his with Gel Pads during turnout. Java a pinto – he is wearing his boots today for comfort during turnout because the ground is frozen, but he normally just wears his for trail riding (he has 3 pairs!) He has thin soles and is an in-betweener, size-wise. We absolutely LOVE YOUR BOOTS! Thank you!!”

“I was a real latecomer to the idea of using hoof boots… Growing up, my Dad was the ‘horseshoer’ for our family & friends We never would have thought of having a barefoot horse, especially considering all we did with them year-round. But when looking for a horse of my own in recent years, I knew I wanted one that could go barefoot. And so I researched and bought Cavallos right away. I’m very happy, riding Sierra sometimes on rocky trails, and through creeks quite often. Can’t recommend them enough.”

“Rebel has recovered from Laminitis and has to be kept barefoot now. Cavallo Boots allow him to go on gentle trail rides that he loves. I followed your video on how to break them in and it was a big help. He’s a Rocky Mountain Horse. Rebel was a patient at Cornell Ruffian Equine Hospital in NY last year, and they recommended your boots. Just thought you would like to know how I found out about your product. I’m very careful to do whatever I can to keep those hoofs healthy. He’s really walking great!!!”

Linda Bird shared her conversation with her horse, Mocha, about getting new Cavallo Boots:

"Mocha was pretty impressed with his new Cavallos, especially because they were geared out with soft pastern covers. They also came with several different colors of hoof inserts.

“The orange Gel Pads are an especially a nice touch since we live in Tennessee,” he enthused, “That old Davy Crockett song says that Tennessee is the ‘greenest state in the land of the free’ but I notice that everyone in this state decks out in orange—not green--during the fall in honor of UT’s football team. Since I’m a Tennessean now I have to show my sports spirit in some way--and so far you haven’t bought me an orange sports car to do it.”

I carefully ignored his insinuation that I should be outfitting him with a car, knowing my auto insurance rates would dramatically increase. Plus, it’s hard to explain to your insurance agent that you have a Mr. Ed clone living at your house and he wants to drive around the Smoky Mountains in a burnt orange Miata.  Instead, I deftly changed the subject and suggested that having new Cavallo hoof boots provided a perfect opportunity for us to handwalk a mile or so.

He was pretty amenable to this idea since he felt the Cavallo boots were very swanky and wanted to show them off to the neighbor’s donkeys. Even so, he said he only wanted to ‘amble’ and explained why that was a far better idea than doing a ‘marching walk.’

“Going forward is very overrated.  We horses prefer to amble, unless we’re chased by a horse fly. Plus, I actually have to go pretty slow to accommodate you. You only have two legs; I have four – so that makes me much more efficient in covering the ground.”

Since that’s technically true, I just kept quiet and let him continue as we ‘ambled’ along.

“Of course, that means I only have to go half as far because I’m using twice as many legs.  So maybe you should leave me to graze here and take a few laps on your own.”

I couldn’t argue that his math had some horsey-logic to it. So to keep him from bringing up the orange sports car idea again, I took his suggestion and let him graze in his new Cavallos the rest of the evening.  In the end, I felt I got off pretty easy. Because when it comes down to it, grazing (and new Cavallo hoof boots) are much less expensive than paying for an orange Miata and ‘young horse driver insurance.’"

- Linda Bird

“I’m very excited about the new LEBs - and had a wonderful time sharing them with a new mammoth donkey client. 

At our first meeting, I learned that he had gone out to the backcountry a month prior and was a bit uncomfortable in some spots. The owner was concerned because they wanted to go back out this weekend.  They are new donkey owners and we’re not familiar with the different types of hoof protection. My eyes lit up, and I said I have just the thing! 

Walter went the full 16 miles in the Trinity Alps in his new LEB boots. He had no real chance to break them in - only a few hours in his paddock the day before - but he still had no rubbing or discomfort from the boots. His owners kept wool socks on the whole time, and even left his boots on overnight. The boots never twisted or turned, and they stayed in place perfectly. The back squished down to accommodate his heel bulb height; you can’t even tell that he was ever wearing boots- no sign of rubbing or discomfort. I am absolutely thrilled!”

- Megan Hensley

“Fame is happy in her Cavallo Simple Boots! We have a herd of 4, from a mini horse to a 16hh Quarter Horse. They all have at LEAST one pair of Cavallos! We have Simple, Treks, ELBs and CLBs. We also have almost every type of hoof boot pad Cavallo makes. Why do we exclusively use Cavallos?

• They’re easy to get on. I don’t want to wrestle with a boot on a lame horse, or in the middle of a snowstorm. They come in a wide range of sizes. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to measure and get the right fit. Cavallos are easy to measure and I’ve never had issues getting the wrong size from my measurements.
• Cavallos HOLD UP. Some of our crew are ROUGH on their gear. We’ve had many other hoof boot brands end up shredded and in the trash. Boots more expensive than Cavallos! After throwing away numerous pairs of boots that are $200+ a pair after owning them for a month, we switched to Cavallo and had zero issues.
• Cavallo customer service is the absolute best. I sent them a message asking about using boots in snowy conditions and got a detailed and helpful answer within 24 hours. Often times it’s even sooner.”