Evaluation of digital cryotherapy using a commercially available sleeve style ice boot in healthy horses and horses receiving i.v. endotoxin.

The boot caused significant decreases in lamellar temperatures compared with untreated control limbs in all horses. Endotoxaemic horses had significantly colder lamellae and skin than healthy horses. This study is the first to show that a sleeve style boot, where ice does not cover the hoof, can cause significant decreases in lamellar temperatures through cooling of blood as it travels to the foot.