Does this sound like a good plan?

[All Around Ammy]

Looking to bounce some ideas off of you folks.

I have a 22 year old mare that I've owned for 17+ years. She has been retired for about the past 5 years now, and just a pasture pet. Her daily routine consists of eating and going from stall to turnout.

She has picked up the lovely habit of pawing, both in the stall and during turnout, mostly to get what she wants (ie food quicker, be brought in quicker). In the process she has destroyed her front feet. You can see that it is painful for her to paw, yet she continues to do so. Now that it is summer, the ground if fairly hard, and she is doing more and more damage. This mare is a bit quirky (as a former farrier who sometimes frequents this board could attest to!), so getting after her does no good.

We are at just about 6 weeks post last trimming, and I'm not sure if there is much there to trim, but lots of broken up areas. I really don't want to put shoes on her. Since she has some age and arthritis issues, standing on 3 legs long enough for nails to be driven could be an issue.

So the question is, does investing in a pair of some type of boots that are suitable for constant wear make sense? Will they help prevent her from damaging her feet? I know that I could put pawing chains on her, but since she does it during turnout, I don't think that would be safe. Plus she is smart enough to know when they are on or not, and take advantage of when they are off. If boots are the way to go, suggestions as to brands would be appreciated.

I will obviously be discussing this with my farrier, who I trust without a doubt, but without talking to him first, I'm not sure how much experience he has with dealing with boots of any sort.