Well, the right front Scoot Boot twisted.
The Fit Kit for Easyboot Gloves sorta fit, except for one big gap in front, where the pony’s foot suddenly flattens out. Except for that, they kinda sorta fit.
So I guess Renegades are next on the list. Meanwhile the pony is flying barefoot all around the hilly, rocky paddock.
Any other suggestions?
I wish you well with your search. I spent 5 years with barefoot horses and come to the conclusion that if they could not go barefoot 100% of the time. They were going to get shoes. I spent a lot of money and time on boots and finally gave up. My horses could go any where for a day. But they couldn’t do it multiple days in a row. at least not the way I ride them.
Good luck
My experience and “fix” is the same as PH. Except that I spent a decade trying to force it to work.
Today, I have some completely bare and some shod on all four. They all do the same rides.
Well, boots work for me, 800 miles a year or so. I had some twisting issues (I use Renegades) but as I adjusted and played with fit, they went away. I very rarely lose boots (never say never.) This time of year I do ride barefoot for any rides where I know the footing is good (10 miles yesterday in sand and dirt, no boots. 16 miles with a couple miles of gravel road = boots.)
If Scoot boots mostly fit, I’d probably play with them more. Twisting can be the boot, the fit, the time of the trim you’re at, etc. Sounds like Easy Boots might not be for your horse, but Renegades might not just solve your problem if you don’t want to take the time to really play with the whole situation. There are local fitters of most of the boots, maybe reach out to them?
But it’s a hard choice. There is more fiddling and worrying than having steel shoes. I have friends who ride barefoot, barefoot with hoof armor, barefoot with boots, glue-on shoes, aluminum shoes, steel shoes, and every type of shoes in between. Evaluate your horse and your patience/frustration level, and decide form there. Good luck!
Wait are you trying to ride in them or do turnout in them? Gloves and scoot boots are not designed for turnout. And no way in hell would I turn out in renegades with the cables in them. I’m guessing a big part of your issue might be pony needing a proper trim since you say where the “foot suddenly flattens out”. Until you address issues like that, boots are not going to work well.
I have several horses that run the gambit- barefoot, barefoot uses boots, glue-ons, steel. I have had great success with boots on my Morgan mare who competes in endurance, CTR and CMO. She cannot wear traditional shoes due to a previous injury, although last year during a particularly heavy couple of competition months I had her in Easy Shoe NGs which worked very well.
I’m trying to ride in them. The pony’s feet are funky partly due to a previous injury & partly due to genetics. My current farrier has improved them a lot, but not everything can be made perfect.
She had been in pads on the front, shoes all round. She’s doing well barefoot in the paddock, but I haven’t ridden her since we pulled her shoes, except tobtry boots.
I’m leaning towards shoes again, sans pads.
Thank you for all your help!
Oh, & no fitters local to me, unless a 3 + hour one way drive is local. Though my endurance rider friend has been a big help!
I went riding this weekend in my Scoots, which stayed on beautifully, but a ridding buddy’s horse lost a shoe about two miles in. Does that one loss mean shoes don’t stay on? It’s funny how one boot malfunction equals failure, but the shoes littering the trails are meaningless.
I think you probably don’t have a good fit yet with your Scoots. They have slims, and they just came out with shims. Just because the boot goes on doesn’t mean it’s the best fit. Look up tryscootboots or Stacy Pratt on Facebook for fit help. They will look at videos, I know, if you can’t get to them in person.
Shims might well do the trick! Thanks.
Are you on Facebook? Stacy Pratt is Heartland Scoot Boots, and she’s extremely eager to help. She’s a Scoot fanatic. I hope it helps.
I will say, before Scoots, I hated boots. I’m one of those barefoot nazis, which was easy with my old mare that could do anything, anywhere barefoot with no limits. It’s been harder with current trail horse. Scoots make it much simpler. I just hate wresting boots before riding.
I’ve got nothing against shoes, & my farrier’s shoeing has helped the pony a great deal. Also, the shoes very rarely fall off. But my farrier & I agreed that she might benefit from being shoeless, at least for awhile.
She was pretty sore without her shoes at first but is moving better now, so I wanted to at least give boots a try. I like the idea, & the flexibility of using boots as needed, but they also need to work in practice.
I will contact the scoot boot rep & see what she recommends.
My problems with Boots wasn’t going straight down a trail at walk or trot. My problems came with loosing or destroying parts/boots while chasing cows on round ups. While bushwacking through rough country. When I start chasing cows, cutting and changing directions on a mountainside, Boots just didn’t hold up well. So it really depends on How and where you ride. Following an old jeep road at a walk/trot boots often work very well. Chasing cows through creeks, willows and thick brush, You won’t know you lost a boot until you stop and then where do you start looking for the lost boot.
Well, lots of us aren’t walking down a Jeep road, but you be happy with your choice, and I’ll be happy with mine. Like I said before, someone losing a shoe on a ride the other day doesn’t mean shoes just fall off. Could be the foot, the shoe, the farrier, just bad luck. Boots do require some work to get the right boot, right fit, right trim, but to me, they are a healthier choice. I get all the benefits of barefoot, but on tough trails, the whole hoof is protected, not just the hoof wall. The wall isn’t what bruises. The wall isn’t what hurts. That’s my reasoning.
@katyb…I’m very happy you’re happy with your choice. But I want to say, boots falling off was the least of the problems I had with them.
Renegades worked OK, but lasted less than 30 days for me on two different horses. That makes them too expensive.
Epics and Gloves rubbed heel bulbs and filled with debris, sometimes fell off, and were too difficult to apply for some people…
Old Macs rubbed bloody holes in pasterns, so while the whole foot was protected, there was still pain.
Scoot Boots rubbed bloody holes over the lateral cartilages, again, more unacceptable pain.
And I would never trim so the boots fit. That is also unacceptable. It’s one thing to have the boots only fit during a part of the trim cycle, but when I started to see people trimming specifically to fit the boots, that’s where they lost me. What ever happened to fitting the shoe to the hoof, NOT the hoof to the shoe?
You may have the luxury of being a barefoot Nazi, but not everyone does and nobody should be shamed for caring for their horses the best way they can.
Scootbootguy is letting me try some with shims for a week.
I, also, would never have the foot trimmed to fit the boot.
I envy the person chasing cows through the brush! This pony, though, goes on logging roads, and trails in the state parks, so, not very extreme.
I’m finally gluing the boots on. Had enough of backtracking down the trail to find the lost ones. Did Gloves (good around home and easy use, worthless when conditioning and competing) Renegades (same but measurably better until they got a bit aged, then they had problems (cables breaking, falling off, etc), then Scoots (which worked stellar on one of mine, not so much on another, but I loved their simplicity and breathability).
Upshot: I no longer - after 40 years - want to nail on shoes and pads. I’m tired of doing it - it is annoying to my aging back, knees, and hips and I know it is just a (daily shorter) matter of time before my body says “no more,”, and I will have to retire my hammer and anvil for good. So last month I did my first glue-on: Scoot Skins (which I got as a gift from a fellow farrier) on my endurance horse . Fronts only as a test.
I think I’m in love. Not with the preparation process (boots and hooves) because it’s honestly a massive pain in the petunia and a LOT of hassle, but with the end result which is nothing short of phenomenal. I just ordered and received another set of Skins for the back hooves - waiting until the weather is warm enough again to install them.
I chose the Scoots over the other glue-ons out there in the market because they are resilient, super tough yet very pliable, allow the sole to be hosed out and cleaned, MUCH more airy, PLUS they can be reused (if not too worn). For what they cost, they are worth it. Out on the trail, training, conditioning, hard fast gaits on abrasive gravel roads (the type of speed that used to send every type of strap-on flying off), her leaping around at home and tearing up the fields with her wild gallops - those boots have been brilliant. They are as tight as the day I put them on like they were glued to her foot with super glue. And they still look brand new. They are designed to be on for a full trim cycle, unlike other boots that have to be taken off after a week.
AND here’s what’s best - she moves more beautifully, more freely in them then she ever did in her aluminium shoes with Durashock pads. She is a gorgeous mover to begin with, but the increase in brilliance in glue-ons is honestly jawdropping.
AND you don’t have to be a farrier to put them on. You can prepare the hoof, prepare the boot, dispense the glue, and install them on the hoof yourself. If you don’t do your own trimming you can have your farrier do that for you. Have him lightly rasp the hoof wall for you as well, and you can doing the light sanding afterwards yourself. The initial learning curve is steep, but I’m reasonably sure over time I’m going to get better and less inclined to want a third hand to help.
Is the gluing process cheap? Heck no. Not by a long shot. One tube of Adhere is $30, does 4 boots, and the gun to dispense it cost me $90. The set of Scoot Skins is $80. But is it worth it in the long run if you want full protection, no nail holes, resets, and a full trim cycle to use your horse or pony hard and fast without the hassle of fitting strap-on boots on for each ride and then walking back down trails looking for (and praying you’ll find) the cast off ones? Heck yes! No contest.
Glue-ons are the future. The product advancement has been so extraordinary that there is no question this is the way we should be thinking about our horse’s feet from now on.
Agree completely. Beautiful picture. You are not too far north of me:D
That’s quite some country, Painted Horse! Beautiful.
I’m blessed to have lots of really cool riding close by. Red Rock high desert in the colder months and Green Alpine mountains in the warmer. https://youtu.be/xeI-UwRi1ko
I agree with gothedistance. Having tried most types of boots listed and loosing some I gave up and our two Arabs are great barefoot. Fast forward 14 year daughter wants to event. Picked up a great OTTB. Took shoes off, been shoed his working life- 8 now. He is a very strong, big horse and anything past a trot on a fire road he looses boots. Ripped straps off scoots multiple times with canter/ jumping. Renegades off, gloves off and torn, scoots(shims and pads lost) twisted or straps-all ripped. Kinda takes the fun out of riding when your watching each others horse for the flying boot. He is better but still tender footed at times, not sure he will get tough feet like our Arabians . Now using glue on Easyboot LC— with center cut out. Other options including scoot skins and renegade skins- cut out. At this point we only do LDs together and barefoot no problem, If I was to train up may consider glue on. I think boots are good for walk/trot smooth terrain from our experience. My daughter can now run/practice a rough cross country course in her glue ons, we can clean out easily(with cut out). My daughter did a 3 day event last month, smooth course, totally barefoot. A trainer stated"I don’t think I have seen a horse do it barefoot before",the dressage judge" that’s great your using a soft snaffle", we completed all 3 days. Were we live other courses rougher/more rocks hence the glue ons so she can ride/train. I am finding with glue ons it is all about the prep and after couple trys easier and not difficult, another tool in my box. Lots of info on the internet to learn and am thankful to those stepping outside the box. Glue ons still allow natural movement and with split(other skins can be modified) in back allow frog flex. Crossing creeks and rough/rocky climbs no problem(our OTTB has never known anything outside of racing/stables, but he sure seems to be enjoying himself). The eventing world is very set in their ways, I have told my daughter she can be a part of the change for the horses health. One trainer actually said the horses need shoes(metal) because the landings are hard, I kept quiet. A piece of metal softens the landing, really?. Logically this is causing increased stress on joints/tendons. Anyway, still learning. Would be nice to get our OTTB to run barefoot more, but we have events/training to do and want him to be comfortable so he can focus. Oh, bell boots in front because of his huge over reaching stride and jumping, we also have started using them in rears as boot protection(cheap) while out in pasture-peeling sides of glue ons as he steps on his own feet(bit clumsy). Sorry for long reply, but so much I have learned, am learning in taking care of my family members.
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