That’s how all loose-style, stay-up fly boots and leggings fit. They are just tight enough at the pastern that they don’t slip over the hoof, but they otherwise don’t touch the leg much at all.
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My two year old has been wearing hers a month and they are holding up great.
The material for the velcro tabs is kind of thin and fraying a little at the edges, but the boots themselves are wearing fine. Which is why I went and ordered two more sets for other horses.
ETA a pic of the rowdy 2yo’s boots after a month of abuse.
You can see the velco tabs fraying and curling; that’s definitely where they will fail first. But so far they are holding up to her shenanigans pretty darn well.
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I was shocked by the sizes. I tried on a barnmates Shoofly boots, and I do think part of the issue is her conformation. I wish these companies allowed us to mix and match, like two cob size and two horse size. The size in front doesn’t always dictate the size behind and vice versa.
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I’ve used Shoo-fly but my mare is pretty destructive. I switched to Stomp Stoppers and don’t like the design and fit as much, nor how long it took to get them, but she’s not destroying them as quickly… but I still think she will wear them out before the end of the summer.
Stomp Stoppers does custom boots for only about $60 plus tax and shipping.
Plus, their regular off the rack boots are leg-specific, with the hinds larger than the fronts.
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Thank you for this information!
Thanks for the answer and posting pictures. I am going to try the Harrison Howard boots. Never used anything but fly spray but flies are the worst I have ever seen and for the first time ever one of my guys stomped off a shoe…
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I ordered some of the Majyk Equipe fly boots. At this rate I’ll have a two year supply for both horses but WTH. Hoping they work well.
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I hope they work out well
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You have been so helpful so far. My boots are arriving tonight are they easy to put on? Do they come with instructions??? I hope they last like yours. My gelding can be very mouthy …
How are they working out for you?
The horses are so happy! I do wish the velcro strip( completely attached to the boot) was a bit longer as I had to make them a bit tighter at the bottom so the tabs aren’t quite flush.
I had to go in search of random boots several times over the first 2 days as I got it sorted. The mediums I ordered for our smaller mare come today and I wondered if I should have ordered mediums for all 3 ? They weren’t off due to velcro , that stuff is strong!
I am impressed by the quality and construction for the price.
I got irked at what was available/what I was willing to spend and ordered cheapies off Amazon. Love that they’re brightly coloured. Love that the Velcro is a single long piece from top to bottom.
However, do not buy these if you do not have sewing skills because they’re going to need help in short order. The boning is metal corset boning which is great … except that it requires much better installation and will poke through either the binding at the top or through the actual screening. It’s firm enough to hold the boots up, but too skinny to stay inside the slots/fabric.
So, in under 2 weeks, I pulled out my costume building experience and removed all the boning, wrapped it in Gorilla tape* to make it fatter and sewed it back in. So far so good.
*Corsets in costumes get just masking tape on the cut ends of the metal stays. The stays are cut to perfect length and are put in sewn ticking slots which will not let them through (as long as the cut end is protected so it doesn’t wear through the fabric)
I just bought some of the Harrison Howard boots from Amazon. I am planning on using them for hind legs and the Warrior for front legs. We will see how they compare to Shoo Fly and Warrior. I know how to sew if I have to fix the boning but I hope that won’t be necessary. I guess I will try the Stomp Stoppers next but I did not see them on Amazon. (Trying to get my money’s worth on Amazon with free shipping.)
I just received the HH boots. I do like them but they seem to run large. I got the large size for two WB mares (one mare is finer boned) and I think they are going to slide down the leg because the bottom won’t close tight enough (too wide for their leg.) Switched up front and back legs for smaller mare since she has hoof boots on in front that will keep the leggings up. Other than that I like them. Not as sturdy as the Warriors but as long as they stay up and not slide down the hoof I don’t think it will be a problem. I have the Knight Warriors and the large Shoo Flys and I think they close tighter at the bottom of the boot.
I ended up ordering 2 pairs of mediums which should be here anytime to replace the large size 2 of mine are currently wearing. They stay up just fine. I just pull the bottom tab tighter and even though it is only stuck on about 1/3rd of the available velcro they are staying on.
I am thankful I didn’t pay for the larges. I had enough points on my CC to get everything for free.
I think I am going to order a medium pair. The larges will work for the horse that has on hoof boots that prevent it from slipping down. In my experience you can’t have too many boots. I now have 3 or 4 out there in tall pasture grass. Somewhere. The one mare has very slim ankles and now I know a large just won’t work for her.
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As predicted, the mouthy two year old ripped the Velcro tabs off two of her four Harrison Howard boots this week. It wasn’t the stitching that failed; she shredded the pieces of Velcro themselves.
Of course it is the bottom tabs she ripped off. But they made it from the end of April into June before she did any damage, which is impressive for the price and her level of destruction.
I have all 3 mares in HH fly boots at the moment (although the two year old is using mismatched spare boots to replace the ones she altered). The donkey got a new set of custom Stomp Stoppers this month and they are just as nice as her last ones I ordered three years ago.
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Springing off of fly-related products…
Any suggestions on a fly mask with a nose that has a short nose that’s affordable? I get tired of having to hose the boogers off the nose piece every single day. She needs it for UV protection, and instead it tries to asphyxiate her with her booger wad by each nostril.
I modified a fly mask to have the shorter nose, but it’s falling apart as my fabric glue didn’t hold up on the mesh. It would be great to be able to buy one with the nose already as it should be.
Greenguard Equine has a new nose protector that attaches to the muzzle and halter. Don’t know if it’s too long for you though. https://www.gg-equine.com/collections/accessory/products/gg-sun-shield
