Friday, September 4, 2009

Renegade Hoof Boots

We had a woman, Kay Stowers, come to the barn on Saturday to do some fittings for hoof boots. Kay is an accomplished bare foot trimmer and a distributor for Renegade and Easyboots. In the above picture, Kay is putting on a pair of red Renegades on Willow.
Willow couldn't decide between red or black so she went with some Easyboots:-) (The Renegades didn't come small enough to fit Willow.) Kay usually spends about an hour with each horse, examining hooves, movement, and measurements. She had a lot of good information about the boots and was very honest about which ones people like and don't like. I own a pair of Boas and a pair of Epics. The Boas, a bit clunky, but not bad. They are about the only boots tall enough for her front because she has shoes. I do extra protection because of her previous coffin bone fracture. Someday, I hope to feel confident in her healing, but for now, I choose to put them on if I know I am going to be on rocky terrain. The Epics fit like a glove, but a pain in butt to get on. Even with practice, they can be difficult. I was excited to see the Renegades. I saw them last year at an endurance clinic, but at $189 a pair, I had put off trying them. We put them on Maddy, we watched her move in them, and I learned about why they are so great. They move with the horses' hoof and they are super easy to put on. Best of all, Kay had a used pair in Maddy's size that I got at a great discount. I rode today with them and put them to the test. We did lots of trot/canter transitions and the boots stayed on with zero impact on her movement. They took seconds to put on and take off. I am thrilled. I wish they worked for her front, but Kay advised that I stay with what I have been doing...the Renegades just won't work with shoes. If you have any questions about hoof boots, Kay would be more than happy to talk with you via email. Her email is shoelessnotclueless@verizon.net . Maddy is pictured below after our ride with her new-used rear boots. Very nice.

7 comments:

Grey Horse Matters said...

Thanks for the info on the boots. Have a great weekend.

Kathleen @ ForgingAhead said...

Very cool!

Jean said...

Good information. I might need to invest for my barefoot boy, but so far, OK. We don't have much rocky terrain around here. The footing is much softer. Only time will tell.

Stephanie - Siouxzeegirl Designs said...

very interesting post on horse boots. Thamks for sharing.

jacksonsgrrl said...

Since Jackson is barefoot I have seriously been looking into boots as we have very rocky terrain on some of our trailrides here. He handles them all fine, never a misstep (farrier said he'd kill to have a horse with feet like his) but I still want to at least boot up the front. Of course my choices are b/t Old Mac's and Cavallo's as that is all I can find here, and I don't want to do mail order and have fitting issues! I've heard great things about the Renegades but I'm not sure I like how they look....not that that is all that important. I think I am going with Cavallo's as I have many great personal recommendations....but I may change my mind and just get Renegades...I want to have something by our four day camping trip in November!!!
~Mindy

Mikey said...

I've seen the Renegades in action myself and I was very impressed. We had a 75 yr old lady client who used those on her horse and she had me watch her put them on and off. Super easy, and they moved great with the horse.
I own a pair of Boa's, and you're right, clunky but functional. If I was going to buy again, I'd go with the Renegades.
Great post!

allhorsestuff said...

Going to try them...if she ever calls me back! Thanks for the POST Jules~
Kac
I am loosing weather and riding times...need a solution!