Horse boots - why not?

I am professionally involved with horses and riding for, let's say 5-6 years. We raise 20 horses in the heart of Plana planina, not far from Sofia. The rides we offer are mainly tourist and normally last 1-2 hours and for this period we pass about 10-20 km. Even though it is called a mountain, Plana is more like a tall plateau with mildly folded and small denivelations along the routes. The terrain is soft - forest roads, paths or meadows, the stones are reare, and if there are rocky patches, we can easily go around them. This is the main reason we keep the horses barefoot. Not using horseshoes has other positive sides: The natural elasticity of the hoof isn't broken, the hoof wall doesn't suffer from the nails, the arrow works much better, etc. Of course, I'm not going to deny the advantages of shoeing, but either way we raise and ride our horses barefoot. "Pros" and "cons" of both methods - barefoot or shod horses, has its published statemets, including the pages of EZDA magazine, so I will not go into details on this subject. 

However in our practice, especially when we go to further places and during trails, we have to ride on asphalt, rocky, or soil, but very hardened terrain. Naurally, passing over such surfaces, our horses experience discomfort, walk reluctantly and the danger of injuries increases. However, not willing to shoe our horses, 2-3 years ago I decided to try how it is with boots. I thought it was convenient, because we have to ride on bad terrain relatively rarely, and the buts can be put only when necessary. Really, the price of this product is very high, but when we take the durability of use of one boot and compared to the price of shoeing, things look not so bad financially. So, I delivered from the USA a few pairs of the famous and advertised as the most sold in the world Easy Boot Epic with a spat (neoprene stocking with velcro, wrapping the hocks obove the joint.) and i started using them. I quickly found out, to my disappointment that they easily slip off the hoof and remain dangling on the neoprene spat, and during a more energetic gallop they tear off and stay in the field, where sometimes it is very hard to find them. The falling of the boot most ofthen happens during a faster gallop, especially if the horse has the tendency of the hind leg catching up to the front. Steping in mud also turned out to be a frequent rason for slipping off - the boot obviously gets wrapped by mud, at the same time moisture gets inside and the holding surfaces become slippery and when the horse pulls his foot out of the mud, the boot stays there... Really, when I began fastening the boots as tight as possible, the slipping off in the mud almost stopped happening, but at a fast gallop, catching up and tripping the horse it happened unacceptably often. The information I exchanged with other colelagues who were using this brand and model of boots completely matched my experience. I decided to improve the technique of putting on the boots to a maximum, because I appreciated  the advantages - the horse walks much more confidently and stable on bad terrain, its hooves and joints are protected, the boots are put on and taken off relatively easy, they're tough and they don't wear off... I discovered (with no surprise of course), that when I let the hoof grow a little, when I trim lightly, without making a significant bevel and achieve a very tight fit of the boot, followed by a maximum tighening of the buckle (I press it until it clicks with my foot), the falling out of the boot became very rare already. Still it happens! This condition, as well as some minor technological disadvantages of the boots Easy Boot Epic, almost made me give up using this product. Until recently (about a year ago) I stumbled upon information in the Internet about another manufacutrer company: Renegade, american again. Their own ad stated that, they are number 1 in the USA and that they are used in Endurance. The latter strongly interested me and I delivered a pair to try it out. After 1-2 placings, as I learned from experience, and not from the instructions a few important moments, I noticed the boots are excellent! This spring/summer, already autummn season I intensively use Renegade boots on two horses, one of which is a guide and works a lot and I am extremely happy with the results. These boots and substantially different from Еasy Boot Epic and all the differences are in favor of Renegade! Without going into detailed technical descriptions of both products, I will outline the main advantages of Renegade compared to Еasy Boot Epic:

1. Renegade have a whole separate upper part, which when placed correctly wraps the soft part of the hoof, and protects the skin wit thick neoprene mat. In Еasy Boot Epic there is no such element, it relies only on the neoprene spat (stocking). This part is connected to the steel cord, which fastens the boot to the hoof and when the front leg goes backwards (when there is a  risk of it being caught by the hind hoof), in fact the boot is securely fastened and the risk of it falling off is the smallest. 

2. In Renegade the span of adjusting the shoe to match the hoof is much bigger than in Еasy Boot Epic. 

3. The fastening in Renegade is much easiear and in a bigger scope, as it's done with velcro (the manufacturer gives a set of spare velcro straps), and in  Еasy Boot Epic the fastening is with a buckle, requiring a bigger effort, works in a small scope, and when tripping the horse it's not impossible for it to open. 

4. Water and muddy mass, which can get inside the boot, in Renegade they easily flow out, because the boot is open at the back, and the upper part is with large perforation, whereas Еasy Boot Epic are fully closed. 

5. Putting on Renegade, although at first it looks harder, in facts is simpler than that of Еasy Boot Epic, because there is no need to pull, then pull out and pull in spare bands, there is no need to adjust a steel cord and to apply considerable force to close the buckle. The same goes for taking off the boots. 

three notes: A) Above all the size of the boot must be carefully chosen by measuring the trimemd hoof and the chart of the manufacturer is looked at. B) When putting on Renegade, you must be very careful that the upper part to be fit and to be resting with the neoprene on the soft bulges of the fetlocks. If it stays lower, the plastic edges can hurt the horse's skin C) My practice shows that the upper velcro must by tightly fastened - not as much as the lower of course, but so it doesn't leave any lose spots, as shown by the manufacturer.

I am aware that the details which I shared here may not be interesting for sum, but I am sure that those horse people, who use or would like to use horse boots will find important information in the above lines. Very impressed by the qualities and the reliability of Renegade boots and I intend to expand their use in the future. By the way, in the recently held competition in  Endurance in Sliven both types of boots were used. 

So, I dare recommending my fellow riders and horse owners, who for their reasons don't want to shoe their horses, the Renegade boots! The other question is that, delivered by regular trade route in Bulgaria they would be rather expensive - maybe about $120 a piece... I remain available for all comments, sharing opinions and experience in this field. 

Regards,

Vladimir Pavlov