My Favorite Horse Boot Just Got Better- The Launch of the New Easyboot Glove 2016

The hoof boot that redefined hoof boots.  Most people associated hoof boots with bulk and galoshes strapped to a horse’s hoof before the Easyboot Glove was released in 2009.  The Easyboot Glove was the first boot that allows you to watch a horse moving down the trail and not focus on the boots.  The stretch fit hugs the hoof wall and adds a 3 mm protective cap to the hoof wall.

When the Easyboot Glove was introduced, most people were skeptical about its success.  The boot not only worked, but quickly became our best-selling boot.  I’ve personally done countless endurance races in the Easyboot Glove and continue to condition my endurance and track horses in the boot.  It’s my boot of choice and my personal tack is packed with 100+ Easyboot Gloves of various sizes.  The stretch fit makes it the closest-fitting hoof boot in the world.

Video of the 2009 Strawberry Fields Endurance Race.  Muddy conditions, two best conditions and a first place award made me a believer in the Easyboot Glove. The Easyboot Glove redefined bulky hoof boots.

Although the form fitting design continues to sell well, the Easyboot Glove Gaiter has been the weak link for some horses.  The gaiters work well, but don’t last as long as the Glove urethane base. We have been working for almost a year on a new gaiter design that will wear longer, will flex and conform to the various heel shapes and will fit on the current urethane shell.  The key to the new design is a molded cap at the rear of the gaiter that fits the contours of the heel bulb and at the same time offers large amounts of elongation and strength.

The new Glove Gaiter has a injection molded urethane/rubber cap molded to fit the heel bulb area of a horse and offers tremendous elongation to accommodate movement.

When I look back at each boot project and think about the hours involved, I feel proud of the end result as I know the hard work of so many that made it possible.  The early drawings, SLA’s,  shelves of prototypes that didn’t work, the molds that didn’t make the cut, the hours on airplanes and in the saddle testing.  After the designs get done, its on to photos, instructions, videos, price sheets, barcodes, brochures, and entry into our accounting system and website.  Then the product needs to be manufactured, received and shipped. It takes a whole team and a bunch of hours.  In the end and after many different designs, failures and successes, we have arrived at new gaiter design and a new Easyboot Glove 2016.  The new Easyboot Glove 2016 design has the following improvements:

1.  We have eliminated the rear elastic material of the gaiter and have replaced it with a new blended urethane that has been injection molded to conform to the horse’s heel area.  The new material is very pliable and stretches to fit the contours of each hoof.  The material will elongate to 500% of its original shape and come back to form.  In addition, the blend will come back to the original shape after thousands of delegations.

2.  The gaiter pattern has been updated and improved based on many hours of distance riding.  The center seam has been eliminated.

3.  Improved hook and loop with a fabric layer added for strength.

Several photos of the new design.

Testing over the last year has shown great results.  The new gaiter will take the Easyboot Glove 2016 to the next level.  The close fitting boot gets as close to the bare hoof as possible.  The protection of a boot without the bulk.