Submitted by Lesley Dewar, Team Easyboot 2016 Member
Since being selected to join Team Easyboot over a month ago, procrastination set in. Procrastination about writing this blog. Not because I don’t love the product, and not because I’m not an extroverted person, but procrastination because I’m officially declaring to the world that yes, I don’t nail metal shoes on my horse and yes, I’m risking getting labeled with the label of “one of those barefoot weirdos”. I’ve booted for many years, just secretly. I’ve never told any of my farriers over the years that I secretly boot my horses and rarely ride in an arena, hence the reason for no metal shoes. The reason being that very little people in my area boot their horses. In fact, very little people in our local horse community know what a horse boot is, let alone that it can literally make sore horses ride-able.
I decided that it was the time to take action, if I was going to do this, be labeled as a weird person who puts boots on her horses, then I had best recruit support. One of my good friends had been curious about the boots for quite some time, so I decided to ask her if this was something she would be interested in trying. To my relief, she was very excited about the endeavor and gladly brought her horse over to have me measure and look at different options for her. I decided to pull out some boots in my collection, it is quite easy to see what my favorites are from the picture!
We tied her horse, Romeo, up and got to work measuring. Now I’m no expert, but I like to save a little money here and there, especially when one of my horses just goes out on trails the odd time. Thankfully Romeo was just about to be trimmed, so we were able to measure him with his feet at his biggest. The next day the farrier trimmed his feet and I stopped in to remeasure. With both measurements, we were able to pick a boot that would fit him through his trim cycle, without having to buy two sets. We ordered some pads to go with his new boots for use when he is just newly trimmed to make it a little comfier for him and if his hooves grow too much before the next trim they can be removed from the boot for a little extra room. Lastly, I taught Romeo how to help me pull off the boots. I teach all my horses to pull against my pressure when removing the boots as it makes it easier for me to get off when they help. I also find it makes them more comfortable with the booting process.
So there you have it, I’ve broken my silence, and feel a lot happier for it. You never know who is looking at your boots with questions but for whatever reason never asks about them. I hope you too can help me break the taboo around these boots and get more people enjoying their horses!
I look forward to my next blog installment next month, where I’m taking my super fun highland pony with giant feet (size #9) on a big overnight camping trail ride. I’m hoping that her new snazzy New Macs will be here in time and I’ll give them the swimming test as she loves to swim. Keep your fingers crossed for Canada Post!
