Everything! If you look at the photos you will see my horse Fari jumping and trotting on a pleasure ride in his Easyboot Epics. He loves his boots and regularly enjoys wearing them at 10 – 20 mile pleasure rides. He never slips on the road and really finds his therapeutic pads comfortable.
Here at Performance Barefoot we believe we should practice what we preach. So we have tried most types of hoof boot to find out just what each type is capable.
We have had success with Easyboot Epics but they need to be modified to be successful in challenging performance situations such as jumping and endurance.
We have broken a few Easyboot Bares and believe they have a weak point in the screw at the front. We had fun breaking them though and it did mean that we found out that Fari could do more in his bare feet than we thought!
We have tested the Easy Boot Grips and we really like them as they have much improved traction on a wide variety of surfaces. The metal teeth have been replaced by a nice smooth piece of plastic and the front buckle is better designed and is easy to remove in the event of the wire breaking. Although the blurb on the box says you shouldn’t ride on the roads in them we nor our mates have had any problems apart from wearing them out at the toe.
We would not recommend the Marquis Hoof Boot as it can rub, be blown up too tightly and even then comes off regularly at speed. Our experiences with the Old Mac or G2 hoof boots have not been great either. The fact that this boot goes around the coronary band means that there is a great risk of quite nasty rubs. This boot however can be fine on some horses especially if you are not one to be in the saddle for more than ½ hour. Not to be recommended for any serious hacking unless your horse is wearing a gaitor and even then be careful.
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