Ten years ago every horse at the Heinshof wore shoes. Today none of them does. Getting there was not a matter of belief but a series of decisions that came out of daily practice – and at the end of it stands a tool we had not counted on at all: the hoof boot.

Why we made the change

The most honest reason first: good farriers are becoming rare. Anyone who is really good at shoeing today is either retiring or fully booked. Those coming up mostly trim barefoot and hardly shoe at all. That is not a complaint, it is a shift in the trade that a yard has to prepare for. We decided to get ahead of it rather than chase it.

Then there was what we saw on the horses. A hoof that is allowed to carry what it is meant to carry changes. It gets firmer, it gets wider, it works. That does not happen within one shoeing interval but over years – and only if you give it the time. Horses also breathe through their hooves. This is clearly visible in the stable aisle after a workout, thanks to the damp imprint they leave behind. Horseshoes inhibit this breathing.

Where the transition hit its limit

And then comes the trail ride. Our tracks through the heath are sandy, but not everywhere. There are gravel stretches and hard, dry summer ground. That is where some horses became footsore – not lame, not ill, but careful. Shorter steps, stepping aside, losing their swing.

This is the point where many yards turn back and have their horses shod again. We tried hoof boots instead.

What Scoot Boots changed for us

Scoot Boots come from Tasmania. The company has existed since 2015; one of the two founders, Dave Macdonald, spent fifteen years as a farrier himself and designed the boot out of that experience. Today they are used in more than a hundred countries. That is the manufacturer’s history – what convinced us is what happens in daily work:

• Putting them on and taking them off takes seconds. Anyone who gets several horses ready every day knows what that is worth. A boot that costs ten minutes of fiddling does not get used.
• They stay on. We ride at walk, trot and canter on sandy tracks, through the heath, over roots. Losing a boot does happen, but rarely – most likely in deep, long-dry sand that grips the hoof and wants to keep the boot.
• And if one does come off, you find it again. That sounds like a detail until it happens to you. The straps come in strong colours, and a pink strap in the heather is a different matter from a black boot in the shade. That is why we deliberately recommend the coloured ones.
• The hoof stays a hoof. Protection goes on when it is needed and comes off afterwards. For the rest of the day the horse stands barefoot in the field.

What we learned – and pass on

The most important sentence from ten years is this: size decides. A hoof boot that does not fit is worse than none. It rubs, it twists, it gets lost – and then the verdict is that hoof boots do not work. In truth it was the size that did not work.

That is why we fit on the live hoof, not from a chart. During the hoof-boot fitting we adjust the boots directly on your horse and tell you which model and which size is the right one. It takes about thirty minutes and costs €89.

We tell every horse owner two things:

First: hooves change. What fits today can be one size out in a year – especially during the transition, while the hoof is still developing.

Second: try before you buy. You can rent Scoot Boots from us for the ride, €12 per pair front and hind. Then you see for yourself how your horse moves over our ground – and decide afterwards.

Who this is for

For horses that go barefoot and still need to go out on the trail. For horses in transition that are still footsore. And for everyone who would rather not depend on the shrinking number of good farriers.

If you come to us with your own horse, you can combine it all in one day: safety training, fitting and a guided trail ride – the Scootboot trail ride package costs €241 and includes the rental boots front and hind as well as the airbag vest.

We sell Scoot Boots only after fitting them on site – no shopping cart, no shipping into the unknown. That is not a sales strategy but the result of ten years: the boot has to fit the hoof, and to know that you have to have held the hoof in your hands.