Caol Ila
Well-Known Member
It's that time of year where I look at winter charging towards us like an incoming train and I waffle about whether to give my horses hoof boots with studs.
Even five, six, seven years ago, it wasn't a thing I thought about too much because Central Scotland rarely got consistently cold enough to bother. Maybe I'd see a day or two where the trails were too icy for hacking, but not much more. However, climate change is upon us. For the last three or so years, we've been getting sub zero temperatures that stick around for more than a month. Mugdock gets unrideably icy. And not hacking gets old, very old, after a week or two.
The dilemma? Both horses would need new sets of hoof boots and they would each need four. No point in having only front boots with studs if the hinds have no traction (I have tried this when Gypsum was shod up front - farrier winterized the fronts but it did b*gger all because she was barefoot behind). I would also need new front hoof boots for both horses since once the studs go in, they stay in forever. And you obviously don't want to be riding in crampons in normal conditions. The horses would need winter tyres and summer tyres.
This is expensive! But I'm so sick of long weeks of being stuck in the arena. Two horses in work will only make that more sh1t.
My vague epiphany today was to look at cheaper brands of boots. My horses are both in Renegade Vipers, which are some of the priciest ones out there. There must be another type, Cavallos or something, which are less costly and would fit well enough for moseying slowly around the park. If your horse needs crampons, you're not doing major distances, steep hills, or going very fast.
Even five, six, seven years ago, it wasn't a thing I thought about too much because Central Scotland rarely got consistently cold enough to bother. Maybe I'd see a day or two where the trails were too icy for hacking, but not much more. However, climate change is upon us. For the last three or so years, we've been getting sub zero temperatures that stick around for more than a month. Mugdock gets unrideably icy. And not hacking gets old, very old, after a week or two.
The dilemma? Both horses would need new sets of hoof boots and they would each need four. No point in having only front boots with studs if the hinds have no traction (I have tried this when Gypsum was shod up front - farrier winterized the fronts but it did b*gger all because she was barefoot behind). I would also need new front hoof boots for both horses since once the studs go in, they stay in forever. And you obviously don't want to be riding in crampons in normal conditions. The horses would need winter tyres and summer tyres.
This is expensive! But I'm so sick of long weeks of being stuck in the arena. Two horses in work will only make that more sh1t.
My vague epiphany today was to look at cheaper brands of boots. My horses are both in Renegade Vipers, which are some of the priciest ones out there. There must be another type, Cavallos or something, which are less costly and would fit well enough for moseying slowly around the park. If your horse needs crampons, you're not doing major distances, steep hills, or going very fast.
