What shoes do you wear around your horses in the summer?

I wear DC skateboarding shoes cos they have these little air hole type things and keep my feet cool and they are nicely padded. They come in a size four which is the main reason i use that particular brand but i would recomend skateboarding shoes, you dont notice your feet have been sweaty until you take them off ... the only bad point is they can smell.
 
I used to wear crocks or flipflops all summer on the basis of 'they are my feet and I take responsiblity...' until someone tied a TB to a gate, it spooked and took off, taking the gate with it, and whacking the one sharp bit of it into the back of my heel in the process.

I was incredibly lucky- the cut only just nicked my achillies tendon and I only had to have three internal stitches and six external ones.. but I didn't ride for the rest of that summer and I've always worn boots since!

The broken toes I've had over the years didn't bother me much, but being incapable of riding or doing anything with or for the horses for weeks after that cut sure did!
 
QR - I love flipflops or slippers round home. Hate my feet being too hot or too cold. I'm on my feet all day at work so foot comfort and back comfort are so important. I tend to wear good trainers or docs at work. The other day I was about to turn out in my trainers, but it was a little muddy and I wanted to protect the bottom of my khakis so stuck on the wellies with a pair of wellie socks under. I was really glad for that! As I was leading the horsie out, he spooked at something and stepped on my heel which was excrutiatingly painful. A week on it's still swollen and bruised -- but that was with a layer of thick socks, and rubber for his hoof to slide down. What a mess it'd have been if I had just kept my trainers on!!!

So...boots for me.
 
I wear flip flops for poo picking/working on the yard without the horses around. When i am handling i wear trainers or if i am getting my horse in to ride i change in to jods/boots/gaiters first adn handle her in those. She trod on my big toe in boots last week and it was agony, and bruised really badly.....made me eve more determined never to handle her in flip flops!
 
I wear mucker boots all year round, although I must admit I turned both girls out wearing heels on Sunday.... went to the yard straight from a concert and was in the wrong car so no boots!
 
Jallatte rigger boots for just about anything!!! soooo comfy very light and steel toed
I Try hard to wreck them but they just feel better the more abuse you give them..:D
 
Leather boots with steel toecaps. When it's really wet & muddy wellingtons with steel toecaps. I think it's common sense really when you are working around half a ton of moving muscle. ;)
 
flamehead said:
This might sound really stupid, but here goes...!

So in the winter I wear wellies, obviously protects my feet. But in the summer my feet get so hot its painful, I get blisters, can't walk. My trainers are really painful so I dont wear them and atm I'm just wearing flipflops! Which is obviously really stupid (so spare me the lecture!).

SO, what do you wear to keep your feet cool but your tootsies safe?!

xxxx
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I haven't ploughed through all the other answers but, like you, I wear flip-flops (ok, leather ones!) and quite often nothing at all, especailly when poo picking (love the feel of grass on bare feet) . . .
. . . and echo your comment about sparing me the lecture. I've only once been stood on while I've been in bare feet
 
I'm bad I wear trainers or what ever I have on that day ( flat shoes, heels, flip flops!) if I'm not riding.

If I'm riding its riding trainers.
 
flip flops :o
short boots and half chaps to ride in if useing saddle - but often in summer i jump on bareback and ride in shorts and trainers :o
 
Short leather boots, joddie boots or paddock boots.

Wouldn't go near a horse in trainers, not worth the risk, and as for flip flops *shudders atthe thought of amputated toes*

I wouldn't bother with wellies either - sweaty nasty things. Look for leather boots with a leather or breathable fabric lining (not synthetic) and your feet will be warm in winter and cool in summer.

Also do not wear steel toe caps around horses unless they are specifically designed for working with horses. Steel toe caps aren't designed for the point loading that they get if a horse treads on you, and they can be bent into your toe causing worse injuries. You need to look for ones that have a complete toe compartment, not just a cap. D shaped rather than c shaped if you see what I mean.
 
I used to wear leather trainers until they fell apart. Now I wear leather yard/jod boots. I wore chunky flip flops for driving to the yard and putting feeds in, then change. I would wear flips flops with my old horse to lead in/out never trodden on me in 11 years. But the young idiot, well it just makes me wince thinking about going near him in flip flops!
 
Also do not wear steel toe caps around horses unless they are specifically designed for working with horses. Steel toe caps aren't designed for the point loading that they get if a horse treads on you, and they can be bent into your toe causing worse injuries. You need to look for ones that have a complete toe compartment, not just a cap. D shaped rather than c shaped if you see what I mean.[/QUOTE]


OMG Katt - I'm not squeamish but the mental picture this conjures up is not good! Thanks for that advice, I would never have though about it.
 
I know horrid isn't it!

If you think about it most steel toe caps are designed to protect from say having a brick dropped on them not a ton of horse stand on them.

You need to look for a D profile, so that the steel encases your toes from underneath too, this gives more stability to the steel reinforcement so it won't just fold down into your toes.
 
Still wear my riding boots, if I'm on the yard I'm either riding/mucking out/handling horses so anything else just wouldnt do the job....squashed toes, bits of oss poo between the toes...etc etc

However if long reining I had to resort to trainers because my feet were burning up and I was getting blisters.
 
Katt said:
Also do not wear steel toe caps around horses unless they are specifically designed for working with horses. Steel toe caps aren't designed for the point loading that they get if a horse treads on you, and they can be bent into your toe causing worse injuries. You need to look for ones that have a complete toe compartment, not just a cap. D shaped rather than c shaped if you see what I mean.
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Agree! I have the steel toed boots specifically for horses whilst doing dentistry. A woman at her yard brought her husband down once. He is a builder and has the normal steel toe capped boots not meant for horse weight. He got trodden on when the horse pratted about and the metal cap sliced off his 3 smaller toes. A steel compartment in the boots made for horse weight does not do this!!
 
Faithkat said:
I haven't ploughed through all the other answers but, like you, I wear flip-flops (ok, leather ones!) and quite often nothing at all, especailly when poo picking (love the feel of grass on bare feet) . . .
. . . and echo your comment about sparing me the lecture. I've only once been stood on while I've been in bare feet
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Same here!!!!! I had to run into my lads field when he was having a moment on his own and stopped him with nothing on my feet!!!!

Although never been stood on yet. :)
 
Mucker boots all year round. When I was a kid I saw my Aunty get her foot trodden on and she was wearing flip-flops - traumatised me for life!! I live in flip-flops as soon as the sun comes out, as well as making toenails look gorgeous for a living, but I'd never wear them around horses...... A risk I'm not prepared to take.
 
I wear Mountain Horse Protective steel toe cap jodphur boots all year round.

I can't say my feet get too hot in them, but then I naturally have very cool toes!
 
Ariats - all year. I do find them very comfy and not too hot. Plus a few years ago, I was checking a friend's horse and he'd got a belly strap undone. I went to do it up again, he spooked, landed on my big toe.

HUGE blood blister came up under it and started to separate toe from foot. Excruciating!! (Rang brother who's a vet - he said heat up a paperclip over a naked flame and melt through the toenail to release the blood...)

Took 2 weeks for the nail to come off and 6 months to grow one again. And I HAD been wearing leather boots at the time. If I hadn't think I'd have lost the whole toe...:(

Kept the toenail in this match box.... wanna see?:p
 
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