This Renegade® boot user’s horse encountered a deep Hawaiian mud hole…keep reading to learn what happened! As you can see, mud isn’t a problem for properly-fitted boots.
Yesterday, I was riding my Arab gelding, Sport (with our trusty Renegade® hoof boots, of course), in a field that has a narrow stream running though it. We’ve crossed this stream dozens of times over the years, but since the farm made some “improvements” upstream from the field, finding a safe place to cross is difficult. Where the bank has a negotiable slope, the stream bed has deep holes, and where the stream bed looks safe, the bank is too tall and steep. But, after some studying, I found an area where there was an easy slope down to where the stream was shallow and flat, and on the other side, was a few feet of flat earth and then a steep but not difficult bank.
Sport was hesitant to go down the slope, but did go after some gentle coaxing. When we got to the water, as usual, he splashed around with his nose, before stepping in. He walked through the stream carefully, and when we got to the other side, I thought for second that he’d stumbled and fallen to his knees. But, when he didn’t get back up, I realized the flat area wasn’t solid ground, it was mud with a thin, dried crust on top, and poor Sport was in over his knees. I hopped off, and immediately fell on my butt because of the unstable footing. I watched, helpless and terrified, as Sport took two or three arduous leaps to free himself from the deep, sticky mud.
I let out a huge sigh of relief when I saw him climb up the bank onto solid ground, then turned to look at me and nickered softly. Except for a few minor cuts, Sport was uninjured………….. and his Renegades were still on!!! Not only were they still on, they hadn’t shifted, come loose, or anything, as you can see in the attached photo.
Perhaps I was foolish not to check the footing before asking my horse to cross, but believe me, I’ve beaten myself up a LOT since then, especially after I thought about how much worse the outcome could’ve been. And, you won’t catch me making the same mistake again! Sport has been my best friend for 22 years, and I’d never forgive myself if my stupidity got him hurt. Then I got to thinking that you might like to hear how well your boots performed in that situation. And, after I cleaned up my horse, I hosed off the boots, and they’re good as new!
Your Renegade® Hoof Boot Devotee,
Elise Cramer