Scootboots new Multi-Purpose Gaiter
Recently I decided to try the new Multi-Purpose Gaiters that Scoot Boots have just released. Wow, I was impressed, to say the least.
As dedicated trail riders, my QH mare Reeva, and I are out on the trails usually twice a week. I had hoped that the Multi-Purpose Trail Gaiters would offer her heel bulbs some added protection.
I found the Multi-Purpose Gaiters to be very easy to fit to Reeva’s current size 3 Original Boots, and it didn’t add bulk to the fit. My only apprehension was around the Velcro on the pastern strap, as in past uses, I’ve found that Velcro quickly picks up debris and doesn’t hold securely. The Velcro that Scoots use must be the Titan of Velcro; I had to wrestle with it just to get the strap open!
Our first outing with Reeva sporting her new gaiters saw us deliberately ride up some of the local logging tracks. These are always a very rough surfaced road, topped with large grade and very sharp granite gravel. A perfect test ground. The gaiters passed with flying colours. No chaffing to her heels from the gravel at all. And again, I had to wrestle with the Velcro to get the boots off. It sure does stick together, and with the third strip across the top, it adds extra security to the pastern strap.
Last weekend saw us travel away to attend a navigation ride, conducted under very wet and muddy conditions. The gaiters were going to be essential in this environment. This time I used the Adjust boots with mud straps on her fronts, and her Originals with the Multi-Purpose Gaiters on her hinds only. I expected the hind boots to twist or be lost in the mud as they are a size3, and she was a size 2 but is in-between sizes as we try to reshape her hoof profile.
Despite the very deep mud constantly encountered on the course, along with the wet, and slippery clay, and all the water, and the pace that Reeva set us, we completed the ride with all 4 boots still in place. At the finish line as I dismounted, I noticed one of her rear boots had twisted and she was kicking out to try and dislodge it. On her fourth attempt the boot in question sailed off into the distance! Then I realised that under all that thick mud up her leg the gaiter was still in place. The stitching at the bottom of the 2 Velcro strips that loop over the heel bulb strap had come apart.
The other hind boot was still in perfect place under all the mud. The straps were all still securely attached to both the boot and around the pastern. Honestly, after what we had just ridden through, I was totally amazed. I had expected to lose both boots somewhere along the trail. I realise that in her efforts to shake the rogue boot in question that she had stepped out of the shell and trodden on it in such a way as to tear the offending straps right off the gaiter.
In my opinion, these gaiters are brilliant. To be able to offer additional heel bulb protection is great, but to have designed the Velcro strap to stay snuggly in place despite being put under load is such a bonus. These gaiters will always have a place in my tack box. Thank you, Scoot Boot, for adding another level of freedom to my trail riding.