Living the Dream of Horseback Cattle Running

Far from the comfort of Wi-Fi and cell phone connection, stock woman Dana Szott has found her paradise raising cattle on her and her husband’s ranch in the outskirts of Alberta, Canada.
Saddling her heart horse McCoy, riding out to check on the cows and training new young stock horses is everyday life.

“Both me and my husband Blaine had jobs away from home, but earlier this year we decided it had become too much to handle and I got to quit my job and look after the cows on our ranch full time.
“A dream come true, I feel truly blessed,” said 39yo Dana.

Dana is out of a horse loving family.
She has ridden ever since she can remember and used to compete in barrel racing.
However, following an accident a few years ago which caused a severe back injury, Dana feared her time in the saddle had ended.

“I was absolutely devastated. It wasn’t till I came across a brand of saddles that could be made to fit my needs, that I could get back on.

“And that was actually what prompted me to look into how I could make riding more comfortable for my horse too,” said Dana.

“It didn’t seem right to have to shoe McCoy when he didn’t need protection all the time.

“I very quickly noticed a massive change in his hooves from not being shod – they expanded, got really thick and hardly any chipping of his hoof walls anymore,” Dana said.

Dana is now able to keep McCoy happily barefoot by using hoof boots from Scoot Boots when he needs protection on difficult terrain.

Dana uses mudstraps as an extra security to make sure the boots stay on through mud and boggy ground when they’re out moving cattle.