Equestrian and business owner Lynne Murray is a Scoot Boot convert, and for several very good reasons.
Lynne Murray has been riding since she was five years old. Fifty years later, although she no longer rides so much due to an injury, her passion for horses is undiminished.
Lynne owns and operates Merton Park, a delightful getaway for horses and their humans in Boho, North East Victoria, where you can participate in a clinic, go for a trail ride, or test your skills around the property’s extensive mountain trail obstacle course.
An advocate for the benefits of barefoot, Lynne stopped shoeing her horses over 25 years ago. “The horses I had at the time had good, hard feet, so I made the decision to go barefoot. I found that there were more issues with shoeing a horse than there were with not shoeing them,” she explains.
As her horses changed over the years – some with feet less hard than others – when equine boots arrived on the scene, Lynne decided to try them out. She bought a set, but was rather disappointed with the results. “I noticed that stones would get into the boots and because of the boot’s design, your horse had no way of expelling the stone. So, I stopped using them for riding and kept them for veterinary purposes only.”
But around five years ago, she noticed a lot of her clients’ horses were wearing Scoot Boots, a brand that had been designed and earlier launched in Australia. After watching how horses performed in the boots, Lynne decided to once again take the plunge: “And I fell in love with them! The Scoot Boots I use have slits in the sides and I’ve never once had a problem with stones or stone bruises. They’re very easy to put on and take off and my horses do really well in them. I’ve also used them for treating abscesses and other conditions. I really do love them. I think they’re great.”
In Lynne’s opinion, Scoot Boots are a boon for any horse and rider, and for a number of very good reasons. “Especially today,” she says. “To get a horse shod costs an absolute fortune! And if you look at it from the point of view of a horse’s overall wellbeing, all the research I’ve done suggests that if your horse’s frog doesn’t come into contact with the ground, they’re not getting proper and appropriate blood flow. Scoot Boots are actually quite pliable underneath, so if your horse’s hooves are trimmed regularly, which they should be anyway, the boots allow for improved contact with the ground while still protecting the foot.”
And when it comes to budget, Lynne says the boots are exceptionally cost effective: “Scoot Boots are a one-off purchase because they’ll pretty much last your horse for years.”
Fancy riding that mountain trail obstacle course? Visit Merton Park Stud to learn more.
Image: Kitted out in Scoot Boots, Lynne’s homebred Million Dollar Chip was brought under saddle by Allan Collett of Allan Collett Horsemanship. Image by Lynne Murray
