Proper Care of Your Riding Boots - A Note From Cory

If possible, wear your boots only for riding and use other footwear for stable chores and hosing down your horse. If you can’t remove your boots, you can pull rubbers over the feet to keep them clean and dry and to offer a touch of extra warmth in cold weather.

Clean your boots after each wearing, but don’t just swipe them down with the same stuff you use on your tack. Remove dirt and sweat with a clean, damp sponge. Polish them once a week with a boot cream made specifically for footwear. If the boots are damp with sweat, dry them away from direct sun or a heat source. Insert boot trees (quality cedar trees absorb moisture and help to eliminate odors) and run up the zippers.

About those zippers:  they require special care because dirt is the enemy and the single biggest reason they’ll break at the least opportune moment. Never wipe the zippers with the same sponge used on the leather, as that will force grime down into the teeth. Wipe zippers with clean water or occasionally with a solvent, and run an old toothbrush over the teeth from time to time.
After your horse and your saddle, your riding boots may be your most significant riding investment. Properly cared for, good boots should give years of service.

Cory

Trake is doing well after his colic surgery!

Trake is recovering well from his colic surgery and we look forward to seeing him when he comes back home next week!

Cory would like to let everyone know that sometimes decisions about medical care and surgery for horses can be extremely difficult. There are many factors that need to be weighed and the decision is different for every single horse. These decisions can depend on the age and condition of the horse, the prognosis and their ultimate quality of life, with or without treatment, to name a few factors. 

Even though Trake's surgery was extremely expensive, the prognosis for most colic surgeries like Trake's is about 90% chance of recovery. Cory knew he had a good chance of living a full and comfortable life afterwards.  Unfortunately for Pete, the prognosis was very poor and even a successful surgery would have meant a poor quality of life; Cory and the vets felt they made the best decision they could for him after weighing all the factors.

A Fond Farewell to Pete: A Note from Cory

Some of you may have already heard that Pete tore a tendon—so severely that there was no chance of it healing and it would only get worse over time.  After consulting with two vets, I made the difficult decision to put him down, rather than have him live with a poor quality of life.  Pete was one of the funniest horses I’ve ever known. He made me laugh all the time and I will miss him dearly.


Pete had recent brush with fame when he had
a role in a "Funny or Die" film.