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Boots Q

Morgan July 21, 2009 February 22, 2011

Forums

I'm going to start a sort of lease to own for the Swiss horse boots but I have to write out the contract, does anyone have experience writing these sort of things? It's going to be basically $17 per month for 12 months ($204 total, covers the boots themselves and a fitting fee), I will keep the boots fitted and repaired, at the end of 12 months you own the boots. It may be cancelled at any time by returning the boots. If you do not return them (lost, chewed up by the dog etc...) you still have to finish the payments for that particular boot, that part would protect me. A boot worn out by normal wear and tear (if you ride like crazy :shock: ) will still require full payment, I seriously doubt I'll run into that problem within one year on these. I thought this would give people more flexibility if they want to try out the boots for a month or so, and then they can just keep them and pay the bill in pieces with their maintenance trims. The problem I'm having is what to do with used boots, they would still have a ton of life left in them, but I couldn't charge full price for them....maybe make the contract flexible to the individual (shorter time to payoff for a used boot)? and try to work out a depreciation scale for the boots? and what if I need to swap out a boot on a horse who completely changed sizes? Does the owner start over, paying for that new boot? Gah, I think it's a great idea but I have to work the kinks out.... :sad [semi related rant] I am no longer going to measure or recommend people for other brands. Since I'm not a dealer for them, and they ask me which I think they should get, I make a guess and give them the closest size I can get on paper (which sometimes doesn't work out quite right) then they go out and order them, don't have me check the fit when they get them as I recommended (when they can still send them back if they dont work), start riding in them then start complaining about them falling off. :hammer I'm sticking with the ones I'm responsible for. They can go talk to easy care or renegade if they want them. :? Great boots I'm sure but Not. My. Problem. [/end rant]

Heather Tue, 07/21/2009 - 10:59

can you gallop in these boots? i need more info on them, not ready yet for obivious reasons, but when I am recoverd from tough times I need something for my gelding , he needs shoes but a horse that needs reset every 3 weeks and this isnt reasonable..Im starting mounted shooting with him but he is to sore to run or gallop, he would but he is jsut to tender and cant get the foot he needs to handle it.

Morgan Tue, 07/21/2009 - 11:23

[quote="Heather"]can you gallop in these boots? i need more info on them, not ready yet for obivious reasons, but when I am recoverd from tough times I need something for my gelding , he needs shoes but a horse that needs reset every 3 weeks and this isnt reasonable..Im starting mounted shooting with him but he is to sore to run or gallop, he would but he is jsut to tender and cant get the foot he needs to handle it.[/quote]
Definitly, I put them on my little mare just for fitting practice (she doesn't need them at all) and turned her loose. And if you've ever seen Hoodwinked....I'll just say her middle name is Twitchy. :laugh1 I think that tested them better even than riding the way she went off.

The problem with them is that they require professional fitting and there are very few fitters in the US. You CAN do it yourself but honestly it took an entire day of working with the US distributer to get the hang of it and it still feels like a puzzle. Like Sissy when I fit her, I must have measured 10 times and every time she should have been an exact fit in the 0, but I couldn't get the danged things on. :sad Turned out I had forgotten to measure the coronary width, I heat fitted the top of the boot and they fit perfect. Other horses need heel or quarter inserts or cutting a slot in the toe.The material these things are made of requires that you buy a special drill bit for acrylic (or if you plan to do a lot like me a special super duty combination lever hole punch, it's [i]that[/i] tough :lol: ) But all that aside they are awesome because once you DO have them fit they fit so much better than pulling another brand out of a box and they dont have any fabric parts and the buckle is easily replacable. The sole has a much better shape than most other boots as well, it's basically a very wide shoe shape, with a heel bar and a sole pad, very functional with excellent sole relief and traction. Some people seem turned off becuase they look so boring but in my mind the less to it the more durable, and they are paintable. :P
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you could ask Richard (bootngo@ritternet.com) if anyone over there knows how to fit them, I'm sure there's other people who have taken the class like me and just haven't gotten listed.

critterkeeper Tue, 07/21/2009 - 11:28

Okay as for used boots, you could do as you suggested and resell them at a reduced rate, and the ones you don't want to offer for resell can go on ebay as used. :love

I would recommend that you invest in a contract drawn up by a good attorney familiar with equine contracts (most breeders know a few - :laugh1 , or perhaps your vet could recommend one). It may cost you a bit to get the contract draft written (with the usually 'fill-in-the-blanks' :bounce ) but it is well worth it in the long run and would cut down on "issues" :argue .
:toast