In November of 2009, Bonnie was asked about why she designed her own boots, and why she feels hers is better. The following letter is the answer to those question. Any brand names used in the letter are the property of thier respective owner(s).

Hello E.,

Okay. This could be long.

I started making B4 boots due to the frustration of keeping other boots on my horses hooves. When I started this project, the only boot easily available was the old style boot with the wire clamping system. I spent a lot of time searching for these boots in ditches. I found them very hard if nearly impossible to put on and get them to stay on. Damaged one of my horses hooves permanently using this style of boot.

Then an Australian designed boot came on the scene. I bought some and had them shipped to me from Australia. The first set of four in a size 8 wore out in 75 miles. The second set of the aussie boots wore out in 150 miles. This doesn't cut it when you are conditioning your horse for endurance riding and must use boots due to having to do most of your miles on gravel roads.

So I started making prototype boots. My prototype boots stayed on and didn't rub the horse.

The B4 boot stays on really well in most every condition. It is very rare to have a B4 boot rub a horse or cause swelling.

The B4 boot only has cordura covered neoprene contacting the soft tissues. After trying out and using a lot of other boots such as Swiss Horse Boots, Epics, Boa boots, Easyboot Bares in addition to the old Easyboot and the original Old Macs, it is amazing how easy the B4 Boot is put on, and how well the B4 boot stays on. If it does come off, it does not go flying off into the bushes it pretty much just sits there where it came off. You can get a rub with a B4 boot if you attempt to tighten the straps by pulling on them and if you don't keep the neoprene bell clean especially above the heel bulb area.

B4 boots give very good traction on , gravel roads, and trails. You can ride through water and keep on going down the trail not worrying that the boot will come off. You can use the B4 boots on mules, trotting horses and gaited horses. They stay on in deep mud although we suggest if you are riding in a lot of mud that your horse goes barefoot. We run into this sometimes in Endurance riding. Most people don't want to go out and ride 50 miles in mud. But we have done it with B4 boots.

B4 boots allow water to drain out the back of the boot. You may get some dirt and rocks in the boot, but if the boot is on correctly this doesn't get under the sole of the hoof, you just dump it out when you remove the boot.

B4 boots require no tools to put them on or to take them off. The boot slides on with a slight push and a twist. Then you just close up the neoprene bell and fasten the straps. To remove the boot, you unfasten the straps, open the neoprene bell and the boot will either fall off or pop off with slight push from your hand.

B4 boots can be repaired and good parts from old boot can be reused on new soles.

I have spent a lot of time working on the sole trying to get a nice breakover and roll around the edges that are close to a barefoot hoof. I have been a barefoot horse person for 35 years.

You don't need pastern protectors or vet wrap or duct tape to help the B4 boot work. I rode the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race in 2007. The ride was from Sante Fe New Mexico to Gardner, Kansas. We did have to trailer to the start of the 50 mile ride each day and then trailer to the new campsite so it wasn't exactly straight through. Total of 515 miles if you rode all 10 days.

I started this ride using EasyCare Epics and Bares because I did not have enough of my prototype boots made to make it through the ride as I was still using a sole material that wasn't tough enough to withstand the wear of all that pavement and gravel roads. My first horse for the ride, Red(registered name Storm's Wise Guy), interferes on his hinds. He will beat himself bloody if he is in regular shoes. The Bares and the Epics worked good the first two days, with the Epics working better on the hinds, then Reds' legs started swelling. The swelling got so bad that I was going to pull Red even though he was doing very well. The swelling was worse in his hind legs so I started using my prototype boots on his hinds first. The swelling went out of his legs and this was after 5 days of 50 mile rides.

Then on day 7 we started a new problem with his front hooves. I was ready to cry as the gaitor on the other boots caused a rub on the bottom of the gaitor on the front of the hoof capsule and he had serum seeping out of his skin. I showed it to the vet told her I wasn't sure we could go the next day even though we passed the vet check sound. I was very scared the next morning but I decided that this would probably be our last day so I put my prototype boots on Reds front hooves and hind hooves. The rub and seepage went away. Red made it through the 8th 50 mile ride racking up 410 miles in his 8 days of riding. Only 2 other horses made it farther, very good horses, both Arabians, made it all 10 days. Did I mention that Red is a Tennessee Walking Horse? He wasn't supposed to be able to do what he did. Looking back on it, I sure wish I had had enough of my prototype boots to use them all the way through the ride, I believe that Red would have made it all the way. I did manage to get another day of riding using my prototype boots on our STB gelding Rather Arbitrary for the last day.

My friend Lucky completed her only 100 on her Tiger Horse Stallion, Snowlines Romeo using my proto-type boots. She tried using shoes at some other rides when she had been riding barefoot forever, but she couldn't get the completion with shoes.

I want you to understand that if I had found a boot out there, that worked, I would never have kept going with this project, because this surely isn't what I thought I would be doing when I grew up :-) I feel there is still room for improvement with the B4 boot. We had a lot of problems finding an epoxy that would last long enough for the sole because I was casting the sole myself. But we have managed to scrape enough money together to have a company in Michigan make the soles for the boot out of a much better, tougher, industrial material.

The B4 boot is manufactured in the US. For some reason this makes me happy.

Hope this wasn't too long, but it was good to write this out as I will probably use some of this material on our website.

thanks,

bonnie