Muddy Macs! And squashy pads...

[capalldubh]

Oh my... I have just spent an hour with the shower attachment and 4 muddy G2s. Finally, they look a bit better, but despite being less than a month old, I don't see me being able to sell them on eBay once we don't need them any more... Scottish weather and no hard standing to wash feet and put them on has proved pretty hard on them. I don't think the Australian designers experienced fields like this :rolleyes:

Anyway, I took out the pads we have been using tonight. EP said if I put them somewhere warm (they're on the radiator), they would resume their original shape and thickness. Is that right? They are pressed very thin at the toes and where the heels rest - it is very interesting to look at the foot impression on them... But I am worried I have worn them out already.

Also, the G2s - the description says waterproof leather collar - but is it really waterproof, because it's very wet just now :D Do I need to treat it with anything?

I do love them (and so does Jackson) but they were expensive and I don't want to kill them this quickly ;)

[Yann]

I agree, they're incompatible with our climate, velcro and constant exposure to deep mud don't mix that well. I've found the only way to keep them anything like is to scrub them with a stiff brush in warm soapy water after every ride, something which goes against the grain:D Great boots otherwise, although the velcro issue means I've modified mine and now twist a loop of garden tie wire through the pastern straps to stop them coming undone at moments of high speed or stress. Lose a strap and you can lose the boot:)

Not sure about the pads as I've always used cheapo ones, worth a try though.

[capalldubh]

Glad it's not just me - the velcro is going distinctly fluffy.

I hope the boots last - I am praying the weather dries up a bit over the next few weeks, so I'm just brushing off dried mud rather than scraping off wet muck, yeuch.

I'm not sure the pads were expensive - they were white sort of hard foam squares that the EP got me and I cut to size. Before I got them, I was using cut up EVA camping mats :D

[Yann]

The velcro seems to get a new lease of life when it actually dries :D

I've never actually tried to rescusitate the white pads, might just give it a go...

[capalldubh]

I've never actually tried to rescusitate the white pads, might just give it a go...

In the course of an hour, they have nearly doubled in thickness on the squashed bits :eek: I hope they don't keep expanding overnight or they won't go back in the boots!

[Bebe]

I scrub mine with cold water and a hoof brush after muddy rides, then take them home to dry and oil the leather strap when it starts to get a bit stiff.

Mine come up like new, and it's never taken me an hour :) Maybe 5 mins per boot on a bad day and a lot of elbow grease. I'm a clean freak though and will happily clean them after every ride, though it does get a bit old after a few weeks.

The pads will fluff back up, but only if they're just compressed vs worn. They do have a longer life when used in boots vs just taped onto the hooves but it's still limited and it might just be that they're beyond saving. I know some people have had good results putting them in the oven on a low heat for a few minutes, and I've poured boiling water on mine to get them to spring back.

[capalldubh]

I know some people have had good results putting them in the oven on a low heat for a few minutes, and I've poured boiling water on mine to get them to spring back.

I might try the oven. Two have sprung back pretty much as they were, but two are still very much showing dents from the heels and thin at the toe - is there a difference between the sides, I wonder? I noticed that two seemed to stay very clean and have visible holes, and two didn't - but EP didn't mention sides and I just put them in the boots randomly. I read somewhere else about shiny side up, but maybe that was the fancy pads...

Re the dirt - they were washed the last time I used them :rolleyes: I am also a cleanfreak, but I'm having to come to terms with the fact that it's not practical to want them clean all the time. The field has the usual fetlock deep murk at the gate, on which I have perched a rubber mat. The horse stands obligingly on the mat while I scrape as much mud off his feet as I can, then sprinkle with the water I have transported from home in a bucket :D Then the boots go on and he wades out of the field onto the road... I have finally given up trying to get the boots off when we get back to the field, because the straps would be so slippery with mud I couldn't undo them. So now we risk life and limb and stand in the middle of the road while I remove them on a relatively mud free surface. (It's a quiet road).

It would all be so much simpler if we had a yard, or even some hardstanding - oh and running water! But we don't, so we do the best we can in the mire :rolleyes:

This is what I mean about Mr. MacDonald never having anticipated these kinds of conditions - I bet boots in the outback only get wet when they're washed :D

[Bobbin]

I give mine a good scrub whilst they are still on Bry after a ride and then hose off the inside bits when I've taken them off.

[capalldubh]

I give mine a good scrub whilst they are still on Bry after a ride and then hose off the inside bits when I've taken them off.

Ah, you're one of the lucky ones that have that newfangled plumbing, aren't you :D I have little dreams about how I can get water to the field (apart from the groundwater in the field which I would like to get out), but so far, all I have managed is 4 inches of water in a bucket - any more, and it soaks the passenger seat when I go over the potholes ;)

[Bebe]

I have little dreams about how I can get water to the field (apart from the groundwater in the field which I would like to get out), but so far, all I have managed is 4 inches of water in a bucket - any more, and it soaks the passenger seat when I go over the potholes


Wouldn't a water container be easier??

I've got a 25L one from a camping shop, used to use it to take drinking water up to the field before I moved to a yard. Cost about £7.50. I hang onto it now in case I want to take a good amount of hot water up for bathing or something like that, it came in handy a while back when the yards water supply pipe burst.

[Bobbin]

Ah, you're one of the lucky ones that have that newfangled plumbing, aren't you :D I have little dreams about how I can get water to the field (apart from the groundwater in the field which I would like to get out), but so far, all I have managed is 4 inches of water in a bucket - any more, and it soaks the passenger seat when I go over the potholes ;)

Ah yes...that could be a problem then....

[capalldubh]

Ah, the water tank option!

I did think, could I get a big water tanky thing for the car? - but couldn't work out where to get one... I tried B&Q which is more useful for horse shopping than the local tack shop, but no joy.

Wouldn't you think I would have spotted the water carrier thingys when in the camping shop buying the mats to cut up? Back to Millets for me, then :D

(And actually, I had wondered about getting hot water up there too - but used a thermos flask. Sometimes, I wonder about myself....)

[capalldubh]

Ah yes...that could be a problem then....

Too right! OH is very tolerant but is getting tired of finding 4 Old Macs in the bath...