Woof Wear D30 Smart event boot: review

A comfortable, durable boot for your horse

These Woof Wear boots really do incorporate the latest technology. Coming in black with some orange decal around the vents they really do look very smart and well put together.

The first thing I really noticed was how light they were. They were also quite flexible and soft and with the exception of the tendon protection on the front boots there really weren’t any obvious sign of any rigid protection for the horse. This was down to a revolutionary new material being used in the boots called D30. Many boots nowadays would use carbon fibre to protect the limbs and tendons but this adds stiffness to them. I was interested to find a little more about this D30 technology.

Quoted from the company’s website,

“D30 impact protection is a patented technology used to create a soft and flexible shock absorbing

barrier featuring unique molecular properties. At rest its molecules flow freely but on impact, they lock together to absorb impact energy and reduce the force transmitted. This reaction is counter intuitive. The Greater the force of impact, the more the molecules lock together and the greater the impact.”

D30 is also being used in other sports where impact protection is important. You’ll find it in Motorcycling apparel, Sports, military and law enforcement. So it seems like Woof Wear have come up with an excellent idea at incorporating this protection into their latest Smart Event boots.

The advantage of the boots flexibility is its close fit to the horse leg. This reduces the ingress of water and grit inside the boot. Having used them many times this season already I can vouch for that claim. They are extremely good at keeping muck out and keep the legs fairly dry.

The boots are secured safely with double lock Velcro. Be careful with measuring and sizing as the large boots came up a little on the big size on my horse. Many horses especially the thoroughbred types will

find a medium at the back is adequate. Too big and you’ll find that they will slip position on the horses leg. Woof Wears sizing chart on their website is very self-explanatory.

The boots have a soft neoprene liner which feel comfortable and also have breathable vents at the back to aid cooling. Again these vents are covered by a mesh to ensure that Grit doesn’t get inside the boot.

I wasn’t sure how heat would affect the properties of the materials so from a cleaning perspective I’ve just rinsed them off under the tap after every use. Because of their design and the materials used to make the boots they are extremely easy to clean. Even after being used a number of times they still remain pretty much like new and are showing no signs of wear and tear.

At £65 a pair for Front and Hind boots they aren’t the cheapest on the market. However quality is excellent and after a good few months use they have lasted well to the rigors of cross country so should last for a long time.

Verdict

Although these boots might be a larger intial cost than you would like to spend, they are worth it for their durability and comfort