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| Saved by Soft Ride Customer Contest |
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| We’re so excited to be sharing this year’s entries for the “Saved by Soft Ride” contest! We love hearing stories of horses wearing our boots to help them at home and on the road. As we wind down the year with the holiday season, we love reflecting on how horses are benefiting from using Soft Ride. We are so proud to offer new boots as prizes for the winners because we believe in giving back. Soft Ride is there for your horses, from getting them back on their feet after an injury or illness to keeping them in top form on the trailer and at competitions.
Read on to hear this year’s stories and then click the link below to vote for your favorites. Voting is open December 5th- 18th and winners will get a gift card for a new pair of Soft Ride Boots!
The Soft Ride Team
Submissions are edited for clarity and stock photos have been used when images were not provided during submission. |
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| I am using Soft Ride Boots daily on Sonic Playboy after he contracted laminitis. He would have no future at all if I hadn't bought these great boots. I’m thinking of getting another pair for my older roping mare that has ringbone. They are so worth the money. I highly recommend them for any reason that your horse might need comfort for their hooves. We are making progress, only because of the laminitic gels in the boots- they protect and help give any horse comfort. I have 5 barrel and roping horses, they might all be getting birthday presents! Thank you for making these boots with such quality.
-Glory Paulsen Douglas, a past 1980 World All Around Champion in the WPRA |
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| | Sherri and Marvelous Mabel |
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| I really think Soft Ride Boots saved this mini's life. Before we tried Soft Ride Boots on her and saw the immediate improvement in her comfort, I was really afraid we were going to have to put her down. From day one with her Soft Ride Boots with the purple inserts, she was able to walk and stand more comfortably. They got her over the worst of it and she is now walking and trotting with no problem. She also is interested in life and what's going on around her again instead of being in so much pain, that she just stood in the corner with her head down. I really don't have words to express the gratitude and thankfulness I feel towards your company, knowing that without Soft Ride Boots, this mini would not have made it through her bout of laminitis. She loves her Soft Ride Boots and goes everywhere in them! |
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| | Ofelia and Whitley ("Heez Got the Touch") |
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| I have my very special, 27 y.o. QH, Whitley, at my home farm in New York's mid-Hudson Valley. Whit and I share an extensive love story since we first met in 2010, when I was 15. We showed in the Hunters and Jumpers together, he came with me to college, and along to everywhere else I have moved since then. He is now fully retired and living at home with me, where I can closely manage his varied health needs. Historically he did very well in therapeutic front shoes that addressed his navicular pain, but in 2024 I struggled to keep him comfortable - except when his shoes were pulled and he lived in Soft Rides when he was outside of his well-bedded stall. Ultimately, with the information from an MRI regarding bone edema, I decided with the guidance of my vet that what made the most sense was what Whit's feet were telling us - he would be most comfortable living in Soft Rides - in addition to continued treatment from my vet. Every horse and his/her needs are different - it was essential to do the full work-up so I could feel confident in a plan moving forward. And at the center of this plan is Whit's long-term comfort and happiness - and he approaches his 28th birthday in April! |
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| My Morgan mare, Dixie, experienced winter laminitis two years ago during a cold winter in western Washington. With help from our wonderful farrier, Daphne Jones, she made a full recovery and continues to feel better than ever. We still use her Soft Rides during cold nights when the ground freezes. They’ve never rubbed or caused us any issues and she always seems happy to have them on. She has access to a barn with shavings, pea gravel area, and dirt track and the boots have done great on all surfaces. Thanks for such a great boot that’s truly life saving! |
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| River Wind’s Sangria loves her Soft Rides! She wears them during every trip in the trailer. They have greatly helped with tiredness and comfort during hauling. She is a show miniature that does the all around events and must be at her best for everything during her shows. |
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| We love our Soft Rides, they help us win! |
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| My beautiful 19 yr old metabolic Tennessee Walker has suffered from founder. My vet recommended Soft Ride boots right away, but I was lax on putting them on at first. When my boy kept getting more sore, I finally grabbed the boots off the top shelf in the tack room and when I put them on he almost instantly felt better! He continues to move and act like a happy horse thanks to his Soft Ride boots! You can't beat them! |
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| Soft Rides have been a beam of light in the dark road that laminitis recovery is, they’ve instilled hope in me that my filly will come out okay. My filly is a Chincoteague pony. Horse lovers all over the world know and love Marguerite Henry's book "Misty of Chincoteague" but not many truly know about the breed, and even less know about the utterly unique metabolic physiology that they have due to the diet they have adapted to survive on. Due partly to this and previously not being very knowledgeable in laminitis and metabolic diseases I was under-educated and unfortunately unable to recognize the signs of Equine Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance and stop my filly from contracting laminitis before it was too late. My filly’s name is Tallulah and she’s 2.5 yrs old with chronic laminitis due to Equine Metabolic Syndrome. I won Tallulah through the non-profit foundation, The Feather Fund, when I was 16 years old. I had researched the breed for 4 years and saved every penny to get a Chincoteague pony since I was 11 years old so due to that and many many other reasons she is extremely special to me and occupies a huge part of my life. She’s my heart horse and we’ve overcome a heaping amount of obstacles together, so we have a bond stronger than anything I thought ever possible. I would do absolutely ANYTHING for her, so the pain she’s been experiencing for the past 3 months has been, like many other owners know, unbearable to watch. I heard about Soft Ride Boots from a mix of chatter through the horse community and social media and I knew immediately when we discovered Tallulah had laminitis that I needed to get her a pair of Soft Ride Boots. Let me just say it was the best decision I’ve made thus far in her recovery. She just got over an abscess that rendered her unable to bear weight on her left hoof and Soft Ride Boots got her through it. The vets that I have been working with and my farrier have all been impressed with the improvement she’s had while 24/7 wearing the Soft Ride Boots. She is now on the up and up and is finally able to go out for short amounts of time to run and play like she wants, comfortably. She’s a very energetic girl so being on stall rest for this long has been terrible mentally for her. I'm so glad Soft Rides give her a chance to express herself while she’s still recovering. I will forever recommend Soft Ride Boots to anyone I can as they have saved my sweet Tallulah and for that I am eternally grateful. I look forward to watching her grow up pain-free and comfortable. Thank you to everyone at Soft Ride Equine Comfort Boots, you guys are miracle workers! |
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| Tanner has had a hard time moving. Out of the stall or under saddle the first several hundred feet would be almost torturous but after that he would move out with no hesitation. This got very frustrating to say the least. I contacted Dr Matt Davis DVM, who happens to be a very good diagnostician went through the standard protocol to determine lameness leading to zero success. So we did what any horse lover would do, I took Tanner to Dr Davis`s clinic where he was injected with nerve block just above the pastern in both front legs. Next thing we know Tanner is moving like a two year old, well that led us down a different path. A set of x rays later we see the issue, all of his collateral ligaments were detached.
PROGNOSIS: enjoy my horse until the pain becomes too much for him to tolerate and we will put him down - he may have about four months. Not what you want to hear for a 12 year old Quarter Horse.
A few weeks later I attended the Quarter Horse Congress in Columbus, Ohio. I was just browsing the booths when I noticed the Soft Rider booth and saw the shoe that would give Tanner a new lease on life. Monty spent every bit of an hour explaining how the shoe works and how it could help my horse. I bought a pair.
I presented the info to Dr Davis and my farrier Charlie Lewis (r.i.p) and asked them to research the shoe. A few weeks later they both called and said it could do some good.
Jump forward to January 2021. Charlie put the shoes on under Dr Davis`s watchful eye and the end result was a horse that looked ready to cross the bridge immediately began acting like a two year old, straight legs, proud and pain free. The next day I rode him for two miles with no hesitation, just forward movement. I was told not to expect 20 mile days or 10 miles of trotting and no small 5 meter circles or lateral movements and definitely no cow work… Well I agreed to this rehabilitation but when your horse says let’s try for more, I listened and we ride!
We are currently averaging 120 miles every six weeks and he then gets a new pair Soft Rider Max shoes. Tanner does have bone growth where the collateral ligaments should be. We have noticed that when nailing the shoes on, he is starting to flinch, so to work around this my new farrier (Tim who Tanner just loves) is only using four nails in the front portion of the shoes. When this is no longer working we will be applying the latest methods recommended by Soft Ride.
Thank you Soft Rider you gave Tanner his life back. He is now a great kid, husband, and trail horse, and I am a loyal SOFT RIDER customer! |
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| This is Kiera, my 8 year old mare that came from New Mexico and never had pasture before. She developed laminitis and foundered badly. The vet was skeptical but I ordered the Soft Ride Boots for her right away, and within two weeks she was literally jumping for joy. Thank you! |
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| Moses would not be here without the Soft Ride Boots. He had two abscesses this summer & was not able to walk. I now have two sets of the boots. Soft Ride saved my horse! |
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| Five years ago I had x-rays done on our 20 year old miniature horse's, AbbyGail, front feet. Her feet looked like tubes with a hole in each foot the size of a quarter from bad trimming for a long time. While the vet and my new farrier were at the barn at the same time, they took x-rays of both feet and discovered the tip of her coffin bone was gone. The medical recommendation was to euthanize her.
I was devastated as I had just lost a horse and was still struggling with it. I looked at the vet and said “no you need to tell me what we can do to help her and make her comfortable.”
AbbyGail was put on antibiotics to make sure she didn't have any infection or bacteria in her coffin bone.Then the vet suggested a pair of Soft Ride Boots. She told me the holes in her feet would never close over due to the fact the tip of the coffin bone was gone. So I ordered a pair of Soft Ride Boots for her.
They were a game changer. Not only did the holes in both feet completely close, she is happy and in no pain. She takes a very small amount of bute two times a day and will for the rest of her life due to her chronic condition. Without the boots she can't walk and is in a lot of pain. She wears Soft Ride Boots 24 hours a day with a pair of toddlers' thin socks.
The Soft Ride Boots saved her life. She is now on her second pair as her feet look like real feet now and the other pair got too small. All I can say is thank you Soft Ride! The boots truly are amazing, and AbbyGail gets to live a comfortable life and do the things horses love to do! She is 25 years old now and comfortable! |
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| My name is Susan Miller. I run a large animal rescue and sanctuary near Palm Springs, CA named Refuge Ranch. Many years ago, we purchased a pair of Soft Ride Boots for a rescued quarter horse named Legend. He was extremely lame with navicular disease in his front feet when we agreed to take him in. He eventually passed away, but they kept him comfortable for the last few couple years of his life. We held onto the boots because you never know when you might need them.
This past February 2025 one of our long-time residents, Sheydan, an 18-year-old grey Arabian who came from a case of terrible neglect became very ill. He spent a week at the vet hospital before being diagnosed with a muscle wasting disease. He received treatment and was starting to do better when he developed laminitis in all four feet. Our vet did radiographs and found that he had "sunk" in all 4 feet and that his front feet had almost no depth left between his coffin bone and the ground. He was in so much pain and could barely move. We were afraid we would lose him.
Our vet prescribed pain medication and recommended Soft Ride Boots. I remembered the Soft Ride Boots but figured I would need to order a new pair. Miraculously, upon measuring his feet, the pair we had fit him. We updated the boots with the new Laminitis Inserts and immediately he started walking and moving around his stall again. He continues to be managed by the vet and farrier who are both very happy with his progress at growing more sole. I am thrilled that he is not in pain. Both the vet and farrier have said the boots probably saved his life!
We are so thankful to Soft Ride. We would be devastated to lose him. We have been doing rescue/sanctuary for 14 years and have owned horses for over 30 years but have never had a horse like him. Despite what he went through before arriving here, he is the most loving horse. He gives everyone (staff and visitors alike) big sloppy face kisses and follows right behind you — he's more like a dog than a horse.
Pictures attached: Sheydan today 11/17/25. He's a little messy as we just had a huge rainstorm in S. California. He did great through the storm and stayed dry in his boots. He continues to improve. We are so thankful! |
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| Hello everyone, my name is Nester. A couple summers ago I was very sick and had a bad case of laminitis. My vet said to try these boots, they should help. Boy, do they ever! I love the orthopedic insoles; my human says she also has a pair of orthopedics. I feel much better now, actually I felt better after wearing my Soft Ride boots! My boots let me be a donkey again and now I can play "rough" with my donkey pal, Jalapeno. Thank you Soft Ride boots for helping me and helping my worried human! |
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| This is our family heart horse, Joe. He has spent the last 21 years taking care of everyone and now it’s our turn to take care of him. Last year age was catching up with him and he showed serious lameness. We tried everything to make him comfortable, spent a ton on vet care and nothing was working until I found Soft Rider shoes. This has been a game changer. I was hopeful when I saw the reviews but now it’s been a complete miracle he’s back to himself. No lameness and finally he’s back to himself. I want to thank everyone at Soft Ride for all their hard work and caring of our loved ones. This just gave us many more years and memories with a horse that is irreplaceable. Thank you again. |
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| American Association of Equine Practitioners Annual Convention |
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| The American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Annual Convention, taking place December 6–10, 2025 in Denver, is the world’s largest gathering of equine veterinarians, offering over 100 hours of CE through lectures, case-based forums, and interactive sessions. The program features a diverse range of topics—such as lameness and rehabilitation, surgery, dentistry, sports medicine, reproduction, diagnostic imaging, infectious and non‑infectious diseases, and business‑practice life subjects like wellness, ethics, and social license. Highlighted speakers include renowned presenters such as orthobiologics expert Dr. Lisa Fortier delivering the state‑of‑the‑art Milne lecture, a keynote by Temple Grandin, and sessions led by imaging, lameness, and practice management authorities like Natasha Werpy, Hilary Clayton, and others.
Event Information:
Soft Ride Booth - 2351
December 6-10 Location: Denver, CO
Colorado Convention Center Exhibit Halls ABC Phone: (859) 233-0147 Fax: (859) 233-1968 Email: aaepoffice@aaep.org
Visit for More Information: https://convention.aaep.org/ |
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| We LOVE hearing from our customers and getting updates on how your horses are doing! Please send us your story and a photo of your horse in their Soft Ride products for a chance to be featured on our social media, in an upcoming issue of our newsletter, and to be entered in a Soft Ride giveaway!
Email us here: socialmedia@srboots.com Tag us on Facebook: Soft Ride Equine Comfort Boots Instagram: @soft.ride |
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| As we continue our drive to keep your horse on his feet, we've received more than 15 patents, ship to over 50 countries, and work with more than 6,000 veterinarians around the world, as well as every veterinarian school in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. And with horse owners from every discipline using our products, we can safely and proudly say, "The best in the world rely on Soft Ride." |
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