A small Tasmanian company is supplying the world with horse boots.
Story + Photos Andrew Bain
Out the front of Scoot Boot’s office, the paddocks are large and crisped brown by a long Tasmanian summer. A horse whinnies as feed time approaches, and dry, open eucalypt bush rises up the nearby slopes. It’s typical horse country on the eastern edge of Hobart, but Scoot Boot is not a typical horse business.
Scoot Boot is Australia’s only manufacturer of equine hoof boots for barefoot horses. From this modest garage-turned-office, eight employees work to supply many thousands of boots each year to 400 stockists around the world. The boots are used by Grand Prix showjumpers, Houston police horses have worn them at the NFL Super Bowl, and the company last year won a trio of awards, including the Telstra Tasmanian Business of the Year and the emerging and energised award at the national Telstra Business Awards.
It’s been a rapid rise for a business that only launched in 2015. Back then, it was just company founders and directors Dave MacDonald and Annette Kaitinis working to bring to reality a design created by Dave, who describes the lightweight, breathable boots succinctly: “They’re Crocs for horses.” They provide protection to each hoof and can prevent injury.
This story excerpt is from Issue #124
Outback Magazine: April/May 2019
