Two topics! Boots and night riding!

I'm in almost the exact same situation! Except I don't HAVE to ride at night, but I do kinda end up doing my last few miles in the dark sometimes lol.

As far as the boots go, my 12 YO Quarab has been barefoot all his life and my prime conditioning route is gravel/caliche road with large rocks also. I researched boots for a long time, and ended up going with the Renegades. If you understand the basic mechanics of how the hoof works and grows, Renegades are adjustable in the right ways and allow for full range of motion without rubbing. The heel captivator is seriously genius even with my guy who has some occasional overreach, the boots stay in place. I live on the coast of South Texas and when we get rain at the ranch I board at, the black farmland dirt turns into deep, slick, tar-like mud that's a foot deep. I've ridden through it and not only did the boots stay on, they clean up like a shiny new penny with just a dunk in a bucket of water, and a quick spray off with a hose.
They're super easy to put on and take off, and after watching or reading instructions on adjusting, that's super easy also.
My horse was also weary and tender footed when I asked him to just walk across the gravel road. The first day I tried them out I rode him down the road and I could literally see the surprise when he stepped foot on the road and his feet didn't hurt! We rode 2 miles on all gravel that day and he moved out like a champ and didn't miss a step! So impressed with the renegades (if that wasnt already obvious lol)!

I was worried about the cost as well. I'm in the middle of planning a wedding, and on a budget, but I saved up for 4 MONTHS and ordered my front set about 2 months ago. Totally worth it!!

Also, I sent pictures to Kirt at Renegade and he told me the sizes to order because my guy seemed to be between sizes.

Yes I love the renegades. The toe has to be trimmed short for them to fit. But that's okay. :) and I love colors. Lol.
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I wouldn't be willing to over-trim his toe (what it sounds like) for the sake of fitting a boot..Bad idea if his toe isn't meant to be that short. We can cut our hair too short and be fine, but we don't walk on it. D:
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Lol I know what you mean! I need to measure and see if he is eligible for them. If his hooves are just some weird size, then I guess renegades weren't meant to be
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If you buy from the company and get the boots home, and they turn out to be the wrong size you can always send them back to exchange for a different size. I had to do that cause my horse was hard to find the right size. And the people are really great. Worth the money, IMO
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That's interesting - the opposite seems to be true for Easyboots. Thee friction that holds them on comes from the top of the boot, and an indication of a good fit has the split slightly spread to make a V. Most of the time, the slope of the boot matches the hoof so that it fits snugly and without a gap. However, some hooves are slightly more sloped (like one of my horse's), leaving a gap between the toe and the boot. This is usually fine, since that's not what holds the boot on, and you can add athletic tape if you're worried about security. I've never had to trim a toe long or short for my easyboots to stay on.

I believe you need to visit the Renegade website and watch the video that shows how to adjust for fit. I have tried the others and will only use Renegades. My Paso and MFT both had a little longer toe (front feet) which made the captivator a little hard to get on around the heel bulbs. You just need to let the cable out to give give the captivator more clearance. That is what the small allen wrench is for which is delivered with the boots. The round metal button in front of the toe of the boot is where the cables are adjusted. I let the cable out and easy as pie. Just have to mark the boots to remember which goes on front. I tie fronts together and hinds together using a string. One knot in string for front and 2 knots in string for hinds.