About us
Our team
Our team is made up entirely of seasoned barefoot trimmers, so every question you ask is answered by someone who’s held the rasp, felt the pulse, and knows exactly how to keep a horse moving naturally.
Satu & Jiri
Who’s behind the Flex Boots?
The Flex Boot creators, Satu and Jiri Vainikka, are barefoot hoof care experts. They have worked as professional barefoot trimmers and hoof care educators since 2004. The boot design reflects this extensive knowledge of how the horse’s foot functions; Satu and Jiri designed a hoof boot that provides support and protection, is superbly comfortable for the horse to wear and promotes healthy hoof function.
Driven by passion
Looking back at the journey, Jiri and Satu describe it as wild! Driven by a relentless passion to create the most comfortable and best functioning hoof boot on the market, it took a huge amount of meticulous product development and testing to arrive where we are today.
The current Flex Boot design was launched in 2018, and the product range now consists of 29 sizes between the classic and wide boots, and several colour options for the different boot parts.
After years of work, Flex Boots are now sold all around the world. People who try our boots quickly notice how great they are, and how much better their horse moves when wearing Flex Boots.
Our team
The hoof care team
Our team is constantly growing as we invest heavily into hiring professionals that care deeply about horse health.
Satu Vainikka
Founder & CEO
Jiri Vainikka
Founder & Head designer
Alicia Harlov
Equine Educator & Barefoot Trimming Specialist
Alicia Harlov is one of Flex Boots’ Equine Educators and Barefoot Trimming Specialists, where she creates video content as well as written articles pertinent to barefoot hoof health and soundness. Outside of Flex Boots, Alicia is a PHCP-certified hoofcare provider and program mentor who lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts, where she runs a hoof rehabilitation facility with a special focus on navicular horses. She pursues continuing education for hoofcare, equine nutrition and biomechanics at every opportunity, from sources around the world.
Alicia creates and produces The Humble Hoof podcast (available in all the usual places), where she interviews equine professionals about factors that affect hoof health. She loves educating owners on how to grow the healthiest hoof possible and believes that getting a horse sound is often a matter of finding the right pieces to the puzzle. She is on a never-ending journey to find as many tools as she can to help make it happen. When Alicia isn’t working on horses or checking in with their owners, she enjoys spending time with her husband, horses, dog, and cat.”
Lisa Agius-Gilibert
Equine Educator & Barefoot Trimming Specialist
Hi, I’m Lisa. I’m based in Sydney, Australia, where I run The Glorious Hoof, where I specialise in barefoot trimming and alternative hoof protection for rehabilitation and performance.
At Flex Hoof Boots, I create educational content from an evidence-based perspective and help horse owners navigate hoof care and Flex boot fitting with confidence.
I started trimming my own horse at the age of 12 and have been hyper-focused on hoof care ever since. I’m a qualified Equine Podiotherapist with a Bachelor of Equine Science, and I’ve spent over 12 years working professionally in the hoof care industry.
What inspires me most about hoof care is just how incredible the equine hoof really is. Hoof health is deeply connected to overall horse wellbeing, and getting it right is essential to equine welfare. I love helping horses move confidently and comfortably, and helping owners feel empowered to give their horses the best possible lives.
I’m hoof (and horse) obsessed, but when I’m not trimming or writing, you’ll usually find me snuggled up on the lounge watching movies with my family or singing (badly) at the top of my lungs while making dinner or driving to the next trim.
My work is guided by three values: connection, drive, and helpfulness. My biggest goal is to help as many horses as I possibly can. Because while I can only trim so many myself, through education I have the chance to help thousands of horses.
