Hoof Concussion Protection

[guest@endurance.net]

K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net


Angie,

Having tried a great many of the options you have listed
(including barefoot :))...my recommendation would be....

EasyBoots foamed on over steel shoes (you could probably foam
them on over aluminum shoes too, but I have never tried this, so
I cannot speak to their recommendation.

All of the options work for some horses but not for others, and
work in some types of terrain and not in others.

Considering the late date that you are leaving this too (you
know, you aren't supposed to try anything new AT the ride:), _I_
would choose the option that gives me the most flexibility (i.e.
if, for some reason it doesn't work, it is easy to "fix").

There are lots of horses that Equithotics don't work on, and if
they don't work, they cause problems that require pulling them
and nailing on new shoes (and they can be really slick on grassy
slopes).

Regular pads are pretty safe and work for most horses, but they
provide more by way of sole protection than they do in shock
absorption.

There are an assortment of shock absorbing pads that are better
for concussion relief than regular pads, but they can be tricky
to install properly (depending on the brand of pad and the
expertise of your shoer...and I would recommend using a shoer
who knows how to install them...and then we are talking about
using a different shoer than normallly does your horse...which I
also would not recommend).  Given that you (and your shoer) have
not had time (and will not have time before the event) to
experiment with the assorted different brands available..._I_
wouldn't go there (we are talking about a fairly important event
here :)).

Barefoot is a non-starter.

EasyBoots over steel (foamed on to keep ANYTHING from getting
between the boot and your horse's foot) provide good shock
absorption (maybe even better than bare feet, but I am not
sure), provide good sole protection, and do not require that you
put holes in your horse's feet if, for some reason they don't
work out.

They also, after being foamed on, are no brainers.  You don't
have to give them any more thought.

Two things to consider though:

1) If your horse is "close" (i.e. has a tendency to interfere),
EasyBoots, because they increas the diameter of the foot, can
exacerbate this problem, so don't use them if your horse kicks
himself.

2) If you horse has low heels, you need to either cut down
drastically (or remove as Karen Chaton did at the XP...but I
cannot recommend this simply because I have never tried it) the
heel strap.  That heel strap can bruise the bulbs of the horse's
heel if it comes up near the hairline in the back...cut it down
so it won't (and you can cut it WAAAY down without too much
compromise of the integrity of the boot).

Additionally, you have between now and when you leave to "test
drive" them (which I strongly recommend, you don't have to foam
them on every time you do this, but I would test drive the
foaming process too) and work out any "kinks" you may discover.
None of the other options allow for this.

Equithotics or some of the other pad options MAY be a better
choice for your horse on this terrain (don't know your horse and
haven't seen the terrain), but you don't have time to find out
whether this is the case.

Even halfway through the ride, if you find that the EasyBoots
aren't working for your horse, they are pretty easy to just take
off...and you still have the footwear on your horse that you
have used for all the other thousands of miles you have ridden
him in endurance and in training.

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  It IS possible to overtighten EasyBoots.  I have had
experience of an overtightened Easy Boot causing bruising under
the hoof wall at the quarters, but it is pretty easy to avoid
(and there is no reason to do "crank them down really hard" if
you have foamed them on).  I also cannot recommend them if there
is going to be any appreciable amount of deep bogs (i.e mud up
over the horses fetlocks) since I believe the horse has to work
a great deal harder getting its foot out of the bog with an
EasyBoot on, than if it doesn't.