Re: hoof boots

[Tracey Ritter <tracey_ritter@yahoo.com>]

Vicky,

You are soooo right... there's always a "know-it-all" in every group, 
and usually when they do ride "all the time" at home, it's usually no 
more than a few laps around an arena or field each day - if that.  I 
would hope that they wouldn't be more practical and experienced 
endurance people - then I would be very surprised at them for having 
such an attitude!

Just goes to show that if you don't condition consistently (I'm not 
talking a few weeks before the ride, either) on the type of terrain 
your ride has, then you have to have hoof boots of some type with 
you.  And you're also right on about the hoof growth... I have found 
that if your horse is properly conditioned for a certain type of 
terrain and a specific amount of miles (let's say 50 miles a  week 
over decomposed granite, every week for six months - just a scenario 
here, folks!), then the hoof slowly begins to adapt itself to 
adjusting for the rate of wear it is consistently experiencing.  But, 
they can't expect their horse's feet to adapt when their conditioning 
schedule is anything but consistent.  Showing up to a ride like that 
without having all the conditioning ducks in a row - and without hoof 
boots - means either they're very under-educated about how a hoof 
works, or they're so new to distance riding that they haven't had 
much of an opportunity to soak all this information in.  It's a good 
thing you're there to "help"!  I just wish my vacations were equally 
productive!  :-)

In addition to Swiss Boots (which I've heard some great things 
about), there are also Old Macs and HorSneakers (sp?!) as well.  The 
latter is based upon actual imprints of your horse's hooves, but they 
sure are expensive.  Check them out and let us know what you think.

Tracey Ritter
Portland, OR

On Thu, 29 Nov 2001 08:02:08 -0800 (PST), 
ridecamp-d-request@endurance.net wrote:
>Subject: RC:  Barefoot issues-kind of long
>Message-ID: <ENDURANCEWWW0mJWEsB000002c5@endurance.net>
>Vicky Smith twh@voyager.net
> I love Ridecamp for it's input on everything from saddle fit to
>hoof care. As a professional farrier of nearly 20 years (gosh I'm 
how old?), I've seen a lot of folks unwittingly abuse their horses 
feet. I ride with the Michigan Trail Riders Associaton on their 
organized Shore-to-Shore (236 miles)at least twice per year. I lot of 
people arrive with no hoof protection for their horses. They usually 
say something like "I NEVER use shoes at home and I ride ALL of the 
time." Well, after riding two or three days on 20-30 miles of gravel 
roads, rocky trail and sand each day makes for some pretty sore 
ponies. A horse can only grow x amount of hoof in a given time period 
and if he wears if down faster than it grows;a lame horse insues. 
Luckily I'm not the only farrier on these rides because there is a 
lot of shoeing going on in camp. I'll call it a "working vacation" 
;-)
> I tried the barefoot thing with my critters this year and have
>developed a love/hate relationship with EasyBoots. Love 'em when 
they stay one; hate 'em when I loose one. Tried the Comp Shoe and 
Equithane Super Fast. Both were no goes for long multiple day rides. 
So here is how I manage my group- barefoot whenever possible, 
Easyboots on horses that can leave them on during rides involving 
rocks or gravel, and shoes/pads when nothing else is practical. I may 
try Swiss Horse Boots as they were recommended by
>the Dr. that stitched me up in E.R. after shoeing accident.
> Vicky Smith


-- 
Tracey Ritter, tracey_ritter@yahoo.com on 11/29/2001