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Hi everyone,
My (shoeless) horse, E-Bey and I and the EasyBoot EPICS each completed our 
first 100-mile endurance race together last Sat. at Twenty Mule Team, and I 
wanted to share the experience with those who may have been wondering.

The first 25 miles of this race were the most challenging because the 
footing went from sand and dirt at the start, to large mud puddles mixed 
with boggy, fetlock-deep, shoe-sucking nasty clay mud, interspersed with 
lava rocks. We were all doing fine until the 15 mile point, where my horse 
trotted through one of the large water puddles and then tripped when coming 
out of the ensuing clay mud and stepped on his own foot. I looked down and 
to my chagrin, saw that my worst fear had come true - He had pulled a front 
boot off and it was hanging around his pastern.

He still had race brain and there were about 10 riders on our tail, but 
there was nothing I could do, but jump off and riders pass us while my horse 
spun around on the side of the trail. I thought we were doomed, but I 
snatched the velcro open and removed the boot from his leg. And then, when I 
grabbed his leg to picked it up, I was amazed, but he seemed to know exactly 
what I was doing, and with a sigh, he stood still while I took the 
Leatherman tool from my pocket and pulled the cotter pin from the buckle and 
replaced the boot on his hoof. In no time, I was able to mount up and trot 
on down the trail. That was not nearly as bad as I had always envisioned. 
And after I rode a few feet and saw a horseshoe lying in the mud with the 
nails all sticking up like dead cochroach legs, I felt much better.

After we rode about another 10 miles, and I was just beginning to lose my 
paranoia, we passed through another big puddle followed by that deep clay 
mud, and as soon as we started cantering up a little hill, I heard the 
hollow clop, clop sound of an empty boot. I didn't want to look down, but 
when I did, of course my fears were confirmed - and this time it was a HIND 
boot. Oh, no. There is no way to reach the hind foot on my horse with race 
brain. I was bummed. But just then, two nice ladies who were in no hurry, 
offered to stand in front of my horse and hold him while I got the boot off. 
And it worked. I noticed that one of their horses had an Easy Boot and vet 
wrap on one hoof. That did make me feel better. I led my horse along while 
using my Leatherman tool to pull the mud-encrusted cotter pin out, and then 
managed to get the boot back on the horse and mount up. We all rode off 
together, praying for better footing. And in less than a couple of miles, it 
was. We were back on sand, and it led us into the lunch check. At the lunch 
check, I took the two spare boots from our crewbag and put them into the 
Stowaway cantle bag. Two of my friend were at the luch stop, and one was 
pulled for a stone bruise, and the other had lost a shoe, so she pulled. So 
I was really encouraged when we passed the vetting and headed back out on 
the trail.

For the next 65 miles on to the finish, we had no more footing issues, just 
sand, water and REGULAR mud. We rode in for the finish around 1 a.m (with 
another lady whose horse had vet wrap and an EasyBoot on one hoof). We 
vetted in with no problem, and went to the trailer where I removed the boots 
and checked all four legs, pasterns and heels, and everything was FINE. Not 
one rub or bruise!

I don't think any other boot on the market would have gotten us through that 
combination of conditions without rubbing or being lost. If I were to ride 
Tevis, I would just carry a couple of spares on the horse and carry the 
leatherman tool with extra cotter pins in my pocket and just enjoy the ride. 
Knowing that my horse has previously done 50-mile races barefoot, it would 
be no big deal to ride a mile or two before fixing a boot issue, anyway.

I know these boots aren't the final answer, and at least two other designs 
by different companies are in the works, but in the meantime, we can RIDE 
ON!

Terry and E-Bey

"May the Horse be with you"

_________________________________________________________________
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