Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I'd really like to know how it works out for you, and I'm sure the ctr list would also.  I have a new horse that's been barefoot all his life and before I just automatically put shoes on him, I thought I'd try Easy Boots.  Will be a big change for me, so any advice will be welcome.

 

Carla Richardson

Colorado

 

On 7/27/07, Lysane Cree <lysanec@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

I am planning on doing a 25 mile CTR in a few weeks and I want to use Epics on my mare's hind hooves. We are not allowed to have anything above the coronet and so I was going to remove the gaiters and foam the boots on.

 

I have the new boots so they have the Easyup Buckle, no teeth on the inside, the heel strap in place and I have been using the comfort pads (the thicker ones) that I was sent by Easycare to try out (not sure if these are the same as the ones currently being sold). The 00 boots were impossible to fit on but my mare is on the lower end of the 0s in terms of measurements. Never a problem with the gaiter on and the comfort pads taking up a bit of room, but now I'm wondering how things will change if I foam the boots on.

 

I would take the comfort pads out, right? Should I still vet wrap the hoof the way I normally would for long rides?

 

I have been using Hoof armor alot lately as my mare's hooves have improved quite a bit over the past year, but I really feel she needs the added protection of the boots this time - she had an abcess a few weeks ago and is fine now, but there is still a gouge in the bottom of her hoof where the sole was cut to let the abcess out. There are some rocks on the ride I am going to (in two weeks) - the smaller gravel type of rock - and I really wouldn't want one of those small rocks to get in the hole! By the time the ride happens, it will have been a little more than a month since the abcess was cut out but I doubt that her sole will have completely filled back in by then, so I think the boots would give her additional protection..

 

Also, since I am just booting the hinds, would it be fine to Hoof armor the fronts...If I were using boots normally, I would boot the fronts and not the hinds, so it feels a little backwards to be doing this. Any problem with not booting the fronts when the hinds do have boots?

 

Last question, if I foam the boots on at home on Friday for a Sunday ride (travelling on Saturday), they should last right through the ride?

I was considering doing a "test foam" before the ride, but since my mare is out all the time, I was concerned with foaming the boots on for an afternoon ride and then taking them off the same day...might be torture? :) How hard is it to get the foamed boots off?

 

Thank you,

 

Lysane

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