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Re: [RC] A Little Experimentation Pays Off - Sharon Levasseur

FYI everyone, I will be getting a set of four Gloves in the next couple of days, with the thickened toes and the new gaiters (which I think have two layers and are more contoured). I'll be testing them on training rides between now and my next ride, and if all goes well I will use them to ride the Western Maine Pioneer ride (50/55/50) during the last week of July. Watch for my testing reports on Garrett's blog.

Also, regarding mud, the Pine Tree 100 was VERY VERY muddy (3 weeks of almost-constant rain just prior to the ride, and 2-3" of rain in about one hour the night before). My observation was that the steel-shod horse we were riding with had much better traction **on muddy ruts** than Zephyr did in his Glue-Ons, but mostly the difference was in the hind feet. The only effect was that after a while, rather than skirting mud puddles on the sideways-slanted edges, I made him go through the middle. I was nervous that after he became more tired he'd have a harder time controlling his hindquarters and maybe he'd let his hind feet slide out from under him. As long as we were going straight up and down hills, I saw no difference in traction... it was only on the sideways-slanted stuff that I saw a difference.

-Sharon L. in Maine


Quoting k s swigart <katswig@xxxxxxx>:



Elizabeth Walker said:


Yours is the first post where someone reported problems
?with the gaiters,

Actually, lots of people have reported problems with the gaiters and have reported the assorted things that they have done to mitigate those problems (the most common being to wrap the pastern with vet wrap).? If you go to the EasyBoot blog about the ongoing development process of EasyBoots, you will see that there is quite a bit of discussion about the assorted things that some people are doing in an attempt reduce their problems with the gaiters.


As an example (from: http://easycareinc.typepad.com/team_easyboot/2009/01/gloves-and-socks-at-dve.html)

"Only one slight concern is a screw in the back of the boot holding the gaiter on...my low-heeled mare showed potential to rub her bulbs on it, but already talked to G about it and that will be addressed. Of course I still have a gaiter-challenged horse (gets those dime rubs on the pasterns), But G is making new gaiters from a whole new material that I am eager to test...
Until that time, I also got to test a set of Todd's pastern "socks"...I LOVE them...no sand got in them, no rubbing from them, AND it STOPPED the gaiter rubbing! 155miles and not a hair lifted..I LOVE these... A bit of a learning curve to get them on (so they'll fit nice and tight), but once I figured out a good way, it was 2 socks and 4 boots on in less than 5 minutes in the morning...LOVE it... "


More discussions of this can be found at: http://easycareinc.typepad.com/team_easyboot/boot_gaiters/

If I remember correctly, some people have abandoned EasyBoots and switched to Renegades for the very reason of their horse having a problem with the gaiters (but I would have to search the archives to be sure--and I cannot be bothered to do so).? Those people can do their own reporting.

However, from everything that I have ever read (and from my own experiences with them), "problems with the gaiters" is one of the biggest problems with all the new EasyBoot designs, and EasyCare is constantly evaluating and improving the design as a result.

Don't get me wrong; I have a box full of EasyBoots of most of the models in my tack room and have found many good applications for them, and have been using them with varying degrees of success for coming up on two decades now.? It is not my intent to speak disparagingly of either the products or the company.? And I will recommend them to many people for many different applications as well.? But "problems with the gaiters" is something that has been encountered by many people since the gaiters first came out.? It doesn't mean that they are a bad idea (they are a vast improvement over the original EasyBoot for keeping them on bare feet), just that they are not a solution without their own problems.

kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)

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Replies
[RC] A Little Experimentation Pays Off, k s swigart