I wanted to take a moment to congratulate EasyCare, their product, and the finishing horse and rider teams that completed the Tevis wearing the Easyboot Glue on. Especially my hat is off to "The Fury." Fury's run being the ultimate test of Easycare's product in my mind. Also a big thank you for Easycare's support of the AERC. Economic times are troubled. We see ride numbers way down in our region, and I appreciate that they are giving back to our sport.
It has been exciting to see the evolution of hoof boots in the past ten years. I feel that a time may come where barefoot horses and booted horses are the majority. This will continue to push forward product innovation towards better, and better...hoof boots. I see the challenges. How to make a boot that works for every horse, when the hoof of every horse is different.
My "perfect" hoof boot research and development wish list:
Wide and extra wide sizing. Enter your horse's trimmed hoof measurement and angles into a hoof calculator and order the perfectly sized boot for that horse's hoof. (why not dream big). ~E.G.
LOVE your little drawing the beginning of the post. Very cute.
ReplyDeleteoh oh oh *raises hand* I want to play:
Melinda's wish list/dream big for boots!
1. A boot that is guarenteed not to come off on dangerous, narrow little trails, only on areas where there is a nice wide shoulder to pull off on with a horse that is CALM.... :)
2. A database where you can input all sorts of measurements like width, length, angle, toe measurements and type of riding and voila! a boot reccomendation (brand and size) magically appears.
3. A BLUE boot. Apparently the plastics they use in boots don't come in blue - it's softer or something like that. I really want a pretty blue boot.......
Great topic by the way. I love unrealistic wish lists :)
Mel,
ReplyDeleteI really don't feel that a custom boot is really too far out there. I'm trying to remember the name of a company that used to do that...HOOF SNEAKERS? They did a custom molding for the shape of the hoof.
My true wish is just that Size 0 wide for those little round hooves on my mare. In the meantime, we "tweak". I'm wanting to get me an O and put an additional V cut/or a slit and see if it will accomodate the hoof. The 0.5's fit perfectly in the width but I have some dead air space at the toe, which means we probably aren't breaking over effeciently though I've seen no alteration in her actual gait.
As they say, if wishes were horses.
Aren't I an artistic MARVEL? No chance Easycare will be hiring me for logo design *LOL* ~E.G.
Glue on boots may be my very best option, since my conditioning miles are actually totally bare. It seems like on a ride you end up doing paved roads, gravel service roads, just areas that in the real world you'd walk over, but lose too much time on a ride.
BTW I have the cure for your "blue" boot. Get sparkling blue spray paint :) I'll paint mine red and we can be tacky together *wink*.
Hmmmm....maybe it was HOOFWINGS?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.hoofwings.com/hoofwings.dwt#Hoofwings
<A HREF="http://www.hoofwings.com/hoofwings.dwt#Hoofwings
>Hoofwings</A>
Boots that come off only on soft wide shoulders? I'm sticking with boots that don't come off period! WHAT YOU THINKING LADY?
There will always be human error, and even nailed on shoes don't stay on 100% of the time. Anybody using hoof boots needs to make sure their horse can handle dealing with one coming off. You definitely don't want one coming off on a ride like the Tevis - you'll note on the website that for the educational ride they don't recommend using hoof boots because of the problems that have been caused on those narrow trails with them coming off.
ReplyDeleteFor an average user, I think glue-on boots are too much work with too high a failure rate in the real world. It's different if "professionals" are installing the boots but most riders do not have that luxury. I personally just do not like glue-on boots, I don't like how the hoof has to be prepped and I really don't like seeing people applying toxic solvents that get sealed up for sometimes weeks at a time inside the hoof and boot. To me it is kind of an anti-natural way to keep our horses barefoot and healthy. That being said, I will use a glue-on boot when I need to for a specific event, such as the Tevis. Chief has used them in the last year ONLY when he has completed three or more days of multiday endurance rides in them. I take them off immediately after they are needed and like to keep the maximum time left on to 7 days or less.
I hope you guys all find your perfect boot. I would like a blue boot also. Maybe someday!
If and when I try the glue route a weekend would be the max I'd leave them on period. Can't imagine leaving a boot of any kind on longer than that. Of course I'll never attempt a multiday of five days EVER. My body won't let me.
ReplyDeleteThough I have to tweak my Gloves to keep them secure, I really don't have much I don't like about them. It all just boils down to finding the thing that works best for your horse and going with it. In a perfect world my horse would always go bare, but life isn't perfect.
Hope to have some conversation with Chris Martin on tweaking a smaller size to glue on the fronts. I'm wondering how many uses I can get out of a set of shells. Hopefully at least a few...
I want a little radio chip in my *purple* boots. Something that will link to my cell phone so that when it zings off into the bushes, I can call the boot and it will sing a little tune until I find it again!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I want boots that are applied like Saran Wrap--put the hoof down, pull the edge up, and the sides stick to each other around the cuff of the foot and don't come off until you cut them open with a pocket knife.
Did I mention that they should be purple?
OH YEAH....Now we're talkin'!
ReplyDeleteWe need lights that sparkle in them too for night riding :)
EG - don't count yourself out for doing a multiday - when I was in my 20's I doubt I could have done one! Now you will see riders of all ages, well into their 70's still riding multidays. You can start with every other day and hang out or do sight-seeing if you want to make a vacation out of one. It's a lot of fun!
ReplyDelete