EasyCare

The Elusive Boot Fit

At last it was time to fit Roo's Gloves. Out came his boot bucket and the rubber mallet.

Roo's boot bucket, containing all his boots

When I first converted Roo to barefoot nearly three years ago, he wore an #0.5 on one front foot (the low heel side), an #0 on the other (the high heel side), and #00.5s on the back. More recently, after languishing in the paddock doing nothing for the last couple of years, his feet were now closer to both being #0.5 in the front, and #0s in back.

Before going further, I held the bottom of an #0.5 boot against the underside of his foot. I position the back of the boot level with his heels and then peer all around. By doing this "eyeball fit", you can see if there is any flaring that's likely to cause problems, if the toes are too long to get the hoof snugly into the front of the boot, and generally if you're even close to having the boot fit.

Side-to-side fit looks pretty good - very snug.

But looking further forward, I can see I'm going to have to work to get this boot on. It could be that if I re-evaluate his trim, I may find that his toe could be shorter.

In Roo's case I could tell that it was "sorta" going to work, but it was going to be tight - and even tighter given that this pair of #0.5 Gloves had Powerstraps attached to them.

Because I wanted my friend to get the idea of how to put the boots on, and because I knew this one was going to be a real struggle, I opted to put on a #1 Glove first, just to ease her into the whole enterprise.

Gaiter Flipping
First I showed her how to flip down the gaiter as far as it would go. New gaiters, being stiff, tend to not flip down quite as far as they can, resulting in a "poofy area" closest to the boot. If you're not careful this bulge gets pushed down into the boot as you're trying to fit it and stops the boot going on properly. However, as the boot gets worn in, the gaiter will flip down much more easily and this will be less of a problem.

A new boot gaiter is "poofier", so doesn't fold back as flat as the gaiter on the older boot shown behind. This "poofiness" tends to get rolled down into the back of the boot when you're trying to push it on the foot. Eventually the gaiter will behave itself and make boot application much easier.

To begin with, even the #1 boot wouldn't go on. Part of the problem was the aforementioned bulge which immediately disappeared down the back of the boot, necessitating its removal, re-stretching down of the gaiter, and starting again. It's worth mentioning that if we had been fitting the #0.5 boot, this would have been less of a problem because there wouldn't have been extra room in the rear of the boot for the bulge to fit down where it didn't belong.

Grungy Hoofwall
After some wiggling and puffing, I realised another problem was that Roo's hoof had a little dried lumpy mud glued to it which I cleaned off using the edge of the rasp. Our area is blessed with clay soil that sets like concrete. This may work fine as hoof-expander when dry, but as soon as we cross a creek, it'll turn into slime and have the effect of greasing the hoof. Not great.

Rubber Mallet Usage
The boot (especially a new, unflexible boot like the one we were using) tends to get jammed on the quarters, so you have to wiggle it side to side to ease it over this wide part of the foot. Once you're close to getting it on but it still isn't quite going on all the way, I had my friend give it a couple of whacks to the toe and then a couple to the heels to seat the boot.

To get best results when you hit the toe, angle your rubber mallet so that you're pushing the boot towards the toe, not towards the underside of the foot.

Fast-Fingered Gaiter Flipping
As you let the foot down, it's best to flip the gaiter up before it gets to the ground. If you don't, the horse will always stand on the gaiter and the back of the gaiter will always fill up with small rocks/mud/twigs, even when the horse is standing on a completely clean surface. It is written. 

Feeling the Toe
Once the boot is on (or you think it is), you can push on the bottom-front of the boot to see if there's any space behind it. If there is, your boot is not on all the way and usually a couple of whacks with the mallet, or a few steps trotting the horse will seat it properly.

Evaluating the Fit
As this point you evaluate the fit again. Is the V at the front stretched slightly, or is it loose? In a perfect world, that V should be stretched slightly, showing that the whole of the boot wall is tightly hugging the hoof wall. In reality, if you have a horse with flared walls (common when you don't trim them as often as you should... <inspect fingernails>) or more particularly, a flared toe, you may find that the lower part of the boot is fitting very tightly, but the upper part is gapping somewhat (this is a problem I fight constantly with Uno's over-enthusiastic toes if I don't stay on top of them). Sometimes the addition of a powerstrap can help this problem. And sometimes it'll make it so that it's impossible to get the stupid boot on, especially if you're using a brand new one, so you might need to wait a few uses before fitting the powerstrap.

Either way, rest assured that the more you do this, the easier it'll get. Not only will the boots become more flexible with use, your boot-applying technique will also improve and you'll struggle less. The use of the rubber mallet may become a thing of the past as your boots stretch to fit your horse's feet better, and you get a better shape to his foot as his transition continues.

With a #1 boot on Roo's foot, my friend was quite pleased with her handiwork. She felt that the boot was a good fit. On the other hand, I wasn't quite so sure. Knowing that in the past Roo wore a #0.5 on this foot, I couldn't tell if the #1 Glove seemed to be working because because I'd allowed his feet to grow too long or if his feet had actually expanded in stature. My gut feeling was that although the #1 boot would probably stay on for most riding, if we got into an extreme situation (foot twisting, rough terrain, steep hills), the boot would probably come off.

Pulling out the #0.5 Glove (with powerstrap), I worked hard and managed to smoosh it onto his foot. As anticipated, it was a very tight fit and would have been much easier without the powerstrap's "help". So my choice for him would be to keep him in an 0.5 (and remove the powerstraps).

And this is where a fit kit is worth its weight. You may find that you put a #1 boot on your horse's foot and are very satisfied with the results and think that you have the best fit possible. But if you then put on a size smaller, an #0.5, you may realise that that is the perfect fit.

Similarly, by holding each size of shell against the bottom of the foot, you can readily see how the boot is going to fit.

If you really fight to get a boot on, yet the fit isn't great, could it be that the horse's toes are too long? This is something I struggled with for many weeks with Roo's back feet in the early days. With what I felt were 'reasonable-length' toes, his rear boots constantly came off on steep hills. By holding the next size smaller boot against the bottom of his foot, I was able to see how much toe needed to come off to get a really good fit - and also able to see that the amount of toe that needed to come off wasn't much. I shortened his toes and the boot losses stopped.

Listening to people talk about their boot losses despite "a good fit", I often wonder how good their fit really is and if by trying a smaller boot and/or with a small adjustment to their trimming, they'd be able to get a "perfect fit".

(...or alternatively it could be that they have horses who move like gumby and deliberately twist off their boots just to annoy them.)

Putting Theory into Practice

It's always better to demonstrate to people how not to do things. I feel they learn so much more by observing others' mistakes, than for everything to go perfectly smoothly and voila - a trimmed horse with perfect boot fit.

My friend arrived a day earlier than I expected (I'm still confused as to what year it is) and my schedule and her jet-lag meant that we only had one evening for me to demonstrate the fine art of putting boots on; deciding if the fit was correct; how to figure out if the fit wasn't correct; and how to get the stupid boots off again if they were a tight fit (which is ideal... until you're trying to take them off).

Unfortunately, looking at the available hooves for this demonstration, it became apparent that keeping on top my trimming schedule over the Holidays and subsequent sickies hadn't been high on the agenda. All of the horses were long and all were in need of a trim. Hmm.

Being the easiest to trim (he doesn't fidget much), and having not put boots on him for a while (he's been growing out a rear foot abscess since October), Roo became our victim for the evening's entertainment.

I cleaned out his foot and carefully showed my friend how long he was, how his heels weren't supposed to look like that, how his toe needed to come back about half an inch, and how, yes, even thought he had a wonderful toe-callous, it wasn't close to being in the location it was supposed to be. It definitely became an exercise in "do as I say, not as I've done".

After trimming his first foot with a running commentary of what I was doing and why, I turned her loose with the rasp, the stand, and Roo's long toe on the second foot. Once the squeaking had subsided, I was able to guide her through the technique of reducing toe from the top - long vertical strokes perpendicular to the ground designed to whack off overgrowth.

Here Uno is demonstrating long toes, while I demonstrate the removal of them. Notice how I'm keeping the rasp perpendicular to the toe and rasping straight down towards the ground.

Her initial reaction was to try and shape the toe, but I explained that all she needed to do at this point was get rid of all the extra. I explained - as my farrier had explained to me years ago - the rasp is a two-handed tool and that using long strokes would remove more hoof than small, prissy up-n-down zips: you're not performing a manicure.

Working my way around the toe. The rasp is a two-handed tool.

How did Uno's toes get so long? He's been off since Thanksgiving so his feet haven't been getting the attention they need. Gloves prevent you rasping the skin off your knuckles when enthusiastically removing over-abundance of toe.

Once I was satisfied with the amount of toe she'd removed, I had her turn over his foot and work on it from the bottom.

There are few things more entertaining than watching a complete beginner trying to squeeze under a horse, with a foot between their knees, attempting to use an unaccustomed rasp in a competent manner. As anyone who's ever struggled to trim their own horse knows, when you're starting out you wonder how the heck anyone is capable of this. You can't even figure out how to get into the ludicrous contorted poses necessary to get the job done. Your body doesn't distort in that way, and the horse's leg won't bend in that manner either. Within about 30 seconds, your back is going into spasms and you lose all coordination and balance. And then you realise with dismay that you've only rasped one quarter of one foot.

This is all normal.

It takes a while for your body to learn hoof-trimming yoga (with such poses as "Horse Rips Foot Away" and "Can't Quite Get at That Overhanging Frog Flap") and learning to use the tools is a lot like learning to use chopsticks the first time - the food doesn't go quite where you expect it to.

After a good amount of laughter (not shared by Roo, who by this time wanted his supper), I guided my friend through taking the heels back, removing scraggly bits (technical term), and how to roll the edge of the hoof.

Keeping the rasp at the correct angle seems to be one of the things that is hardest for the beginner to get right - manipulating an alien tool while concentrating on what you're doing, how you're doing it, and whether or not you or the horse are about to fall over is tricky.

But at the end, we had a rasped foot. It wasn't perfect and there were a few things I went back and tidied up afterwards, but it was completely serviceable.

(Continued tomorrow)

--
Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
Sierra Foothills, California

“Have you ever thought about what tracks you leave”?

When the new EasyBoot Racing Shoe concept came onto the horizon, there was a lot of head scratching, questions, and a whole lot of “what if” scenarios. Some race track officials and commissioners didn’t know how to react to this new product because it was a divergence from their zone of comfortable knowledge. Other racing officials embraced the new concept, and were able to easily see the benefits for the future of horse racing, and overall equine foot health. No evolutionary journey is without its setbacks. The key is to remain confident with your concept despite those who want to drag you back down to “what has always been” and “we’ve been doing it this way for the last 200 years”.

In 2012, MileMakers will walk our talk. We plan to take our 3 year old colt, Defying Magic, (a.k.a. Indy) to the race track.

He has been barefoot his entire life, and will only wear the new EasyBoot Race Glue-Ons, while running races, due to a Colorado Racing Commission ruling which calls for all race horses to wear hoof protection. He is the first foal we ever bred, and we will not trust his feet to any other type of hoof care product or ideology.  

The journey one must take when laying down “new tracks” will never be an easy one. But by using education and proven results we can progress one step at a time. That’s why at MileMakers our motto is “Not just a destination, but a journey taken one hoofbeat at a time.”  With “New Tracks” I am excited about what I do as a Team Easyboot member, and we plan to leave a lot of “New Tracks” in 2012.

“Sometimes you’ve got to run away and see if they follow” - Manfield Park.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend visited from England. She has just decided to take her endurance horse barefoot and compete him in boots. It sounds like she has found a sympathetic trimmer who is interested in what she's doing, so her plan is to schedule him regularly to do the main trim, while she makes touch-ups in between. As far as I can tell hoof boots are still far from the norm in Britain, with most "professionals" convinced that having horses barefoot just won't work and advising their clients accordingly <wry face>.

Initially she picked my brain over the internet...

What Equipment Would She Need?

My List

• A pair of gloves (v. v. important to avoid knuckle rasping)
• A hoof pick (I like the ones with the bristle brush on the back)
• A good rasp (blunt, rusty rasps are no fun and result in much puffing and frustration)
• A sharp narrow-bladed hoof knife (wide-bladed ones are designed for draft horses as far as I can work out)
• A hoof stand (this is a lot of money to invest in, but believe me, your life will be so much pleasanter with one than trying to do this without. Without you’ll be sad and tired and struggle)
• A rubber mallet

What Boots Would She Need?

She was a little confused by the difference between Glue-Ons and Gloves. I explained that although they were essentially the same base-model, Gloves were what she would be using for conditioning and events because of how easy they were to use and quick to put on and take off. You'd only really use Glue-Ons if you were doing a 100 miler, a multi-day, or practising the gluing technique. Once those puppies are on, they aren't going anywhere without the application of some brute force and a wide-bladed screwdriver.

What Size Boots Would She Need?

I explained about measuring the foot accurately to figure out what size boot her horse would need and then I explained that Murphy's Law dictates that your horse's feet will never fall within the confines of the "correct" measurements for a specific boot size, so EasyCare came up with the "Fit Kit".

Say your horse's foot measures something close to a 0.5, but not quite according to the sizing chart. You order the Fit Kit for 0.5 and EasyCare will send you shells in sizes 1 - 0.5 - 0. You can spend a happy session with your horse pushing shells on, walking him around, taking them off and repeating the performance with the other sizes until you are satisfied with what size boot you think is the best fit.*

* this is often not the size you think it's going to be. Case in point, none of the Glove sizes were close to fitting my pony, Jackit's, feet on paper, but in reality once I figured out the right size, his boots don't seem to go anywhere.

To give you an idea of what I was working with - I have small hands. I was fairly convinced that no Glove size would work for him, but it turns out 00.5 and 00s fit him fine.

You get to keep the Fit Kit for 30 days because everyone knows the second a horse item arrives on the premises, it guarantees instant horrendous weather/sickness in human operator/sudden unexpected business travel.

Unfortunately, not living in the US, my friend doesn't have access to fit kits, so she had (hopefully) the correct size Gloves shipped to my house, and I also sent her home with a couple of old boots the next size up 'just in case'.

She was ready to move on to the next stages - basic trimming and boot fit.

• Fear of Failure
• Because we are too busy
• Over-or under-estimating the degree of difficulty the task involves

• Get a buddy to do the barefoot transition with you.
• Challenge your myths regarding shoeing and do some research.
• Get a new attitude.

Shari Murray

Customer Service

If you call the customer service help desk, you’ll probably get me on the phone! I process repairs, returns, credits and exchanges that come into EasyCare.

During November, Uno and I were on the final 30-day period of his suspensory rehab, at the end of which--provided all went well--he would be pronounced "healed".

November's instructions were to "add terrain" so I was to gradually introduce hills, uneven footing, etc, instead of having to find creative ways to "trot for six continuous minutes on the flat" (no mean feat when you live in the foothills of the Sierra). It finally started to get fun.

Throughout his rehabilitation I have been riding him booted in front and barefoot in back. This was mostly because we have to negotiate my long large-rock-gravel driveway, followed by a mile or so of gravel road every morning. The few times I tried him un-booted, he'd invariably get a rock lodged up the side of his frog, causing funky-lameness and a small melt-down on my part until I discovered the culprit. Wearing boots is easier on both of us.

The most interesting thing is that during this time he has been wearing exactly the same pair of Gloves on exactly the same feet (right/left). And from that I've been able to see the wear pattern from how he travels. Although he's wearing down the medial (inner) part of the toe quicker than the distal area, I was pleased to see that the wear is even on both feet. He's no longer travelling like a banana which was a problem last year.

This pair of boots are like old friends.

I did the math and if you add in the two 50 milers at the Washoe Valley endurance ride in May, some Tevis Trail pre-riding, the 25 miles of NASTR 75 that we managed to complete before he injured himself, followed by the 450 miles of "little and often" over the last 120 days, these boots now have approximately 600 miles on them - nearly all of the last four months on abrasive gravel roads and pavement. And they are looking pretty good.

(In the same time period, if he'd been shod in steel shoes, we would have gone through four sets of shoes. Hmm.)

His left Glove (on the right in the above photo) still has the remains of the yellow duct tape we plastered on it way back in May during the the Washoe Valley ride when Uno's flared toe was causing gapping at the top of the boot and he was scooping in sand, which in turn was filling up the front of the boot and causing it to come off. Unfortunately at that point his foot was too big to squish on a brand new boot with a PowerStrap so we added the duct tape assuming that it might stay on for the next 20 mile loop. In reality, it took about 500 miles for the tape to fall off - not bad for a "quick fix".

However, after six months it's definitely time to add a PowerStrap as I can now push this boot on with one finger. It's a good fit, but not a tight one and I anticipate the upcoming varied terrain will put more stresses on the boots than trotting on the flat has*.

(* note it didn't - final month of rehab now completed -- and I still haven't gotten around to putting on the PowerStrap).

Now we are into January, Uno is at the "healed stage" I can finally turn him out with his buddies, which in turn means I get to take a break from daily riding. Whilst I loved it when I was out there every morning, it really didn't balance well with my 60-hour work weeks. Time for me to take a month of vacation before gearing up again for the 2012 endurance season.

Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
Sierra Foothills, California

1. Represent EasyCare in a professional and positive manner.
2. Be fully knowledgeable about all EasyCare products and help others in the field.
3. Keep information available and on hand to help answer people’s questions.
4. Be available to assist in boot fitting and advice in person and on line.
5. Provide feedback on product as needed.
6. Actively promote the EasyCare brand in person.
7. Submit bio, photo and monthly schedule of activities and availability to help others.
8. Blog once a month on the EasyCare corporate blog.
9. Actively participate with positive interaction and product advice on the Easyboot Facebook page.
10. Wear Team Easyboot attire at events.
11. Display Team Easyboot logo on tack, trailers and vehicles.
12. Consider hosting boot fitting clinics in conjunction with hoof care practitioners.

1. Access to discounted EasyCare product for personal use.
2. Access to EasyCare management team for help and guidance.
3. Access to broader team members for general booting education and problem-solving.
4. Advance access to product information and new products.

Kevin Myers

Director of Marketing

I am responsible for the marketing and branding of the EasyCare product line. I believe there is a great deal to be gained from the strategy of using booted protection for horses, no matter what the job you have for your equine partner.