Page 2 - Glue on Horse Shoes

The Worst Feet in the Barn

Monday, November 21, 2011 by Kate Saunders

For several weeks, Lisa talked about the horse with the "worst feet in the barn". I couldn't work on him right away because the track farriers had just put shoes on his feet. And so I waited patiently to see the worst feet in the barn.

Finally the day came when we could pull his shoes, and I could get started on my new project. Banfish, who is two now and is only doing light work at the track, had been sick when he was a foal. The sickness affected his entire body, including his feet. After months of love and attention, Banfish fully recovered from his illness. Except his feet were still a mess.

The track farriers put shoes on him as they always do, but in time he developed a quarter crack that spread all the way to the hairline. To correct the crack, glue was applied to the crack and the metal shoe was cut so that it stopped just in front of the crack. Yes, that's right. The shoe itself went from one heel, around the toe, and stopped just in front of the quarter on the other side of that foot. No shoe under the quarter or heel on that side of the foot.

Pancake foot with no heel - September 13, 2011.

When I removed Banny's shoes, I quickly agreed that he had the worst feet in the barn. Unsurprisingly, his heels had been lopped off to accommodate the shoe. To my horror, however, I also found that his soles were in fact the very opposite of concave; the bottom of the foot was thin and bulging at the toe. Yikes!

I always air on the cautious side when I am presented with a long toe or long heels. In this case, Banfish had long toes with no real attachment of the hoof wall.

He still has quite a lamellar wedge when my first trim is complete, but I know that I'll be coming back soon for another go-round.

Amazingly, Banfish showed little discomfort as he walked on dirt or sand with bare feet. Nonetheless, he got his own pair of size 2 Epics to protect those unique feet.

Several days later, I met the vets at the track for x-rays of Banny's feet. Although I don't always get the luxury of seeing x-rays, boy do they help when I can get my hands on them. And so I removed another inch off of his toes and swapped out the size 2 boots for some 1's!

Banfish has been barefoot and using his Easyboot Epics for the past two months and has shown some good improvement during that time. Although he began by wearing his hoof boots on the track and on the walker, he was able to begin some barefoot work within just a few weeks of beginning his new "program". To keep the quarter crack from spreading, I gave him exaggerated pressure relief at the site of the crack.

November 7, 2011: some heel has grown, and his foot is slowly becoming more concave.

His lamellar wedge has been greatly reduced, and his foot is looking much less like a pancake. Although the bottoms of his feet are much flatter than I would like, he is totally sound barefoot on the barn's dirt floor and in the track sand. He is still too sore to walk at all on any hard surfaces such as concrete.

Banny side angle - November 2011.

The healthier hoof has grown to about 1 to 1 1/2 inches below the coronet band.

As you may know, I tell clients that I will only trim their horses if those horses are being fed a dry pelleted food. I cannot make such demands at the track, because (unfortunately) it has been shown that racing horses need the extra energy (sugar) in the sweet feed to perform at their best. And so it is particularly interesting to note that Banfish has made such improvements despite being kept on a sweet feed diet. Keep in mind that the sweet feed fed to racehorses is very different from the typical $5 sweet feed found at a backyard barn. Although racehorse feed is covered in molasses (the real problem), it is also composed predominantly of vegetable oil, beet pulp, and other ingredients found in a dry pellet.

Banfish has been feeling great. So great that he tried to run away with the rider! With this new attitude change, he's been sent back to kindergarten to learn his manners and his steering.

Can we grow a truly healthy foot while still feeding the racehorse sweet feed? The verdict is still out, but with the improvements I've seen so far, I'm willing to keep up this experiment in hoof health and nutrition. We'll look at his feet again in a few months to see if the Easyboot Epics have won out over the molasses.

My Solution for Grass Cracks

Saturday, November 19, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Christina Kramlich Bowie, Team Easyboot 2011 member

I was a little worried back in May when this nasty crack appeared on Czeale’s right front hoof.

Czeale's RF (May).

It seemed to pop up overnight and though he wasn’t lame on it, it appeared to go pretty deep into the hoof wall. My trimmer Rachel is pretty conservative, which I like, and we talked about the various alternatives. I also consulted Team EasyBoot 2011 and most people advised me to trim that hoof back aggressively. Rachel and I were both a bit wary of making Z sore with a really aggressive trim, so we tried a more gradual approach. She trimmed the area back to distribute the weight off the area of the crack and encourage more growth, and every week I also rasped off the area. After the first big trim I soaked his hoof in HoofTrax for 45 minutes to kill any nasty bacteria that might be trying to get up into the hoof wall. We kept watching the hoof all spring and summer and while it never got worse, the improvement was very gradual.

Some improvement (June).

He never seemed uncomfortable on it however, so I wasn’t too worried. I remembered what my farrier used to say – that cracks from the ground up (grass cracks) were not anything to worry about, but that cracks from the coronet band (sand cracks) were. This was definitely a grass crack, and probably caused by the crazy excessive moisture in the ground this year due to all the rain we had in the never-ending spring of 2011.

I still didn’t like it though and wanted it to go away. Back when my horses were shod in steel shoes, the shoe would conceivably hold the hoof wall together and prevent a crack from getting worse. With Czeale barefoot, I was worried that the crack would spread as his hooves hit the ground as he ran about in the pasture every day. Riding him, he would at least have the support of the Glove, and during endurance competitions, I figured the Glue Ons would be great for the crack, as the glue would really hold that hoof wall together. I kept taking him to rides and he had no problems, but that crack was stubborn. It was there when he was booted for Tevis, but then, less than a week later when I pulled the boots off, it was gone! There was a tiny trace of it, but clearly the hoof wall grew a lot in response to all the pounding of the long ride. There is still a small trace of it on the underside of his hoof, but it doesn't penetrate the wall anymore and I'm betting that in one more trim cycle it will be completely gone.

Czeale's RF after Tevis.

Underside of Czeale's RF.

So my solution to grass cracks is: trim as aggressively as you are comfortable doing, and keep riding. It will grow out, but it may take several months. As with so many things, patience and persistence are key.

Happy Trails!

Christina Kramlich Bowie

Post Glue-On Diagnostics: The Solution for Glue-On Success

Friday, November 18, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Tennesee Mahoney, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

My husband and I started gluing on our own boots years ago; we have been very successful overall with the process, encountering only a few problems other than just getting the hang of it. We very rarely loose a Glue-On boot, but if we do it is almost always a result of improper use of glue. The way you diagnose this failure and find a solution to the problem is to study the boot and hoof and check your glue pattern, after
losing or removing your Glue-On. Here are some examples.

Removing a glue on, looks like the right amount of glue was used since there is some on the hoof and some on the boot.

If you can see the shape/pattern of the tube of glue that you squeezed into the boot initially, then the boot failed to stay on because the glue was already set-up to some degree by the time it got on the hoof. This happens for two reasons that I have noted: either you were too slow in getting the boot on the hoof after putting the Adhere in it, or you got a bad tube of Adhere.

The temperature that you are working in affects the rate at which the Adhere sets up. On a hot day, you will have to work very quickly. Try putting the glue in the fridge for a few minutes to slow the reaction and give yourself some extra time. On a cool day you can take your time, but make sure your horse stands still an extra couple of minutes because it will take a little longer to set up. On rare occasions, we have used Adhere that gets so hot and sets up so fast that the two of us working as a team in cool whether cannot work quickly enough to succeed. I can tell if the glue has set up too soon when I try to slip the shell on the hoof; I know that I can normally twist the shell back and forth to smear the glue around on the hoofwall before finally centering it. If it’s already setting up and it is too firm for me to twist the shell around a little, then it will not adhere to the hoof wall properly. So I pull the boot off right then and there and start over.

I have also lost a Glue-On as a result of bad glue. It was very apparent because there was still liquidy glue in the toe and the hardened glue had a blood-orange tint. So at least by diagnosing this problem, I was able to whine about the bad glue instead of blaming myself and the process! If the glue looks or feels abnormal in any way, chuck it, especially if you are gluing on for an important event.

If you can see bald spots where there was either no glue or an extremely thin layer of glue between the hoof and the shell, then you didn’t put enough Adhere in the boot. The boot then failed to stay on because there was not enough contact. Just use more Adhere next time.

This boot actually stayed on 4 weeks, but it was removed very easily, so I was bound to loose it soon. Lesson learned: not enough glue. There was zero glue on the shell and only a smear of it on the hoof. I guess we were feeling frugal with the Adhere that day.

Another problem that we encountered in the beginning was lameness caused by one of two things: either a small blob of adhere had gotten under the hoof during the glue-on process (and it setup under the sole or wall and acted like a rock in your shoe that never moved), or sand had gotten in to the boot over time and had built up in the bottom between the frog/sole and the bottom of the boot, causing undue pressure on the frog and sole. Both of these problems resulted from improper use of Goober Glue (or CS or any other hoof pack). With both of these problems, the horse will regain soundness immediately upon removal of the pressure.

If you remove the shell and feel or look where the hoof rested on the floor of the shell, you may encounter a hard bump of Adhere that was causing your horse pain. Adhere, once setup, is like hard plastic, whereas Goober Glue is soft and cushioning. When you slip the hoof into the shell, it is possible for the hoof to catch a dab of adhere as you force it on. That dab of glue can cause pressure and then possible lameness. This is why when we pack the frog and sole with Goober Glue, it is also important to put a bead of Goober Glue all along the edge of the shell’s internal wall. We have not encountered this problem since we started putting that bead around the edge. Regardless, if you study the boot after removal, is all the adhere on the wall and is the Goober Glue bead intact around the edge? Or can you see or feel an Adhere bump on the floor of the shell or still glued to the bottom of the hoof? By studying the shell and hoof you will know if it was a gluing mistake, and if so, you can focus on preventing it from happening the next time.

Goober Glue remaining in the hoof that just had a Glue-On removed. A small amount of sand got in but not enough to cause any problems.

If you pick up your horse’s hoof and the Glue-On shell is actually bulging out in the center, you probably didn’t use enough Goober Glue to pack the frog and sole, leaving room for debris/sand to enter, but not escape. Remove the shell, and check to see if the Goober Glue completely filled the entire concavity and grooves of the frog. It’s better to have excess packing than not enough, since excess will just squeeze out the heels.

A glue on was just removed from the left hoof, notice the goober glue, still on the hoof, fills the frog and concavity entirely, and forms a rim around the outer edge of the hoof, and fills all the way up the heel bulbs so nothing can seep in back there.

A Glue-On was just removed from the left hoof. Notice the Goober Glue, still on the hoof, fills the frog and concavity entirely. It forms a rim around the outer edge of the hoof, and fills all the way up the heel bulbs so nothing can seep in back there.

As you can see, these problems are all the result of mistakes made during the glue-on process, not the failure of the boots. I recommend that you not only study the shells that you loose on trail but also those you remove that stayed on and worked successfully. From simple observations, you will learn a lot about how to do it better next time. You will start to see patterns of what works, and what doesn’t.

Tennesee Mahoney

Our Shahzada Story

Tuesday, October 4, 2011 by Team Easyboot

By Susan Gill and Jenny Moncur

I'd been doing endurance for a few years before I even became aware of the iconic Shahzada ride. It sounded quite interesting, but a ride for other people not me - the distance away, the marathon riding - not something easily achievable for me so I put it out of my mind. Then less than three months before this year's event my friend Jenny Moncur sent me an email - "hey, I'm going to the Shahzada to do the mini marathon, want to come?"

"Ummmmmmmm" stuttered through my mind - all the old objections plus lots of new ones surfaced but after checking and getting the go-ahead from family and work, I gave a cautious "yes OK", which soon metamorphosed into "heck, yes!"

The weeks flew past and it was time to be leaving. A journey of two days and 1,100km saw us arrive at the ride base Sunday evening - a short statement for a long road trip full of its own adventures. We unpacked, settled the horses in, and had an early night to be ready for pre-ride vetting the next day.

Joby in blue Glove boots, her big sister Promise behind the banner

The horses were entered and vetted through early Monday morning. Then we glued their Easyboot Glove shells on straight afterward to allow a good time lapse for the glue to set before our 6:30am start the next day. After our previous ride at Kilmore we were fussier with our preparation. Each hoof wall and sole was thoroughly cleaned firstly with a dry wire brush, secondly with a wet scrubbing brush, towel-dried, then roughed up with the rasp for maximum cleanliness and adhesion between shell and hoof.

everything assembled, brightly painted shells with gaitors to be removed after sikaflex has set.

The gaiters will be unscrewed after the boots have been in place for a few hours. The duct tape on the inside was also removed - it was used to help prevent any sikaflex (you use Goober Glue in North America) oozing up and adhering to the gaiters.

Many people have written lots of things about The Shahzada - its reputation as a ride has grown to mythical proportions - the funny thing is that most of it is true!

We came with the attitude of having fun no matter what happened, without any pressure on ourselves because it was only three training rides. But to drive so far next time would require the much worthier purpose of the full five day/400km marathon. How we viewed the mini-marathon was unintentionally arrogant, and our opinions were revised before Day One ended, to become quite respectful of the track, the distance, and the achievement earned by riding and vetting through successfully.

While still out on track on our first day we were already planning next year, what horses we'd bring, who we would entice to come along and share our pleasure in the riding. Having booted horses made it all that little bit easier - no worries about trotting down the hard roads, or whether we'd slip on the rocky mountain goat tracks or lose a shoe in the boggy sections.

Joby sporting blue boots, Promise in green boots, moving along very comfortably with their sikaflex cushion inner-soles. Photo credit Keiron Power

Back at base, we strapped the horses and presented for post-ride vetting Jenny's horse Promise vetted through with flying colours. My horse Joby had a distinctly sore back and I was told that if I rode her in the same saddle for Day Two, then she would most likely vet out. I was given the advice of changing saddles, easier said then done when I didn't have a spare saddle to use. It was suggested that I ask at the pre-ride briefing about borrowing someone else's saddle - the vets were confident that I would get plenty of offers - they told me this is what the Shahzada spirit is about. Then an adjacent camper whose horse had vetted out pre-ride stepped forward offering the use of his saddle. It proved a good fit, resulting in Joby vetting through at the end of Day Two with a marginally improved back, so I was delighted to plan for Day Three which included The Steps!

Not having a head for heights I was anticipating The Steps to be very challenging. The funny thing was that I was concentrating so hard on getting Joby down that I didn't feel frightened at all. It was only when I arrived at the bottom that I realized that I had been completely terrified all along. Not that anyone would guess to see the picture of me in the last few yards, skidding down on my backside with a mad grin plastered over my face. Jenny managed much more decorously by tailing Promise down, although Prom did have her own ideas of which direction to go at one stage, possibly trying to tell Jenny she was being silly to think that it was a real path she was expecting her to take.

It's much steeper than it looks and maybe I would have been better with Easyboot Gloves on my feet too!
Photo credit Keiron Power

Jenny and I arrived as first-time mini-marathoners from interstate, and were made welcome. We felt quite distinctive, with our look-alike horses and our look-alike grins, and our state's honor unofficially resting on our shoulders. We left as Shahzadians, already looking forward to next year's special week in August when we're allowed to come back and ride again.

Photo credit Keiron Power

The Northern Convict Trail; Boyd's Track; The Steps - they were all memorable parts of the ride. But the nightly pre/post-ride briefings where the camaraderie of the group showed, where as one big family each rider was celebrated even as they vetted out, where the slowest rider/s were given as much kudos as the faster ones - no jealously or pettiness or bad sportsmanship, each rider taking responsibility for riding to the conditions, the hazards, their horse: that is what shined through.

We discovered as our adventure evolved, while riding was a huge part of the whole deal, we actually got to experience the very essence of Australia and learned that The Shahzada spirit is far more than just about riding.

Virginia City 100 2011

Thursday, September 29, 2011 by Lucy Chaplin-Trumbull

This year the 44th Annual Virginia City 100 was held on September 17th. Sadly, because of Uno's leg injury I wasn't able to ride but did the next best thing - crewing. The temperatures were very mild - lows in the 50s overnight, with highs in the 80s with a light breeze - a welcome respite from the continuous Nevada wind that so often accompanies this event. NV rides are always very laid-back affairs and VC100 is no different. There's great cameraderie amongst the volunteers, many of whom have been helping out at (or riding) the ride for decades. Riders come back time and again because this is one of the very best 100-mile rides in the west region.

Virginia City itself is an old silver mining town perched at 6,200' on the side of a steep pink hillside. The main street is at the top with the side streets step-cut progressively lower into the slope below. The start of the ride at 5 am is on the boardwalked C Street outside the Delta Saloon (1875), home of the "Suicide Table" - one of the more peculiar starts to an endurance ride. From there riders wend their way north through town, past the old cemetery (the finish line) and out into the surrounding sagebrush-dotted mountains towards Lousetown (really).

This is a course that has a bit of everything to offer riders and their horses. After 20 miles of up and down rocky foothills, you negotiate the old Toll Road four-miles down Geiger Grade - a 1,700' drop - to the first vet check at the "Market" located right on the outskirts of surburban Reno.

Looking down on Washoe Lake, around 45 miles into the ride

From there, you undergo an hour-long test of your horse's sure-footedness through what is effectively a rocky creek bed: the remote and seldom-used Bailey Canyon. After a climb over Jumbo Grade and a trot-by to check the horses for soundness at Washoe Lake, riders climb the first of many typical NV ascents - gradual, yet brutal in their neverendingness. But the views from the top overlooking Washoe Lake are stupendous. This section contains the infamous "SOBs" - three short but ridiculously steep V-shaped drops in the trail that many riders negotiate on foot, tailing the uphills. Once you make it over the ridge, you then drop down Ophir Grade back into Virginia City for the 51 mile check.

The next 26 mile loop takes you back out into the Virginia Range, skirting the remains of old mining buildings which appear eerily as if they came from an apolcalypse movie. You climb again to the backside of Mt Davidson and follow the ridge up to 7,600' before dropping once again down into Virginia City for the 77 mile vet check.

The final 23 mile loop, usually starting around 11 pm unless the rider is a front-runner, takes you along the relatively flat "Long Valley", past herds of wild horses to the Chalk Hills, which glow in the moonlight, through another "out check" at the Cottonwoods (an old corral) and back up the final rocky clamber to the cemetery outside Virginia City.

This year's winner, Rachel Shackelford riding Ray of Hope, arrived at 11 pm, with best condition winner Lori Stewart on LA Bandit arriving just 17 minutes behind them. But this is a 100 mile ride where it's common for riders to take almost the full 24 hours to finish: the final 8 riders all came in after 3 am.

One of the things NV rides are known for is rocks. Although VC100 isn't easy, it is very doable. While the elevation gains are over 20,000', very little of the trail is super-technical provided you can take your time and pick your way through the footing. Racing it is another matter and many riders are defeated by the rocks. Good hoof protection is a must regardless as to where you hope to place.

May stylin' in her new rear Glue-on Wides

This year I was aware of seven riders who were using hoof-boots in one form or another, five of whom completed the ride. There were 25 overall starters - a much lower number than usual due to the proximity to the rescheduled Tevis (three weeks later) - with 18 finishers.

Fire Mt Destiny at 40 miles - with this completion he reached 5,000 miles (AERC)

Gina Hall, completing her 12th VC100, finished in 6th place on her outstanding big chestnut Fire Mt Destiny, who himself was completing his 7th VC100 (his 14th 100 mile completion). They also completed the Triple Crown this year (NV Derby 50, NASTR 75 and VC100 with same horse and rider). His completion earned Destiny his 5,000 mile AERC milestone - 86 rides with no pulls. He wears Original Easyboots over shoes.

Nicole Chappell and Golden Knight getting ready to leave the first vet check

Nicole Chappell was riding her striking buckskin friesian/arabian cross, Golden Knight, with size 2.5 Glue-Ons on the front. Completing the Triple Crown (including winning and being awarded Best Condition at the first phase - NV Derby 50 - in the spring), they placed 8th overall at VC100 and won the "Pioneer Division" (riding the entire ride with no outside help), securing Nicole her 19th VC100 completion - she promised herself as an 11 yr old that she would finish the ride 20 times by the time she was 30. She didn't quite make it but is close. This was Golden Knight's second VC100 completion.

Nicole Chappell and Golden Knight arriving at Washoe Lake "trot-by"

Rushcreek Okay gawping at a flapping flag shadow,
raising his heart rate during the 51 mile vet check

Another horse who always competes in boots and is hard to miss is Rushcreek Okay - a huge grey arabian who eats like... well, a horse, and sports size 3 Glue-Ons on the front. This was Okay's second VC100 finish with rider Carolyn Meier and this year they also completed the Triple Crown. After a warm-up performance last year (Okay tends to be a nosy thing - gawping at everything around him), Carolyn was thrilled with how well he looked after himself this year - getting progressively better and better at each vet check.

Okay showing off his flexibility and range of motion
the morning after completing his second VC100

Okay's great big size 3 feet

Tami and May prepare to leave vet check #1

A fourth Triple Crown booted finisher with a 13th place at VC100 was Tami Rougeau's Amatzing Grace - and she'll no doubt tell you more about their exploits in a separate post. Suffice to say May has been a challenge to fit but her Glue-Ons held up beautifully for this ride.

Nina Cooke and Gryphen at the road-crossing water trough at about 20 miles

Rounding out the "booters", Nina Cooke and Gryphen finished their first 100 mile ride in glue-ons.

Pat Chappell resetting her horse's rear shoes

Pat Chappell resetting her horse's shoes at 51 miles

Two of the riders in the Pioneer Division had shoeing problems during the ride. One was sadly pulled at 77 miles after having to abandon her Pioneer status by using the services of the ride farrier - to no avail: the horse was still lame. The other, Nicole's mother, Pat Chappell pulled out her shoeing tools and reset both back shoes on her horse at 51 miles. Remembering how tired I was last year at 51 miles, I can only imagine the toll it would take on a rider to have to do this. Last year at that point in the ride I'd lost both front glue-ons (a product of trying to stuff too small a size boot on Uno's expanding feet) but it was a very simple remedy to just pop on my spare Gloves. My biggest "problem" was removing the gobs of glue from the hoofwall (I admit, I wimped out and asked my crew, Renee Robinson, to do it for me).

During another memorable 100 mile ride, Roo did an impressive side-spook, tweaking a back shoe in such a way that it stuck out sideways by half an inch but wasn't going to come off without serious tools. Luckily for me the incident happened when my regular farrier was also riding the 100 miler and he was just ahead of us and able to reset the shoe at the vet check - but that was the last time I wanted to be at the mercy of a shoer (or the hope that a shoer would be available) during a ride. You put so much into a 100-miler that to have it all go down the drain because of lack of control over your horse's footwear is heartbreaking. Yes, sometimes I lose boots, but I can still fix the problem.

This was my 7th year either volunteering, crewing, or riding Virginia City 100 and it has become a highlight of my year. The ride has changed little over the years - it started in 1968 (two years after I was born) and the fact that it is still going is a testament to just how special it is. It should be a must-do ride for any 100-mile rider - and preferably many times over.

(p.s. my husband Patrick points out that the Ferrari Club of America holds the annual Virginia City Hill Climb - spectator-able from the ride camp - the same weekend as the endurance ride. Just saying.)

Lucy Chaplin Trumbull
Sierra Foothills, California

Have Boots, Will Travel or What I Learned (The Hard Way) On My Summer Vacation

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 by Kevin Myers

Submitted by Debbie Boscoe, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

About mid-October last year I stood next to my barn watching my best-in-the-world farrier hammer shoes on my horses. I was signed up (read: had paid through the nose) for the upcoming XP2011 endurance ride – 2040 miles from St. Joseph, MS to Virginia City NV over 8 weeks. Lots scared me about this trip, and finding good shoers en route headed the list.

“I’m going barefoot with boots.” I announced to Mo and he chuckled around the nails in his mouth. Six weeks later we pulled shoes and I began my crash course in barefoot trimming and boot fitting. Now I’d used Easyboots for many years, over shoes and in emergencies. How hard could this be already?

There are two parts to that question: how hard could learning to trim be, and then how hard could it be to keep boots on 12 feet for 2,000 miles in every kind of weather and terrain? I can hear some of you smirking, but here’s what I found:
-    First, not only was the task doable, it was well worth the effort.
-    Second, the effort never ceases – that is, the learning goes on and on. So do the rewards.

The hardest part of learning to trim on the fly was all the contradictory advice I got in the beginning, and not knowing what was correct. I stuck with less is more until you see how it works, and followed the basics my farrier was showing me (he does a fine balanced foot). The temptation was to shape the hoof to fit the boots but a good verbal cuffing from Mo kept me in line. He also advised patience as hoofs need time to adjust and my timeframe wasn’t necessarily theirs. Soaking the hooves before I worked on them and good, sharp tools helped tremendously; a good knife sharpener was a great investment. I also found I could only do a couple of feet at a time before my back and my judgement gave out, so I set aside time every day to do a little. To my surprise, I learned that I actually enjoyed the process.

The first endurance ride I did with barefoot horses I used Gloves (3 days, 3 horses, all booted). The temps were in the low single digits and I had to warm the Goober Glue over a fire in a garbage can, but with enough tape, Goober Glue and some Gorrilla Glue I actually kept all the boots on all three horses for all 3 days (maybe they just froze in place!).

The next two rides were much less successful as Gloves flew off. Each time there was a barefoot trimmer/booter nearby, and amazingly, each time they gave me different advice, right down to the size boot I should be using. Did I mention that these early stages can be expensive? But the best advice was to use Glue-Ons. So off to Missouri I went, loaded down with shells and glues and guns and tips and hand gloves and tools.

My first gluing experience was much like some other ‘firsts’ I remember – not as satisfying as and much messier than I expected. Amazingly 3 out of 4 boots stayed on the first day, first horse. But the 4th came off at the start when the horse was so hyper I couldn’t even get a Glove on for 10 miles. That Glove came off again as we left lunch in the rain and just as the stallions broke out of their paddock and the tornado siren went off. The ensuing scene was the ultimate reality show: 4 riders driving the stallions away from my mare as I slide around in the mud trying to retape and reboot. That finally done, I find I can’t get back in the saddle because my foot is too full of mud to get purchase in the stirrup. Another intrepid rider climbs down and throws me up in the saddle. Now we huddle to see what we know about tornados: short huddle – we know nothing. So we just concentrated on keeping the stallions at bay and riding west.

Dave Rabe the Great helped me glue the boot on that evening – showing me how to prep correctly. And that was the most important lesson of all. He is a great teacher and a real overachiever when it comes to getting a hoof ready for a Glue-On. No matter how much time I spent trimming and prepping, he always rasped the hoofs just a bit more before we glued. Here was the process:

-    I’d trim (with advice/correction from our resident barefoot trimmer) and then test each hoof by putting a shell on it and having the horse walk. If it stayed on, there were no bulges, and the heel sat down (eg. the toe was short enough); it was a good fit.
-    Next I’d clean the hoof bottom again and begin digging grooves in the hoof wall with my rasp edge until I thought it perfectly groovy.
-    Dave would then come over and clean the bottom again and dig more grooves and check that the shell was clean.
-    One of us would put the Goober Glue in the bottom, in a V where the frog grooves would lay and at the back of the boot to keep dirt out.
-    I’d hold up the hoof and he’d put the Adhere in the shell, then put it on, pound it in place, and I’d lift another leg to get all the horse’s weight on the one we were working on, holding it for 30 seconds or so and until Dave was ready with the next boot.
-    Repeat.

The first part took me hours as the hoofs were growing fast with all that work and I had lots to trim each time. The gluing itself would take 5 minutes and Dave could/can do four boots with one tip and ¾ of a tube of Adhere. Something to work towards.

Here’s my take away on Glue-Ons: put on over a good trim and with the right prep, they will stay on in rain, mud, cold, heat, and over any terrain. The glue fails before the boots do, and that takes between 250 and 400 miles. If you find the boots and they have tread on them you can grind out the old glue and reuse them – again correct prep of both boots and hooves is the key. The Australian team with their 5 booted horses lost, well, manure loads of boots in the beginning. They too were new to this form of entertainment and we learned about properly prepping together. Our first non-riding day we sat with a drill with grinder, a vice, and a big stack of used boots, cleaning off the glue. That wasn’t very difficult and all the boots were re-usable.

Boots will stay on in just about any conditions with the right preparation. This was taken at about 200 miles on this set of boots.

I left my mares barefoot for as long as possible in between new boots, but that was just a day or two because I was riding so much and alternating them. I thought I was getting away with it, but in fact one mare came home with bad thrush and a hard compacted sole; ‘nother lesson learned: 8 weeks in boots is too long.

Speaking of lessons, it worked out better gluing in the cold and wet than it did in the extreme heat. Adhere sets up in a minute or less when it is 98 degrees and those boots didn’t stay on for even 75 miles. They looked like they had goiters as the glue clumped between the hoof and boot. Of course in a perfect world you glue in moderate dry conditions, but who had perfect?

Some anecdotal information: only one rider rode all 2040 miles, and did every mile in glue-on boots. Of the five of us who rode more than 1,600 miles, only one used metal shoes for the whole ride. Of the horses that started in metal shoes, about one third moved to barefoot/boots during the ride.

Dave Rabe on the right, riding Red the Mule. Red is in shoes here, but makes the switch. Max and Tracy also begin booting part way through.

The reasons for riders switching to boots varied:
-    Metal shoes didn’t hold up well to the hard packed roads during the first three weeks. The gaited horses went through metal shoes every few days.
-    Concussion lameness was our single biggest problem and the booted horses had far fewer than the shod horses (I had none over 1,660 miles).
-    Shoers were hard to find and riders had to wait for a day off to have them come out. At least one of the shoers lamed several horses, and those horses went directly to boots.
-    Natalie Herman was available to trim; Dave Rabe was available to boot; several of us had boots to spare; EasyCare was great about getting more boots shipped to where we were.

Roads softened a bit after a rain, then returned to their cement-like texture.

I’ve been home for over a month now. I’ve cured the thrush problems, got my hands on the Pete Ramey DVD collection, and found a good barefoot trimmer in my area to keep me on track. I’ve done a pretty tough 75 mile ride since returning and again lost Gloves. What did I learn from that? 10 wraps of tape is better than 2 wraps, and those old boots really do stretch. More work for me, but dang that mare’s feet look good.

Sage and I at the highest point of the ride. She is wearing Gloves, has leftover clay from her post-ride wraps, has vet wrap covering a bout of scratches, shows her old and healed torn flexor tendon, and is sound as a dollar bill, after over 600 miles.

First Project: Lil' Rick's Gal

Thursday, September 15, 2011 by Kate Saunders

With the success of the pony horse, 91, and visual signs of improvement in several horses who were brought to their farm for me to work on, Lisa nonchalantly suggested that she would like me to meet her at the training center ("the track") to look at a few horses currently racing. I like to believe that she just got tired of trailering horse after horse from the track to the farm. Whatever the reason, Yippee!

Victor and Lisa's Barn at the Training Center

You'd think this would be an easy thing to do. Just show up at the training center, drive to the designated barn, and that's it. Oh, no. Not the case at all. Just as Garrett Ford suggested in his blog, blog.easycareinc.com/blog/hoof-boot-news/the-horse-that-wasnt-allowed-to-race, the racing industry is FULL of red tape. After about a week of running around from place to place, I finally acquired my "Plater's" license (not an easy feat since I had no proof that I had any ability or intention to put racing plates on horse's feet), and was allowed to enter the training center property.

A mug shot would have turned out better than this

As if rewarded for a job well done, I was presented upon my arrival to the training center with my first project: Lil' Rick's Gal.

Ricky is a 5-year old mare who arrived at the training center with sore feet. For months, Lisa and Victor worked with the track farriers to find something that made Ricky more comfortable. Metal shoes did not help. Lisa and Victor knew that something different had to be done; this horse could barely walk, let alone hold a rider on her back.

During the time that Lisa and Victor were struggling with Lil' Rick at the track, I had one rehab race horse out of his boots and on the road to recovery at the farm. Lisa, feeling more confident in the natural hoof care technique, decided to do something that most likely had never been done in the entire state of Louisiana: She brought those boots to the track! For 60 days, 20 hours out of the day, Lil' Rick stayed in her hoof boots. She was hand walked each day, several times a day, for gentle exercise until she was comfortable enough to go on the walker.

By the time I was finally brought into the excitement, Lil' Rick was not only walking on the walker, but had actually begun exercising on the track with her size 0 EasyBoot Epics!

And so the EasyBoot Epic made its way into Lisa's heart and onto a Louisiana training track.

At first, the exercise riders were skeptical of these contraptions on her feet, and agreed only to pony Lil' Rick in her boots. That is to say, the riders were afraid that the boots would come off at high speeds, and so they agreed at first only to ride a pony horse while leading Lil' Rick on her exercise routine. They did not want to be on her back when those boots came off.

And it is true, the boot did require some tweaking. With a little sports tape, the boots now stay on throughout her morning exercise routine. The downward buckles do pop up and so we may swap out the current buckles with up-buckles, instead.

Sports Tape Post Morning Work Out

Today, Lil' Rick can not only trot down the aisle barefoot, but she is currently running BAREFOOT (not even boots) with a rider on her morning exercise routines!

With the background on Lil' Rick set, we now come to the speed bump in the road that defines the racing industry. Ricky has run and WON one race since she began her rehab with the EasyBoot Epics. However, just before the race, the track farriers glued aluminum shoes on her fronts, and nailed aluminum racing plates on her back feet. Lisa did make sure that those farriers took nothing off of her feet when applying the shoes. At the time of that race, Lisa did not know of any better options.

Lisa and Victor are still concerned about traction and the need for something on a race horse's foot as she leans into the curves and navigates around other horses. However, with Garret Ford's Race boots that he has been working on, the Arceneaux barn (and their kooky natural hoof care trimmer) have hope that we may have a number of great options coming our way.

In future posts, I will provide the nitty-gritty on attempting to fit EasyBoot Gloves and Glue-Ons onto Lil' Rick's tiny feet, provide feedback on exercising in these two products, and hopefully, make some headway with the racing secretary in approving an EasyBoot Race for official races!

Dave Rabe and Red the Mule at XP 2011-NF

Saturday, September 3, 2011 by EasyCare Customer Service Team

Dave Rabe was gracious enough to share some pictures and a story with me about his travels and booting success with Red the mule at this year's XP 2011 ride.

Dave writes:

The mule I rode belongs to Les Carr. His name is Red. Red started eighteen of the forty 50 mile AERC rides and completed seventeen of them. I tried to put #00 Easyboots over his shoes, but since his shoes didn't go past the heel at all, they wouldn't stay on over the shoes. So, I rode him in shoes the first seven 50 mile rides. On the seventh day, he came up lame in both front hooves due to the hard rocky roads. I let Red rest for a week so he could get sound at a trot and he did just that!

Then I decided to glue on boots and what a change it made!!! We glued on #00 Easyboot Glue-On boots on all four hooves. Natalie Herman was my mule trimmer. She did an excellent job with Red.

We did the next eleven 50 mile rides with no lameness issues at all. The boots stayed on and fit great. We had no problems with them except a little wearing out which is to be expected. Of the 550 miles Red did in the Easyboot Glue-Ons, we used two sets of #00 boots.

I think the Glue-Ons worked excellent on the mule. The second set I glued on were on for 2 weeks and when I got home, I left Red in a wet pasture for those two weeks and then took him to a 50 mile ride with the same boots on and completed the ride with the boots staying on and looking great. I actually had a tough time getting them off two days later. I would recommend Easyboot Glue-Ons for mules any time.

I also rode my mare, Midnight Melody Marie, on thirteen 50 mile AERC rides on the XP ride. She also had on Easyboot Glue-Ons and did excellent in the boots.

I ended up doing 38 of the 40 AERC rides with two pulls, both due to lameness issues. I rode five other horses on the ride.

The ride totaled 2040 miles. I ended up doing 1990 miles and 1590 of my miles were in Easyboot Glue-Ons and Easyboot Gloves. The other 400 miles were in regular iron shoes on Red and then other peoples horses.

I wanted to thank Garrett and all of you at EasyCare for all your help and support with your wonderful products. I could not have done this ride without EasyCare.

Thank you,

Dave and Red

Nancy Fredrick

EasyCare Office Manager

As the office manager, I make sure the general operations of the organization run smoothly and seamlessly from A to Z. I have been on the EasyCare team since 2001 and have first hand product knowledge as my horses are barefoot and booted.

Why Is The Horse Industry One Of the Slowest To Change?

Thursday, September 1, 2011 by Garrett Ford

Look at the other sporting goods industries and see how fast they are changing. Mountain bikes change every year and we are now seeing carbon frames, carbon wheels and complete bikes that weigh less than 20 lbs.

The 2011Specialized Carbon Epic. Carbon frame, carbon wheels and now 29 inch wheels. All not available four years back. The $9,900.00 price tag is a result.

1982 Specialized Stumpjumper. Even the non bike people can easily see an industry that thrives on change.

Look at downhill skiing and the technology in shaped skis, boots and bindings. They get better and better every year. Look at something very gear free like swimming and the advancements in low drag swim suits changes yearly. Look at golf. Golf club technology is new and improved every year. You blink in these industries and you get left behind. Compare these industries to the equine industry and the fact that the majority of our equine partners are still competing in iron shoes and saddles that haven't changed in decades.

The slow rate of change and acceptance in the horse industry has been personally highlighted by a recent entry into the flat track racing industry. I've written about our journey trying to enter the world of flat track racing and it's a perfect example of why the horse industry is slow to change. Take a peek at the story here "The Horse That Wasn't Allowed to Race"

Clunk racing at Araphoe Park in aluminum plates. Clunk was scratched twice because he was not allowed to race in a glue-on urethane shoe.

Most other industries are changing at a rapid pace, so why is the equine industry so slow to change? Look at the racing industry as just one example. Life on the race track presents challenges to the equine hoof. Many track horses have challenges with brittle walls, tender feet, lack of support, and contracted heels from continuous shoeing. Track horses that rip off a shoe and lose hoof wall also have a difficult time holding shoes and as a result miss conditioning and races. Track horses are subjected to pounding workouts and as a result are prone to injury. Is the aluminum race plate the end solution? Is an aluminum racing plate the end game? We don't believe it is and for the reasons above EasyCare believes the sport could benefit from a more supportive shoe.

The technology is available to make a lightweight race shoe for the equine track athlete. EasyCare has developed a shoe that offers the following.

The Easyboot Race will allow the hoof to expand and contract as nature intended.
The Easyboot Race will provide support and comfort for quarter cracks.
The Easyboot Race will allow farriers and trainers another tool for problem feet that will not hold nails.
The Easyboot Race will allow farriers and trainers an option that flexes and absorbs concussion to extend the horse's health and longevity.
The Easyboot Race can be trimmed and modified to suit a specific horse, track or surface.
The Easyboot Race will be less likely to hurt horses, jockeys or spectators if they do come off.
The Easyboot Race will allow trainers to train the horses harder and on less than perfect surface conditions.
The Easyboot Race will bring the track an affordable glue-on solution.

Aluminum Racing plate used today.

An aluminum racing plate used in the 1980s. Yes it's the same shoe. Nothing has changed.

The track seems very hesitant to change. Although we have tried everything to learn the rules and participate at Arapahoe Park with new hoof protection that gives the industry options, we have so far not been able to compete because the stewards and race director have determined the Easyboot Race shoe violates rule 7.608.

An aluminum plate next to an Easyboot Race shoe. The ability to change and make new products is here.

"7.608 - Bar plates may be used only with the consent of the Division Veterinarian. The commission may limit the height of toe grabs for any breed at a live race meet. Toe grabs with a height greater than the maximum set by the commission, bends, jar caulks, stickers and any other traction device worn on the front hooves of horses while racing or training on all surfaces, are prohibited. The horse shall be scratched and the trainer may be subject to fine for any violation of this rule."

As I ride my Specialized Carbon Epic down the mountain trails my mind wonders. Why is the equine industry slow to change? Are saddle designs, metal shoes and bits the best we can do? Have we come to a limit in the industry where we can't improve? Why do many of the organizations that govern the equine sports have rules that prevent change?

As we participate in other sports and see the advances in technology the lack of advancement in the equine industry become more and more obvious. Does your sport have a rule that prohibits new saddles, new hoof protection or new helmets? Do you believe the rules prevent you and your horse from competing at your highest ability? Challenge the rules. Ask why! Help the equine sports catch up with the rest of the sporting industries.

Garrett Ford

President & CEO

I have been President and CEO of EasyCare since 1993. My first area of focus for the company is in product development, and my goal is to design the perfect hoof boot for the barefoot horse.

Five Basics to Successful Booting: #1

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 by Kevin Myers

#1: Choosing the Right Boot

Have you looked at the running shoe choices at your local sports store lately? The choices are overwhelming.

Some of the running shoe choices at our local outdoor store.

At EasyCare, we have 13 boot models to choose from, and knowing which boot is right for you and your horse can seem equally daunting. Much like buying a pair of running shoes, the first thing to do when making your boot choice is to decide what you and your horse are going to do in the boots.

What's Your Plan?
We've broken the choice of activities down into three categories: Trail Riding, Aggressive Distance Riding and Therapy. You can read about them in some detail on the New To Boots page on our website. So think first about what your planned booted activities will include.

Trail Riding
If trail riding is your thing, your needs can almost certainly be accomodated with the Easyboot Trail, the Easyboot Epic or the Easyboot Glove. There are plenty of other boot choices you could experiment with, but in my opinion, these three boots are the best place to start.

The Easyboot Trail is the favorite boot of our backcountry rider customers. It is a good boot for people who ride up to 25 miles per week. We picked that weekly unscientific ceiling as a guidline for people to use, but since the horse and the terrain vary wildly from user to user, this really is only a guideline. The pros for using this boot are its affordable entry-level price point; the ease of putting the boot on and off; and the infinitely variable hoof shapes it can accomodate. So if your horse has long toe capsules, a high heel, lots of hoofwall flare, or you only see you trimmer once in a while, this boot will be very forgiving throughout the entire trim cycle.

The Easyboot Epic continues to be one of our most popular boots. Based on the Original Easyboot design, it comes with the double layer neoprene gaiter for additional staying-on power. The cable and buckle system allows for additional adjustments for a wide variety of hoof shapes and sizes, and the boot is available in sizes Pony through 7. Last year I fitted most of the big draft horses at Disney World in Florida in Epics.

The Easyboot Glove and Glove Wide are the frontrunners of any horse hoof boot across the world. Unlike other boots in our product line, this boot really cannot be used over steel shoes. Successful use of this boot also requires a regularly maintained hoof capsule with a short toe, short heels and little to no flare.

Aggressive Distance Riding
Most riders who compete in long distance wilderness rides use the Easyboot Glove or the Easyboot Glue-On (or their Wide counterparts). If the fit is correct and the hooves are regularly maintained, this is a tough boot model to turn down. This boot is also very popular with riders who compete in arena speed activities such as barrel racing, pole bending and mounted shooting.

Many of our customers still like to use the Easyboot Epic. The cable and buckle system affords additional adjustment tweaking, and 41 years of success are hard to beat.

Therapy (Not Riding)
There are two choices for therapy: the Easyboot Rx provides support and relief for horses with chronic hoof issues. Although the boot cannot be used for riding, it can be used for light turnout for horses with laminitis or founder, or for transitioning horses who need additional comfort to speed the process and aid in movement.

The EasySoaker is the answer to all your soaking needs, from thrush prevention and treatment to management of abscesses.

The Moral of the Story
You've got to choose the right boot for the job. I've distilled the choices to just a few, but there are several other models to choose from. We'd be happy to discuss your particular needs with you in person.

So whether you buy directly from us or from one of the thousands of EasyCare dealers across the world, please pick up the phone and call us during the decision-making process. We want you to have the most positive boot using experience possible. And we've got a few free tips and tricks up our sleeve: we can almost certainly lead you to a positive conclusion.

Give us a call at 800-447-8836 or 520-297-1900. We've got a small army of experts waiting to talk to you, so don't be shy.

Next week: Summarising the Five Basics to Successful Booting - a wholistic approach to connecting the pieces.

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.

The Horse That Wasn't Allowed To Race

Thursday, August 18, 2011 by Garrett Ford

A Horse Named Clunk

Racetrack Intrigue
I've always been a bit intrigued by the racetrack industry and the mystique that surrounds the horses, trainers, owners and conditioning process. The stories of horses like Man O'War, Seabiscuit, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Big Brown fueled my interest and the draw to someday own a racehorse.

Shoe or Boot?
EasyCare hoof boots have been used in just about every equine sport, but have yet to make an impact in flat track racing. Until recently, hoof boots have been much too heavy and bulky to allow a race horse to be competitive. When the Easyboot Glue-On was developed, it started my curiosity about campaigning an Arabian track horse in a modified version of the Easyboot Glue-On shoe.

Why Bother?
Life on the race track presents challenges to the equine hoof. Many track horses have challenges with brittle walls, tender feet, lack of support, and contracted heels from continuous shoeing. Track horses that rip off a shoe and lose hoof wall also have a difficult time holding shoes and as a result miss conditioning and races. Track horses are subjected to pounding workouts and as a result are prone to injury. It is for these reasons I believe the sport could benefit from a more supportive shoe.

Imagine: The Easyboot Race

The Easyboot Race will allow the hoof to expand and contract as nature intended.
The Easyboot Race will provide support and comfort for quarter cracks.
The Easyboot Race will allow farriers and trainers another tool for problem feet that will not hold nails.
The Easyboot Race will allow farriers and trainers an option that flexes and absorbs concussion to extend the horse's health and longevity.
The Easyboot Race can be trimmed and modified to suit a specific horse, track or surface.
The Easyboot Race will be less likely to hurt horses, jockeys or spectators if they do come off.
The Easyboot Race will allow trainers to train the horses harder and on less than perfect surface conditions.
The Easyboot Race will bring the track an affordable glue-on solution.

I probably heard my college football coach utter the phrase "speed kills" a hundred times. Size, strength and athletic ability nearly always fail when confronted with speed. We often entered a game as the bigger and strong team, but left the field beaten badly by a team with more speed.

The term "speed kills" is very relevant to the horse, shoes and the hoof boot world. Getting shoes and hoof boots to work for a leisurely trail ride at a walk is comparatively easy. As speed is added, shoes and hoof boots are put under a great deal of stress and torque. The race track is the ultimate equine speed sport and the next arena for Easycare product testing. Participation in the race track industry will make our products lighter and sleeker, allowing us to perfect the product line for all equine disciplines.

I've tried unsuccessfully to convince race track trainers and race track owners to use hoof boots for flat track training. I wasn't convinced they were right. I thought a custom designed racing shoe/boot would give horses that run at speed a comfort advantage and extended longevity. Rather than continue to wonder, I decided to purchase a racetrack Arabian. My plan was to pull the aluminum racing plates, improve the trim on his feet, condition him a bit in the Colorado hills and then take him back and race him in the new Easyboot Race shoes.

Clunk was purchased for the experiment. He's a well breed Arab gelding that I knew I could later use for endurance. I wanted a horse that was currently running and one that I could take back to the track in a short period with the change to Easyboot Race shoes.

Clunk's front feet before pulling shoes. Long in the toe, long hoof capsule. Contracted in the heel.

Front feet up close.

I removed the aluminum plates before I turned Clunk out.

Modifying the Easyboot tread to mimic an aluminum racing plate: first prototype.

Weights of the aluminum race plates and the modified Easyboot Race shoe were taken after the Race shoes were modified. The average weight of the aluminum plate was 9.5 ounces. There were variances of + .1 ounces and - .1 ounces. These shoes had 1 race on them, on a soft racing surface, and exhibited little to no wear and tear. They were removed within three hours of finishing the race.

The average weight of the reconfigured EasyCare Race shoe was 6.5 ounces. After adding the appropriate amount of glue for proper adhesion, the final weight was 9.55 ounces. The variance was + or - .15 ounces.

Clunk in endurance tack and Easyboot Gloves. I did roughly two weeks of conditioning with him in the Colorado mountains after we purchased the horse.

Clunk after hill repeats carrying 225 lbs.

During this process, we had been working with the stewards (race officials) at the Arapahoe Park Race Track in Aurora, Colorado. We discussed with them new Easyboot Race shoe and the prospect of racing Clunk in the new design on August 7th, 2011. The stewards were initially very receptive to the design and thought it could be beneficial for many reasons. They didn't see any problems with the shoe and asked to see Clunk do an official workout the week before the August 7th race.

Steve Kulinski and I fit Clunk with Easyboot Race shoes before the event.

Clunk's Easyboot Race shoes installed and ready to go. A very thin upper flange is used to glue the shoes to the hoof.

To Race, or Not To Race?
Clunk's race shoes were applied Tuesday August 2, 2011, in anticipation of the workout in front of stewards on Wednesday August 3rd. Clunk did a flawless workout in front of the stewards, track vet and several jockeys. The jockey was very impressed and said the horse felt more confident and stable. The track vet had no objections and saw many benefits that could help track horses.

The stewards, however, subsequently changed their opinion, informing us that Clunk would not be able to race on August 7th if he wore the Easyboot Glue-On Race Shoes. They were unable to give a reason or cite a rule in support of their decision.

On Friday August 5th, we filed a formal appeal and asked the stewards and director for a reason and rule that would not allow Clunk to race in the new EasyCare hoof wear. The director responded with a written response and that our new shoe went against rule number 7.608:

The Easyboot Race bottom surface mimics an aluminum plate but is made of urethane. Patent applications are complete. The photo above shows the finished Easyboot Race straight out of the mold: the exact pattern of the aluminum racing plate but molded in urethane.

Barrier After Barrier
Although Clunk was not allowed to race on August 7th, he remained entered in the August 21st Milemaker's Classic race. We believed that we could modify the Easyboot Race to be an exact copy of an aluminum plate and the stewards could not say it violated rule 7.608. We continued to press forward and quickly finished a new Easyboot Race mold. During the mold process we presented photos and drawings to the Arapahoe Park race director, Don Burmania, and the racing stewards.

To our disbelief, Don and the stewards said the new racing plate still violated the 7.608 rule as it was a "Traction Device" and they would not allow Clunk to race in the new design despite the fact it was an exact copy of an aluminum plate. On Wednesday August 17th, Don Burmania informed us via e-mail the following:

"please be aware that we will be unable to provide you with suggested changes to the product to get it to conform to Commission rules. No matter what changes you suggest, it will not change the fact that the device is a traction device prohibited under the Rule 7.608. "

Looking at Don's written response, I’m especially confused that he and the stewards are unable to provide guidance and suggestions that would allow our shoe device to conform to the Commission rules. And in the next sentence, Don states that regardless of the changes we make, it will not change the fact that the device is a traction device prohibited under Rule 7.608. Confusing and frustrating. If Don is able to make that statement, there are obviously some areas of the shoe that Don believes are a traction device. Until EasyCare knows the portions of our shoe that Don and stewards believe don’t conform to commission rules, Don is correct stating that we will be unable to make changes. It will be difficult to make changes if we don’t know what to change and what elements of our shoe violate a rule.

We can make many changes: we just need to know what is allowed and what isn't. Here are some examples.

The Easyboot Race sole with center and glue-on walls removed next to an aluminum plate. Does this design violate the traction rule? Shoes can be made of urethane and colored black?

Easyboot Race with center pad next to an aluminum plate. Does this design violate the traction rule? Shoes can be made of urethane, colored black and be used with pads?

Easyboot Race with glue-on cuff next to an aluminum plate. Does this design violate the traction rule? Shoes can be made of urethane, colored black and glued-on with a cuff or clips?

Easyboot Race prefered

Easyboot Race with center pad and glue-on cuff next to an aluminum plate. Does this design violate the traction rule? Shoes can be made of urethane, colored black and glued-on with a cuff or clips?

Easyboot Race all options

All the options available with the Easyboot Race pictured next to an aluminum plate that conforms to the traction rule.

I have to say it's been a frustrating process. It's hard to see horses being shipped off to slaughter when we are fighting to race a horse in a product that we believe will help prolong the racing careers of thousands of horses. It's difficult to see state employees that are paid with tax dollars make arbitrary and capricious decisions. Polyurethane glue-on racing shoes are already out there and being used by some of the best horses and trainers in the sport. Big Brown ran to victory in the 134th Kentucky Derby wearing glued-on poly-flex shoes.

I hope to pull some of the horses with foot issues off the slaughter wagons at various tracks and fit them in the new Easyboot Race shoes. I would like nothing more than to show the racing public that a horse heading for a processing plant in Mexico was saved and winning races in Easyboot Race shoes.

We believe in rules and intend to follow the rules. On the other hand it's hard to follow rules when state officials can't explain what portion of a rule is being broken. We will continue to fight and believe the Arapahoe Park officials have made the wrong decisions.

Do you believe the track industry could benefit from alternative hoof wear and more urethane shoe options? Do you have a horse that would be a candidate for the new Easyboot Race shoe? We would love to hear your thoughts and feedback.

Garrett Ford

President & CEO

I have been President and CEO of EasyCare since 1993. My first area of focus for the company is in product development, and my goal is to design the perfect hoof boot for the barefoot horse.

Cooley Ranch 2011

Saturday, August 6, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Christina Kramlich Bowie, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

The annual Cooley Ranch Ride was held the weekend of July 16-17 in Northern Sonoma County, California. As always, it was a gorgeous and fun filled weekend, with beautiful trails, perfect weather, great management, wonderful people, awesome prizes, and incredible food and wine! Who could ask for more? This is the kind of ride that reminds me of why I am so hooked on endurance.

The Cooley Ranch is a private property that has been in the same family since the 1800s. As ride managers Cynthia Ariosta and Forrest Tancer pointed out, as funds for our public parks dwindle in the state of California, it will increasingly be up to us endurance riders to cultivate relationships with private ranchers to hold rides on their lands. Crawford Cooley is extremely generous with the land and we are grateful he lets us use it. The ranch has very steep hills and is a real challenge for horse and rider. Usually the weather is hotter than it was during the weekend, but no one was complaining about that. Forrest and Cynthia did an amazing job organizing the meals: a casserole competition for Friday night with a wine tasting, a delicious paella dinner on Saturday, and a lovely dinner of roast pork loin on Sunday evening. No one wanted to leave.

As far as boots for the weekend, I decided to glue them on because of all the steep hills and water crossings, plus the fact that it’s a two day ride. I figured I had spare Gloves, but at least we’d start with Glue-Ons. I’ve been having good luck with the combination of Goober Glue on the frogs and on the walls, with Adhere in the quarters and along the top seam of the boot. We booted on a very hot day, and we did the first two boots quickly, which was great. Then I opened another tube of Adhere that was either too old or just too hot and it set up before I could get the boot on. Then that happened again with another tube. A few nasty words escaped my mouth, I admit - I hate wasting boots. Finally, the third tube was fine, and we booted a few more hooves and then ran out of time. Pascale and I popped the remaining two boots on in camp.

A few notes on using Adhere: 1. It has a shelf life of about a year, and it's possible that one or both of those tubes that went bad were too old, as someone had given them to me. 2. The ambient temperature is important to consider when applying boots using Adhere. On a very hot day, some find it works to keep the tube in the refrigerator before opening it so it doesn't set up too quickly. A cooler could also work, but just be sure that no moisture gets close to the glue. In the winter months, many find it works to wrap the tubes in a heating pad for a while before applying the glue to the boots.

But back to the ride: The first day I rode with Pascale who was on my young horse, Brigadoon, and we had a blast. We took it pretty easy, enjoyed the views, and had no booting problems – YAY! The next day my friend Bob Spoor, whose horse Logistic had BC’d the first day, dropped the gauntlet on me and urged me to ride with him. He rides a bit more aggressively than I do, and I made it clear that I might not stay with him, even though Czeale is a veteran and able to go plenty fast. It turned out Czeale and Logistic were great together! Their gaits are well matched (even though tiny-but-mighty Czeale is probably two hands smaller than Logistic!), they drink about the same, and they recovered about the same too.

Riding with Bob is intense. He’s very competitive. We started a few minutes late so the first loop there was some question about where we were in the group. We passed a bunch of horses right off the bat. It was a lollypop shaped loop with some doubling back, and of course I didn’t have time to look at my map at any point. After awhile I noticed that we were seeing some trail for the second time and wasn’t sure if we were on the return trail or if we had missed a turn. I started to remember a time at another ride when Bob went an extra 25 miles on a 50 and we all teased him for winning the 75….! He wasn’t thinking that was so funny right then. Then we passed someone we had already gone by, who was pretty darn sure he was on trail. Hm. Somewhere we had indeed missed a turn. Fortunately we saw the way back to the vetcheck and down we went. We had simply done the lollypop twice – an extra few miles. Oh yeah and somewhere in there Czeale lost a back boot, but I taped his hoof, popped on a spare Glove and off we went – my only loss for the whole weekend.

So we started loop 2 back a bit further back than we’d started, but no big deal. We just kept cruising and by the time we got to the next vet check we were back to #2 and 3. Both horses ate well, peed, and rested at the vetcheck, and we pulled out just a few minutes after the number one horse. The trail had a long stretch of flat and we cantered most of it. Along there we passed the number one horse walking back towards the vetcheck – he had lost a shoe and his boot had fallen off. I only had a 00.5 which wouldn’t work for his horse, so we kept moving. Then we went through a lovely long creek bed and sponged off the horses. There was a huge hill and we walked up it, and got off and walked down the other side. I walked slowly down that hill as my knee was really starting to ache – and I know it pained Bob to wait! Just as I got to him and got on, a few riders came tearing down the hill after us and passed us cantering through the rocks. We let them go for the moment. When we got to the wide open road again we started a nice easy canter and just kept going, passing both of them. There was another huge climb going into the finish, and we let the number one horse have that, as we didn’t think it was worth it to sprint up it. We finished a minute after him and both our horses recovered and showed for best condition. Bob’s horse got overall best condition for the weekend! What a fun day! What an incredible, exciting weekend! When can I go again?

How To Grow Some Foot

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 by Amanda Washington

Just in case you were hoping for your horse to grow some foot at an incredibly alarming rate, I have determined the guaranteed formula.

1) Trim horse with your normal barefoot trim, taking care to balance the foot well and back up the toe as much as necessary.

2) Apply Easyboot Glue-On shells, using extra Goober Glue in the sole of the boot to create a soft, flexible and supportive pad.

3) Wait one day, and then trailer several hunderd miles into neighboring state (this may or may not be necessary).

4) Wait one more day, and ride said horse 100 miles.

5) Repeat step 4, only trailering several hundred miles back to your state.

6) Pretend that you weren't trying to catch said horse, anyway, when she sneaks off up the hill everytime she sees you pull up for the next week and a half.

7) Two weeks later, finally coax horse down from the hill with a bucket of goodies, and pop the boots off to find the feet have grown at a rate roughly equal to the rate at which bamboo grows in the perfect environment.

Five days after gluing, and boots are still on tight.

It's true. I left Replika's boots on for a full two weeks this month and was shocked to find what I found when I pulled them off ten days after the 100 at Bandit Springs. Not only had they grown (and grew a lot!) but all that hard false sole that normally won't come out easily was conveniently shedding and ready to pop out with a little pressure from my hoof pick. I was able to take advantage of the moist foot and got in a good trim, the first since her feet were so wet this spring. I was able to take care of some laid-over bar, trim her down closer to live sole than I usually get because the false sole was begging to exfoiliate and was able to easily rasp the heels to an appropriate height.

I was glad that I pulled the boots at that time, because I feel like the heels and toe were starting to disort the foot. As I stared in awe at the hooves that didn't look like my girl's, and realized just how BAD they were look at eight weeks in shoes. How did I DO that?

Rep's "long" foot getting loooooonger.. Thank goodness for the rasp!

What little things do you notice now, that you didn't while your horse was shod? The list goes on and on for me, but for one, I am thankful to be able to correct abnormalities that could become problems after eight weeks in steel shoes.

Thank you, Easyboot!!
~ Amanda Washington
SW Idaho

Easyboot Glue-Ons Take On the Fauresmith 200 in South Africa

Monday, July 25, 2011 by Team Easyboot

Submitted by Peter Ward, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

The Fauresmith 200 takes place in the first week of July each year and is the culmination of the Endurance Year in South Africa. Since 1973 it has been run over the same course every year, 201 km over three days in a 75-75-51 split, with vet checks every 25 km to ensure the well-being of the horses. The sleepy little town of Fauresmith comes alive for a week with over 2,000 riders, supporters, organisers and officials arriving and camping at the show grounds. It is an annual gathering of Endurance enthusiasts from all over South Africa and neighbouring countries such as Namibia and Botswana. Teams from “overseas” such as Australia, New Zealand and Britain sometimes attend. South African riders are selected in various age and weight groups for national and provincial teams, with international and inter provincial team competitions to be decided.

Billed as the South African National Championships, this race is the big deal in our Endurance world. South African Endurance riders are split into those who have done it and those who want to do it. A common question that comes up quickly between newly- met riders is “Have you done Fauresmith?” An affirmative answer is given with some measure of pride.

To be honest, one does not simply “do” Fauresmith. In all senses of the word it is a mission. First both rider and horse have to qualify in the preceding year through the successful completion of at least three 80 km races. Then the horse's fitness must be managed in the remaining months leading up to Fauresmith. Most importantly, one needs a good crew to commit a week of their life to the cause. This is necessary as all except the final vet check each day take place away from the ride base, which means all the paraphernalia associated with vet checks must be carted to these remote stops by the crew. It took me three years for all the stars to be aligned and so it was that very early on Friday 1st July my good friend and crew Ross Malcom & I left Mooi River, kwaZulu Natal with Buddy in the horse box, off on our mission at last.

South Africa is a big country and we are used to travelling long distances. After four hours we gave Buddy a half hour exercise break in Bethlehem, Free State. Late Friday afternoon we arrived at Fauresmith and began the process of settling in for the next six days. It was midwinter and we were on the high plains of the Free State. The temperature was well below 0oC and we had our first taste of the lazy wind that was to become our constant companion during the nights at Fauresmith. We call it lazy because it would rather go through you than around you.

I was glad that I had chosen not to clip Buddy and he was quite snug in his rugs and stable for all the nights we were there. Buddy is a 14.3 hh SA Boerperd cross that we bred five years ago, out of an indeterminately bred mare that came with the farm we purchased. Buddy was not the ideal choice for such a gruelling race as he was only just old enough according to the rules. All the aficionados say that five years is too young for horses to be able to finish. Buddy was in fact my stand-in horse, my main horse, Solo, having succumbed earlier this year to African Horse Sickness. Following this tragedy, there was just enough time and therefore an outside chance that Buddy could qualify to do Fauresmith if he successfully completed all three 80's that we could attend in the time remaining. Buddy fronted up each time and we slowly knocked them off until all three were in the bag.

Ross doing his crew thing with Buddy.

So there we were, a bunch of novices with neither the horse, rider or crew ever having been to Fauresmith, about to take on an epic. To add to the pressure, we had been selected to race in the KZN provincial team – 6 riders with the best 4 times to count. To top it all off, Buddy was and always will be barefoot. Fauresmith eats horses and spits them out with a consistent fall-out rate every year of approximately 40%. Common knowledge is that most eliminations have always been due to lameness. One training ride out onto the course itself showed why. The going was extremely tough, the worst part being loose stones, mostly larger than the gap between a shod hoof's sole and the ground below. Shoes were not going to be much protection in this race. Strangely enough, all the horses I saw were fitted with shoes. I subsequently found out that 393 out of 397 starters raced in shoes. We smiled quietly to ourselves as we had a plan that seemed perfect for the underfoot conditions. We were going to race in Glue-Ons.

On Monday, the day before the race was to start, we arranged all the tools, boots and glue outside the horse box, trying to escape as much of the wind as we could. A few people had expressed a wish to see the Glue-Ons being fitted but I kept invitations to a minimum, especially as it was only the second time I would be glueing on boots. I suspected that things could possibly turn bad and sure enough, they did. I was using my own glueing system similar to that used by the Aussies. The plan was to apply SikaTack Go to the inside of the boots and the hoof base then to keep the boots in place during the 2 hour drying period by adding super glue in the top of the boots. All went well with the preparation phase and we had four clean and dry hooves. So far so good. Then I reached for my glue gun, squeezed and nothing would come out. After much digging and squeezing eventually the gun broke and I realised that it was because I had been trying to use the remnants of an old glue tube, some having leaked out the side of the plunger and set hard, thereby ensuring that no more could be squeezed out.

Spreading the glue inside the Easyboot Glue-On (and quite a bit outside too).

I had no choice but to cut open a glue tube and apply glue as best I could by hand, screwdriver, Leatherman and anything else that was handy. It was messy and not a good advert for Glue-Ons. Luckily my audience had dwindled to a couple of understanding die-hards and eventually the job was done, albeit with black glue in many places it should not have been. There was so much extra SikaTack around that I canned the idea of using superglue. To top it off, the wind was blowing dry grass onto the excess glue, making things look messier than ever. Two hours later I noticed that one back boot had twisted slightly but not enough to require reapplication. The boots were set fast and we were ready to race.

Day 1 at last – let's do this thing.

Day 1 of the race dawned and finally we were off. Horses were started on a seeded basis over a period of one and a half hours as the track quickly narrowed down into a rocky pass up the first mountain, with no room for overtaking. We were near the back owing to our relatively slow qualifying times. Once at the top we found it comfortable to stay with our starting group at an easy mix of cantering and trotting. The boots were staying on and Buddy went painlessly over all that the trail could throw at us. The all-round protection on his hooves made him confident to stride out smoothly and I felt we were on to a winner if they would just stay on for the duration. After 24 km we arrived at Metz, the first vet checkpoint. I was astonished to see some horses on drips, which could only mean that they were already out of the race. Thanks to Ross's ministrations we passed the vet check and were soon on our way again. This became the pattern for the race – ride 25 km, vet check, short rest then on again. The only hiccup came at the end of the first day when Buddy's pulse stubbornly refused to drop and stay below the maximum 64 bpm. The vet card shows that he passed with 64 and the vet remarked that this was a sign that I could ignore at my peril. After this close shave I decided to slow down for the remaining two days.

Roads were no problem with the Glue-Ons providing outstanding all-round protection.

Day 2 was the reverse of the previous day's course, which meant that we at least had an idea of what lay ahead. This helped and we enjoyed the outstanding scenery, taking things slower. After a strong final vet check at day end we had done 150 km and I felt for the first time that we could be among the finishers. Many horses had retired or been eliminated but we were still going strong. I now knew that the boots were going to stay on and that they were making all the difference at vet checks where many other horses were showing signs of lameness.

Our setup at a vet stop – flags help the riders find their crew among the hundreds of vehicles.

We set out on the final morning in great spirits, with just 51 km to go. We sailed through the penultimate vet check out on the course and turned for home. As always, although the horses had never been there before their uncanny instinct told them they were going home and their good spirits matched those of the riders around us. A few km from the end we hit the top of the pass that we had climbed on that first morning. While clambering down the pass we could hear music coming from the ride base and it was the tune we had been waiting for. Every rider entering the stadium completes the course by riding around the old athletics track to the tune of “Chariots of Fire”. This is a tradition that has been followed at Fauresmith for many years. What a feeling it was to be greeted at the entrance by Ross and to do that lap of honour. All that remained was one more vet check (the ninth). I knew that Buddy was not lame so the only obstacle would be the pulse rate limit of 64. After cooling down his head and face I put on the heart rate monitor and it showed 58. The vet check confirmed that he was in great shape and suddenly it was all done. Mission control could finally stand down.

Final vet check after 201 km – the heart rate monitor going on.

After 201 km of rocks and roads the Glue-Ons were firmly attached and looking for more work. The KZN team is grateful for the sponsorship received from Easycare which covered the cost of our racing shirts bearing the Team Easyboot 2011 logo. The Easyboot profile has been significantly raised in our province and I am sure that we will soon be the most progressive province in the adoption of hoof boots. Of the six members of the KZN team, only three of us finished which sadly meant that we were one time short and therefore out of the provincial team competition.

An analysis of the race results yields some interesting statistics:

Horses that started the race: 397
Finished: 248
Did not finish: 149 (38% of starters)
Retired by rider: 20
Eliminated by vets: 129
Elimination reason: Metabolic - 11
No reason given: 2
Lameness: 116 (90% of eliminations)

Clearly if riders in subsequent years want to minimise the chance of elimination, the areaon which to concentrate is lameness. The use of hoof boots is very limited in South Africa, and while I have no statistics in this regard, anecdotally I can say that I have never seen another hoof boot in four years of attending races.

Some Final Facts

Buddy was the only horse in the 2011 race wearing hoof boots.
This was the first time in the history of the race that a horse has worn Glue-Ons.
As far as I can tell, Buddy is the first horse to ever wear a full set of hoof boots for the entire duration of the race.

And a final thought: as a team Buddy, Ross and I beat the odds that were stacked against us from the time we had to change horses in mid season. All three qualifiers and many training rides were done using Easyboot Gloves. Ross & I know unequivocally that the Easyboot Glue-Ons made the difference between completing Fauresmith and the probability of being eliminated due to lameness. We know because we were there, we did it and can show you the T-shirt.

Coming Off 100

Thursday, July 14, 2011 by Amanda Washington

Well it's Wednesday night now, just four nights after finishing the 100 mile endurance ride at Bandit Springs. I have so much to say, yet for some bizarre reason, I can't quite put it into words. Excuse my rambling.

Ever since the first time I rode at Bandit Springs, it has stayed with me as one of the most beautiful endurance rides in the Pacific Northwest. I remember watching the 100 mile riders come in and out of camp all day and always thinking how lucky there were to be able to enjoy SO MUCH of the Bandit trails! Well, I'll tell ya now, doing a 100 is the freaking gift that keeps on giving. At about 90 miles, you wish the gift would just get on with itself already and leave you to go to sleep on the side of the trail. But then you realize that something scary like an aggressive wild stallion (true story- a wild stallion stalked the trail and even attacked a group of riders on the 50) might come and eat you, or, worse, might breed your mare and stick you with some God-awful specimen of an equine that you would be destined to stare at in your pasture forever. So you suck it up and keep on going.

Replika last year, the morning after the 80 mile ride.

I learned a few things on this 100 mile ride. I learned that Snickers bars with almonds can be an absolute lifesaver on a long loop. I learned that sending Luna and Cliff bars and yogurt as your only source of food to the out-check at 50 miles just won't cut it. I learned that your tights can leave marks on your legs that last for at least four days after the ride. I also learned that after you trot trot trot all day, you fall asleep trot trot trotting after it's all said and done. Another thing I learned is that my horse can eat more before, during and after the ride that I ever thought would be possible. I learned that even though my mare was reluctant leaving the last loop, she sucked it up and lead us safely through the black forest, stopping only briefly to grab bites of the lush Bandit grass along the way and brought us strongly back to camp. And another thing that I didn't exactly learn, because I already really knew, is that Easyboot Glue-Ons have GOT to be the best option for the horse on these long rides.

Riding through Indian Prairie NEVER gets old!

The journey to this ride started last year really. I had planned on Tevis this year. The Tevis in July, not October. I rode every ride last year, including the 80 at Bandit, with the intention of doing Tevis this year. As it would happen, Tevis was postponed and Bandit stood quietly in the corner. It wasn't actually quiet at all. Ride manager, Janelle Wilde, is NEVER known as quiet. She had been hounding us for months about coming to Bandit, as my husband has been a vet at this ride for the last several years. Janelle pretended to be sad for me when I told her that Tevis was moved, but I could hear her jumping up and down the background. She really likes Robert.

I was torn between doing the 80 like I did last year (and had an absolute blast doing), or putting on the big girl panties and doing the 100. I made plans with a good friend to use her Big Horn horse from last year and ride with me on the 100, but it wasn't meant to be and I was left waffling about which distance to do. I got her out the night before we left and just knew. She not only looked amazing, but was sassy as can be. We were going to do the 100, whether we were the only ones riding or not. I glued on her boots, using my regular combination of Goober Glue on the sole and 3/4 of the wall of the boot, and a strip of Vettec Adhere at the top of the boot to secure it on the foot while the GG sets. Despite a little twisting of the right front, the boots went on without a hitch and we were ready to go.

Sassy mare, the night before we left.

My old horse, Fast Eddy, gazing at the view from his pen. Can it get much better?

We made the 7hr drive to ridecamp without any issues, and Replika set in to eating. And eating. And eating. In fact, I think the only time she wasn't eating was when I was riding, and even then she was eating. She must have known what was coming. The day before the ride, an Idaho friend asked if I wanted to ride with her and we were set. In hindsight, I feel pretty bad for my friend. She has got to be one the most laid-back, go-with-the-flow girl you've ever met. Well, have you met me? I think I surprised her first thing when I declared my plan to finish at midnight. I have done most of the loops before, so I knew about how fast each should take, and calculating in the hold times, I thought midnight was doable. Poor thing didn't know what she was getting into.

Ride Management ALWAYS has a sense of humor at this ride! Hope Chuck didn't get wiped out!! PS Chuck uses Easyboots so he's an alright kinda guy.

A little bit of rock...

Is negated by all of this-

But the best view I saw, were the perky red ears that looked like this all day long.

We kept a steady pace all day, and thankfully for the boots, the rocks didn't slow us down at all. My friend's horse was shod and I am always thankful when there are no boot failures when riding with people that shoe! As her husband is a farrier, I was extra thankful! I really appreciated the protection and cushion of the boots/Goober Glue combo as there are a lot of rocky sections on this ride, and a little bit of downhill hard-pack road. Although most of the trail is lovely single track, I am always thankful for the protection when doing much downhill trotting.

I feel a little disappointed in myself that I was so focused on getting from vetcheck to vetcheck that I didn't spend as much time as normal taking in the views and just enjoying the trail. It seems hard to do both, and I wish I would have relaxed a bit an enjoyed it more. But, in my defense, I am terrified of the dark and didn't want to be out all night! The horses were doing great and there was no real reason to slow down other than to gawk, so I guess I did the right thing in this situation. My main goal of the day was to get the second to last loop done before dark. It was close, but we were golden!! I had the most excellent help at this last vetcheck, and appreciated it more than anyone could ever know. Although I was tired, we set out on the last loop in the pitch black, ready to git r' done! We rode along quietly, chatting here and there, but mostly I was concentrating on following the very well-marked trail. At one point, Replika picked it up and I assume that was after we made the turn at the halfway point. She never once tripped and stayed focused on getting us back safely where she could EAT!

I think it's safe to say this picture represents the last 20-ish miles of the ride, at least for me!

We hit the main road a mile from camp and I reluctantly pulled my iPhone out of my pack. Well wouldn't you know it was 12:13AM! I was stoked and waved my phone around yelling "We did it, we did it!" I am sure my friend just rolled her eyes. She just loves riding her pony and I don't think she cares much if she finishes later rather than earlier. It will be interesting to see if she ever cares to ride with me again!

We got into camp a few minutes later and were greeted by a few special friends. Thank you guys SO MUCH for staying up!! I remember feeling pretty dazed and my mare was ravenous. We completed out CRI, somehow got her untacked and I think I wrapped her legs. Someone wrapped them and it was a pretty dang good job so I'll assume it was me :) I headed into the LQ and got ready for bed before checking on Replika one last time- she was buried eye-ball deep in her hay bag and from the looks of it the next morning stayed there most of the night! Because we were soooooooo fast (or because we were the only two riders in the 100) we got ready to show for BC. Rep looked AMAZING and used her charisma and charm (ok, so I think I'm the only person in the world who things she's charming) and plenty of 'tude to show how great she felt during the trot out. After running me over, she pranced her way back to the vet and about ran over the vet trying to get to more grass. She earned the High Vet Score and Best Condition, but mostly because my poor friend's horse things trotting out is dumb. Regardless, BC is BC (or so they tell me) and I couldn't be happier with how fabulous she looked just nine short hours after finishing a tough 100 mile ride.

First thing the next day.

And she ate, and ate and ate..

So, I guess that's my story in a nutshell. Of course there is much more to it, but it seems like my subconscious doesn't want to share as it's keeping all linear thoughts and feelings about the experience to itself. This doesn't happen often so I'm guessing there is a reason for it. Maybe it's like what women who give birth say about how their bodies or minds suppress the memory of the pain or else no one would ever give birth more than once in their lives. I think that if people really remembered the "in the moment" feelings that thoughts, no one would do more than one 100? Nah, it wasn't that bad. I hear the Virginia City 100 is an awful neat ride.........

I bet in a few weeks it will sound fantastic!
~ Amanda Washington
SW Idaho

Dealer of the Month: The Australian Connection

Wednesday, July 6, 2011 by Dealer of the Month

You could be forgiven for thinking that The Australian Connection is based in Australia. As a point of fact, The Australian Connection is based in Newcastle, California. If you're not familiar, that's the heart of Tevis country, just south of the Tevis finish line at Auburn.

The Man From Snowy River

Did that movie inspire you? Well it inspired Janet and Joan in 1982 to try Australian stock saddles. Janet had been riding a high-spirited and high-withered Thoroughbred horse who was hard to fit a saddle to. In 1983, she rode her Thoroughbred mare at the Tevis using a Syd Hill saddle. In 1986, Janet and Joan formed The Australian Connection. They quickly saw a need for other trail and distance riding products and started selling saddles and other tack they believed in, testing other trail and distance riding gear.

A Long-Distance Junkie
Janet Pucci has been running the company solo since 2008. And running is very familiar to her. "As a long distance runner for more than 25 years, I have a pretty good sense of what my horse goes through on endurance rides," says Janet when asked what someone can expect when coming to her. "In fact, I have a lot of empathy for horses. In my business, we try to help our customers find a suitable solution to their riding issues. We test the products we sell, have our favorites, but don't let that color what is best for each individual horse and rider." What more could you ask?

Easyboots Then, Easyboots Now
When asked to describe how the boot industry has changed, Janet scores a hole in one: "Boots have changed from a temporary shoe replacement to a go-to hoof protector for all riding disciplines." At EasyCare, we're proud that Easyboots were one of the first products The Australian Connection carried, and continues to do so.

The Magic of the Right Inventory
Janet carries Gloves, Glue-Ons, Epics, Original Easyboots and EZ Ride Stirrups in stock. And she will order other products as needed. "The Glove is my best seller now," Janet proclaims when asked about today's trends. "And I tell people that they have to practice with Glue-Ons before they go to an event."

Barefoot and Booted
Janet's horses are all barefoot. She has two Arabs and two Anglos. "I usually ride bare, but if I'm conditioning, I use Gloves or Glue-Ons," she says of her booting preference.

Rewards
Janet has a Bachelor of Arts from UC Davis in Mathematics. Before starting The Australian Connection, she worked as a programmer for many years. "In 1986, I started running ultra marathons. My favroite is the Way Too Cool 50 Miler." Her first Easyboot encounter was on her second 50-mile endurance ride. "I lost a shoe and I had no boot. Another rider loaned me his and it fit. It was definitely a 'pay it forward'. Since then, I've always carried an Easyboot and I've kept my sense of humor."

The two crowning experiences for Janet were finishing the Tevis on a horse that had multiple attempts, but had never completeted; and then going on to run the same course herself at the Western States 100 mile run.

The Crystal Ball
When asked to gaze, Janet says the barefoot/booted industry will continue to grow.

Post Script
If you want to visit The Australian Connection's webiste, there's a .us extension: theaustralianconnection.us, lest you forget the company is based in California.

Boots Make it Possible

Friday, June 17, 2011 by Team Easyboot

By Zach Rabow, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

Like many people, I was nervous to make the leap from shoes to boots. We had followed the “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” theory. But eventually it broke, it being my horse!

Apache Bulero (a.k.a. Bo) is a Thoroughbred off of the Santa Anita racetrack. Being shod at a young age left him with some pretty crummy feet. He had thin soles, weak hoof walls and pretty much just some jacked up feet! Three years ago he foundered and had quarter cracks on both front feet. The vets recommended putting him down, saying he would never be sound and would be uncomfortable. We realized that something needed to change so we enlisted the help of barefoot guru Cindy Nielson from Reno, NV.

She pulled his shoes and took X-rays of his feet. Nothing short of horrific, but the shoes were pulled he was tender footed just walking around in the pasture so we put Easyboot Epics on him during the day with comfort pads. Eventually his feet started healing and turning back into normal feet, his soles are now 3 times thicker than they were then and he is quarter crack free. Needless to say he hasn’t had shoes on since.

After spending part of the summer with Dian Woodward and Christoph Schorck of Global Endurance Training Center in Moab, UT, I learned booting techniques and a lot about the barefoot lifestyle in endurance horses, and how to manage them during competition. I had the privilege of crewing for the duo during the Tevis Cup ride; getting to help glue on boots for GETC horses was great, and it gave me the confidence to glue and boot on my own horses.

Winter came all too fast and I found myself with not an endurance horse, but an ex-race horse that was my showing, jumping and eventing horse for years. And for whatever reason I had the thought that maybe he could do endurance. So in early January I did a little 5 mile ride to see how he would respond, then bumped it up to 10 miles the next weekend and did 3 ten mile rides, then 5 20-35 mile rides then entered in a local Fun 20 mile Ride.

We went to the race with no real hopes, and faced the reality he may be pulled for lameness considering all of his past issues. We finished 5th out of over 40 starters, 10 minutes off the winner and could have gone out and done another 20 miles easily! He has done all these rides barefoot, and has had no issues (knock on wood). For any of you that have ridden in Nevada you know that there is no shortage of rocks! Training completely bare has been beneficial for him, he has been growing more sole than I have ever seen and with the increased amount of blood flow to his feet he is growing a hoof like nobody's business!

We have a few 50’s planned in the coming months and can’t wait to see what he can do, and with the use of Easyboots to help absorb the concussion during in competition and Gloves during training we expect him to have no feet problems or issues from here on out!!

We thank Easycare for their products and credit them for saving my horses feet!

What Have We Learned?

Monday, June 13, 2011 by Christoph Schork

Remember the good old times? I do have fond memories of foaming the Original Easyboots on horses' hooves. In the 80s and 90s, we often foamed. And what a mess it sometimes was. Very few of us still foam Easyboots nowadays. But for old times' sake and for this blog I decided to do it again. I also felt sorry for these boots sitting unused on the shelf. Most importantly, I wanted to see if I still can make a mess! You be the judge on that one.

Actually, it hasn't been all that long ago that we quit foaming boots. But when protective horse boots developed in such a revolutionary way, it seemed that the foaming days were waning for sure. The EasyCare Glue-On boots have been used and tested now for over two years. We all have learned a lot and we are still learning to improve our application of the EasyBoot Glue-Ons.

Quite frankly, no hoof protection on the market has fascinated me as much as the glue-on horse hoof boots and the whole glue-on procedure. Just something about being a hoof care provider and chemist at the same time.

It's been over two years now since we started, cautiously, to glue on the first boots. It happened at a 3-day ride in December in Sonoita, Arizona; the start of a new ride season. Glue on horse boots were unheard of before then. Mistakes were made by us, we lost boots. I'll spare you from listing all the mistakes we made, we would only reinforce them. What I want to share with you are the improvements we made, the lessons we learned, so you don't have to make the same mistakes we did.

Most Important Lessons We Learned

The hoof has to be totally dry and totally clean.
The glue-on hoof boot has to be dry and clean.

After using hoof picks, a wire brush, available in hardware stores, works great to clean the hoof. Notice how clean this hoof is, all dust, sand and dirt are absent. A white line separation was treated with iodine.

Drying can be accomplished with a heat gun. It will work the best. Thoroughly dry the hoof wall and the sole. If you do not have a heat gun available, a hair dryer will do as well, it just requires more time, because it provides less heat.

When the hooves are wet, dry the walls and soles several times. Capillary action will move moisture back to the hoof wall after drying it the first time. Nature always tries to balance things, so when there is a lot of moisture in the hoof, like after a rainy weather period, drying the outer periphery of the hoof wall will make the remaining moisture inside the hoof move to the now dry areas through this capillary action. Therefore it is really important to take the time to dry the hoof several times.

Lately, we have been using Goober Glue for padding the bottom of the hoof. If using Goober Glue, the actual sole does not have to be quite as dry as when using Equipak. However, keep in mind that bacterias thrive on moisture. So, by drying the sole really well, you are also taking care of any bacterial infestation. Literally, with a heat gun you can actually burn any fungi or bacterias. You do not have to worry about damage to the hoof. Farriers have hot seated steel shoes for centuries, the hooves can handle the heat for a short time without any damage.

Notice the slight brownish color in the quarter area. We actually seared the sole slightly and killed any detrimental bacterial infestation. Not to worry, the hoof can easily handle it, heat dries, hardens and disinfects the sole.

Boot Preparation
If the heel bulbs of your horse are fairly low, you can easily cut the back of your boot down. It will not compromise the structural integrity of the protective horse boot.

In cold weather, you may also use the heat gun to warm your boot up.

Once you have finished drying and cleaning the hoof and boot, you should only handle the hoof and glue on boot with gloves. EasyCare has gloves in their store, but you can also use simple latex gloves from the hardware store. This is of utmost importance, otherwise dirt, moisture and grease from your hands can easily contaminate the hoof wall and boot, thus compromising the adhesion of the Vettec Adhere.

Next, I like to apply Goober Glue to the bottom of the boot. Goober Glue remains very soft after drying and is a good cushioning for even tender footed horses. We apply the Goober Glue in the shape of the frog, more for hooves with deep concavity, less for flat footed horses. Goober Glue takes several hours to cure, so no rush with this application.

Vettec Adhere will work best for gluing the side walls of the boots onto the hoof.

Here I'm applying the Adhere with the large 180 cc application gun.

Always hold the boot on its side, so the glue does not run down inside the shell to the bottom of the boot, possibly causing undue pressure on the sole. Adhere is a very dense material once it is set, we do not want it on the bottom of the boot.

The Goober Glue has been applied in the shape of the frog to the bottom of the boot, then the Vettec Adhere is applied only to the top half of the boot shell. When pushing the boot onto the hoof, the Adhere will then get pushed down the remainder of the boot wall, but not as far as the bottom of the boot.

Notice again how I hold the boot almost upside down, in order to prevent the Adhere from flowing to the bottom. In warm temperatures, it could easily happen.

You do not need a lot of glue, this is plenty. Pushing the boot onto the hoof will spread the glue down the remainder of the shell wall.

Working with Adhere, one has to move fast and expedient. Adhere sets within one minute. If you work too slow, the Adhere will have set before you get the boot onto the hoof.

Just recently, Vettec brought a much small application kit on the market.

This kit is lightweight, has three mixing tips, a plunger with a finger ring. Easy to use, you can take this kit in your saddle bag, just in case you did not use good diligence at home when gluing and lost a boot. You can then easily re glue on the trail. Setting time in 1 minute, full cure in 5. Beats not finishing your ride because of a lost boot.

Again, tilt the boot while you apply the glue to the side wall, so it doesn't run onto the bottom of the boot.

One 50 cc tube holds enough glue for 4 glue-on boots. Contact me at Global Endurance Training Center if you would like more information about it. After pushing the boot onto the hoof, it is highly advisable to seal the edges with a beat of Adhere. With your gloved finger, you should then smooth it out. You want to create a good seal all around the shell between the hoof wall and frog, so no moisture and debris can enter the boot.

Here using the 50 cc applicator, below the 180 cc applicator gun

After applying Adhere to the edge of the boot, use your gloved finger to smooth it out.

In the frog/bulb area, some Goober glue will have pushed out. We smoothen it out to create a good seal there as well.

Now we have a complete seal around the edges of the boot.

A lot of questions have been asked regarding how long we safely can keep Easyboot Glue ons on our horse's hooves. As often, the answer is: it depends.

If you did a great job drying and cleaning your hoof, have no bacterial invasion, or you took care of it through drying and various remedies, (see our previous blogs on Hypozin and Sore No More), diligently sealed the edge of the glue on boot all they way around the hoof, then you can leave these boots on for up to a whole trimming cycle.

Below a couple of photos of boots glued on the hooves now for 5 weeks. Notice that the seal is still intact. No foreign matter was able to enter these Glue on Horseshoes.

This horse did two 50 milers with these boots and over 100 miles of conditioning rides. All the seals are intact, no water, mud or sand was able to enter these boots.

Here are some more photos from different hooves after boot removal that had glue ons applied for about 6 weeks:

No thrush, no smell, no problems with this hoof. Residual glue still on the sole. After initial cleaning, glue removal and a slight trimming, (the trim is not completed) it looked like this:

A photo of the hind hoof:

What's remarkable here, no bacterial or fungal invasion and no white line separation anywhere.

After using EasyCare Glue ons now for over two years on most horses at GETC, the cases of white line separation have almost completely disappeared. When keeping the Glue on boots on the hooves for the full trimming cycle, (up to 6 weeks), we observed a notable decrease of white line separation. Could it be, that the shell gives the hoof capsule more stability? Could it be that there is less bacterial invasion because the sole is clean and sealed? Could it be that there is less peripheral loading when traveling with Easyboot Protective Horse Boots, thus weight bearing is more distributed over the whole foot instead of the hoof wall? Could it be, that we all are getting better at trimming? Or is it all of the above?

Whatever the answer, the results speak for themselves and they spell SUCCESS. We tried, practiced, learned and succeeded.

Working with Glue ons and Hoof Glue is fun, it works and helps your horses hooves.

From the Global Endurance Center:

Your Bootmeister

Dealer of the Month: MileMakers

Thursday, June 2, 2011 by Dealer of the Month

Joanne Pavlis is the owner of MileMakers, an Endurance Horse and Rider training and conditioning facility located on 800 acres of diverse Rocky Mountain terrain at 7,500 ft, in Colorado. She has been a Student of the Horse since she was seven years old and has lived in Colorado for 15 years. After being a supporter of the boots and the barefoot concept for many years, MileMakers became an EasyCare Dealer in February 2011.

If you buy from MileMakers, you can expect one-on-one attention, the most current hoof and boot education; a custom boot fit for each individual hoof, access to their extensive inventory for on-the-spot delivery of product, and follow-up to ensure that both the horse and the rider are provided the ultimate boot experience.

“MileMakers is not interested in making a one-time-sale, and forgetting the customer,” said Jo when asked about her business model. “Instead we are interested in creating a lifelong EasyCare Boot advocate who truly understands their horse's hoof and boot requirements.” They believe in always maintaining a positive attitude and environment and they have a thirst for continuing education.

Jo attributes the evolution in the hoof boot industry to investment in research, providing cutting edge multimedia education, utilizing better product materials and construction techniques, better quality control, and excellent customer service. “We feel EasyCare is leading the industry as it changes the way the world thinks about hoof care and hoof protection. EasyCare has also created an extensive network for customers to share concepts and provide valuable feedback that can be utilized in future product development. We feel EasyCare listens!”

Jo and her husband Steve own 12 horses and there are an additional 14 horses at their facility for training and conditioning. Jo has been using boots on and off for the last 12 years, utilizing various models. She prefers the Easyboot Glove for training and the Easyboot Glue-On for endurance competitions.

MileMakers carries Glue Ons, Gloves, Edges, Epics, & EasySoakers. Their best sellers are Gloves and Glue Ons.

Jo is a certified CHA Riding Instructor, Equine Veterinary Technician, Licensed Arabian Race Horse Trainer, and endurance rider (attended rides in Mountain, Central, Midwest, Pacific Southwest, Southeast, Southwest, and West, including Tevis).

When asked about her most rewarding experience, Jo likes to see others succeed and to be confident as a result of the education she provides them. “My most memorable hoof boot success story was watching the positive transformation of my stallion's feet as the result of a trim conducted by Duncan McLaughlin, and Glue On Boots fitted by Garrett Ford. Eight months, and several trims later, Dancers Starliner is now one size larger, with strong hooves and proper balance. He loves his Glue Ons!”

When asked about Jo’s prediction for the future, Jo believes strongly that barefoot, boots, research and knowledge will replace the age-old practice of shoeing horses.

Miles of Trails

Wednesday, June 1, 2011 by Amanda Washington

Two more endurance rides have come and gone for Replika and myself. Our second ride of the season was the newly re-named Eagle Spring Fling. We have an advantage for this ride in that it's on our home turf. The disadvantage is having to go *through* home twice. I usually skip this ride for that reason alone, as our horses just can't understand why they can't go back to their pasture the first time through!

Given the fact we know the trails, I know just how barefoot friendly they are. That said, I decided to use my Easyboot Gloves again on all four feet to keep up with all of our work we did desensitizing her to the gaiters. Much like our first ride of the year, she had no rubs or irritation throughout the entire 55-mile ride. Again, we were 5th place at almost the exact pace we did at the previous ride. If anything, we're consistent! This ride was definitely more difficult on boots than the first ride, as we dealt with slick mud, boggy bogs, sharp uphills and plenty of water crossings. I did experience my first hind boot loss on Replika, however, when she spooked hard and pulled her left hind boot off with her other foot. At that point in time she realized a giant badger had emerged from the ground and wrapped his grimy little hands around her fetlock, attempting to eat her as we were. She proceeded to kick the living snot out of him until the gaiter, er, I mean badger let go. It was impressive and the gaiter was completely obliterated. One of the greatest things about these boots is the fact that the gaiter can be replaced, or, the shell can be used as a Glue-On. Either way, it's win-win!

Replika and I in the morning mist at Eagle Spring Fling. Steve Bradley Photography.

We felt like we were in the moorlands of Scotland with all the green and foggy mist. We are desert people and obviously not used to the humidity or green landscape! Most of this loop was extremely slick and boggy. Barefoot behind probably would have been a good idea, although she was very secure in her Gloves.

I pulled her other boot and we continued on into camp where we completed the ride in excellent shape. I don't think any amount of athletic tape would have saved my lost boot given the way she stepped on herself. Thankfully, she was wearing rubber boots and not steel shoes that could have hurt her. After the ride I pulled her tack, pulled her Gloves and that was that. No muss, no fuss.

After the Eagle Spring Fling, Replika was given her standard two weeks off where I was able to focus a bit on my geldings. But before I knew it, we were a week away from the Owyhee Fandango, where I had planned on doing a 100. What's the saying? The best laid plans? Well an outbreak of Equine Herpesvirus out West here put a big wrench in most everyone's travel plans regarding the Fandango ride, and for a while we weren't sure what was going to happen. A week before the ride we decided to continue on with our plans, only now the weather sucked! I decided to play it safe and enter the 80 mile ride which worked out well.

Due to the fact I am still a paranoid freak of an endurance rider, I was concerned about the gaiters of the Gloves that haven't caused any problems all year to all the sudden cause us problems. In hindsight, I'm pretty sure they would have been just fine. Regardless, I decided to torture myself with the process of gluing, convincing myself it was worth it as a practice run for our next 100. I also told both geldings to expect their endurance careers to be almost exclusively done in Gloves and not expect any of the special treatment Replika gets. I think starting them now (while they are at the beginning stages of conditioning) in Gloves will prevent the problems we had transitioning Replika not only from shoes to boots but to the gaiters as well.

Another Steve Bradley great. 30 miles into the 80 mile ride.

Gluing on was messy, which it usually is, but again I find the addition of Adhere at the top of the boot smothered in Goober Glue is just the ticket. Although the right hind boot twisted a bit before it set, we examined the break-over and watched her track straight and decided it should be ok for the ride. If there was any boot I expected to lose, it was that one, but it is still as stuck on today as all the others are. I was thankful for the full protection of not only the boots but also for the cushion of the Goober Glue down by the river where she trotted back and forth over the sharp volcanic rock on parts of the trail. We rode into camp at the finish at about 5:30PM where we completed the ride with an awesome CRI and excellent final exam. Given the fact I was the only entry in the 80, we were first, last, mid-pack and turtle. Our ride time was a bit over nine hours, which was a pretty quick *true* 80 mile ride! She looked great that night and the next day. I just love this mare.

Running into Karen Bumgarner at Z Summer Thunder headed down into the canyon on the 100 mile ride. Unfortunately it just wasn't Thunder's day, but the upside of that is they weren't stuck out on the trail when the nasty storm blew in. Karen has done several long rides with Easyboot Gloves and no problems.

The petroglyphs that we ride through on this loop are amazing!

Another reason I was super glad to be finishing up at 80 miles! This storm hit pretty hard!

I have now ridden over 1,500 AERC miles in Easyboot Gloves and Glue-Ons. I can't even imagine the number of trail miles I have ridden in them, but I'm sure it's substantial. I could never even consider going back to steel shoes, or relinquishing the control I have over my horses' feet. There should be a disclaimer at the bottom of these blogs and on the package of boots in fine print warning people about the effects of knowing too much and learning more. Be warned, your life will never be the same, and neither will the life of your horse!

Good luck!
~Amanda Washington
SW Idaho

Glue on Horse Shoes