Team Easyboot

Submitted by Joanne Pavlis, Team Easyboot 2012 Member

Back in the December 2011 Newsletter, Garrett Ford wrote to us about the concept of “New Tracks”, and asked us the question “Have you ever thought about what tracks you leave”?

As a licensed race track trainer, riding instructor, endurance competitor, and equine wellness foundation founder, I think about this all the time. Whenever I contemplate the vision of “New Tracks”, I recall the remarkable journey I embarked upon with this new EasyCare concept and product. MileMakers has played, and continues to play, a small part in the overall EasyCare evolution of change, as we all move ahead with our new found knowledge and product development. When I think of what Milemakers does on a daily basis, it seems relevant as an answer to the proposed question.

MileMakers began seriously promoting EasyCare products and educating our local horse community about the benefits of equine hoof boot protection in 2011. It has been the best transformation we could have made for our horses health, while giving us the added benefit of exposure to the latest science and technology to better educate those owners who had been sitting on the fence between old school & new school thinking.  EasyCare is constantly improving their product to better the wellness of horses, and they do it by using sound research while listening to the horse’s response.

Time and again, I lay witness to the fact that people will not change unless they fully understand the reasons behind the need for change. That is why, at MileMakers, we believe in promoting the education behind the EasyCare concept as we develop one knowledgeable customer at a time. Each newly educated owner/equestrian represents a “new track”. And each “new track” represents a seed of knowledge that has been planted and will continue to grow.

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

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

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

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

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

EasyCare will accept applications for Team Easyboot 2012 until midnight on Wednesday, February 8, 2012. Visit the Team Easyboot section of the EasyCare website for more details and to complete the application form.

Submitted by Tami Rougeau, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

At the end of every season I try to clean out the trailers and the tack room. This is usually a good way to keep the clutter down and the various items mended or cleaned. It is also a good time to remember all the fun of the previous year.

This year I took down the boot box to see what it contained. In years past I would put boots in this box that looked like they had some life or usuable parts left. This box also holds special memories. As I took note of the boot variety it became clear that the contents were more than a few years old. So what has changed?


But the real treasure in the pile are the old red boots. We all loved the red. It was easy to see when they came off and easy to see on the foot when they stayed on. In the early days of booting we did a lot of "after market" work to make the boots work better for us. We trimmed down the heel straps to keep them from rubbing the heel bulbs; trimmed down the back of the boot to prevent sand and debris from being trapped in the boot; pounded down the grips and covered them with duct tape to keep them from damaging the hoof wall; even removed all hardware, foamed them on and reinforced with duck tape - all in our own attempts to make a better boot (looks familiar somehow).

Just when we thought we had a good solution Easycare really started to make some big changes. They came out with the gaiter. This was the answer to the lost boot dilema for sure. The first gaiters were stiff and tended to cause rubbing so we came up with new ways to deal with that. But we were loosing a lot less boots. They also did not hold up to what we tended to put them through. The velcro would most often tear but sometimes they came completly separated at the seams. The new gaiters are soft and pliable. They do not seem to cause the rubbing that the old ones did. Interesting how the new gaiter design with its soft layering is so similar to how many of us dealt with rubbing by putting layers under the gaiter.

The harware was also changing. While I did try pretty much every variety not all are represented here. The up clip was great since usually if the clamp came open it was because you caught it on a rock. The problem with the up clip is that it was not so sturdy and would break when smashed against a rock. We also added cotter pins to the clamp to hold them closed and this worked great. But we still had those darn cables that cut your fingers and broke when you least expected. The boots themselves though were practically indestructable. Wearing out a shell took a lot of miles.

The newer soles are even better. They grip like a bare foot and provide a great deal of cushion as well. They are pretty indestructable. I can remember wearing through the toe of the old boots but not these. Some of my Easyboot Gloves have close to a thousand miles on them and they are still viable training boots.

So in answer to the question "what has changed?" Everything. The new Gloves and Glue-Ons are amazingly similar to many of the after market versions we all experimented with but they are so much better. That said the tried and true red boots are still out on trail. My trail riding friends are always seeking out these good old friends, they love them. When I try to get them to change to the way easier Glove they just wont budge. That is until they come out with them in red!

As for me, I love the new boots and look forward every year to see what Easycare will come up with next. How will they make it better, easier to use, more durable etc?  Only time will tell.

Submitted by Susan Gill, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

This is less a story about the partnership between Easycare boots and me and my horse. It's more about the bigger picture. I've written about Sundance before - he's my horse that literally dances out of his boots sometimes. In early April I was overjoyed with him, having just completed a 40k training ride - we were a happy, free-moving and focused team.

Then something - still unidentified - triggered off a bucking session. I came off after four bucks, only slightly hurt, but very shaken. The confidence of SD and myself nose-dived to zero. We worked on getting it back but from then on I rode him in a very controlled way to make sure he wouldn't get the opportunity to buck again.  Of course he resisted and resented that method, which made it feel more necessary then ever to ride like that.

At our first training ride together since April we fought each other for 3/4 of the way, both ending up far more tired then necessary just through resistance. Finally a good friend took him for a week to try and work out for me what sort of horse he wanted to be. She put him into all sorts of testing situations to try and trigger off the bucking - without success. In not so many words she told me to trust the horse and give him confidence to do the job - "he's awesome".

At our latest endurance ride, four weeks later, I took a blind leap of faith on her words, and rode with him instead of against him. Disappointingly, due to feeling really sick, I pulled out after the 40k first leg, but couldn't have been happier in how we went together as a team. 

Through muddy, boggy, wet, slippery conditions where we would have previously hesitated, we now ploughed straight through with total confidence. Where I would have felt like checking, and using a firm rein (and interfering with him), I let him choose his pace and his path with a very light contact. I hung onto the saddle instead of his mouth - of course he appreciated it - after the ride he was so much more affectionate towards me.

With such positive reinforcement I have kept that trust in our partnership - last weekend I took Sundance on an invitation-only cattle drive, taking cattle up to the Nunningnong High Plains over summer.


For an endurance horse he sure enjoyed looking after the cattle, but the work place views could have had something to do with it. For most of the ride the scenery was what I'd imagine a bush fairyland to be. We moved the cattle along heavy-duty stoney log-truck roads at a walk. In our Stowaway I'd packed Easyboot Gloves for his front feet if necessary but he just power-walked along without a care, the other riders commenting on his tough feet.

Our day was amazing right through from our daybreak start to a mid-afternoon finish just beating the storm. The bush looked like a white christmas - what a beautiful way to end off the year.

Are you still twisting those hind hoof Gloves, or, worse yet, losing them completely? Even with the proper use of Mueller Athletic Tape and a good trim and boot fit? I do... Why? Well, look at my mare's legs in the pictures, and you will see why! She is a great horse, but took the philosophy that a little cow-hocked is fine in a horse, and ran with it a bit too far. Thus, she toes out a good bit and with her nice, Morgan/QH rear end (wish her brains were there too: lately the Arab half has come out on that end), she powers along with a good twist to her hind leg movement.

This means every boot (EC styles and competitor brands of all kinds) has not stayed straight on her hoof, and can come off altogether at a canter. Glue-On boots solve that for multi-day rides, but for a single day ride, I don't want the hassle or expense. So I had to come up with a solution for her. I tried varying ones (Goober Glue, Vet Tech products, etc) and finally found a cheap and fairly easy solution: a bottle of Gorilla Glue and some athletic tape.

How it Works
1) Use athletic tape on the hoof as you usually would (see how she toes out? Add a "twist" with every push off of the hoof, and you have a lot of torque on the boots).

2) Put on the Gloves as usual. I put power straps on the inside here, but also use them on the outside. With Gorilla Glue, the boots are totally re-useable. This is the fourth gluing on these particular boots.

3) Gather your tools: Gorilla Glue, flat head screwdriver (smallish is better), gloves for your hands, and more athletic tape or duck tape if you prefer.

4) This is where it can get tricky if your horse is new at it. Having a helper hold up one of your horse's front feet to keep them from picking up the rear one or walking off can help until (like my mare) they figure out you want them to keep the foot down and still.

Insert the screwdriver between the hoof wall and the boot, gently prying hte boot away from the wall and exposing a gap. Start near the back where the gaiter attaches and work all the way around the hoof (see photo below).

5) Insert tip of the GG bottle into the gap, and squirt glue down into the boot. You will figure out with trial and error how much you need. Just like with Adhere and Glue-On boots, some horses need more or less. Try at home before you go to an event. Do this all around the boot from gaiter edge to the other gaiter edge. I have not needed any in the rear of the boot so far, and a little will flow back there anyway on its own. Using two hands works best. I had to take a picture with one hand, so had to figure out how to balance the bottle and screwdriver in the other.

Below is a close-up of the glue down in the gap. GG foams up as it dries, expanding and thus filling in some of the gaps that cause the rear boots not to fit as well, as well as providing 'stick factor'.


6) Take your roll of athletic (or other) tape and wrap it around the top edge of the boot, all the way behind the heels and the front. A few times around is usually plenty. This helps keep things in place while the glue dries (it takes a few hours) and puts a little pressure on the boot to help the glue foam into all the gaps, instead of out the top of the boot. You can see the foamy old glue on the outside of the boot.

Both feet finished and waiting to dry. Do this after a ride or anything else that will cause your horse to move around too much. Remember, it takes a few hours to really set up nicely, and you don't want it to set up twisted on the hoof. I do this the night before an event and just leave the gaiters loose overnight, then tighten in the morning.

Removal and Cleanup
Removal works just like with Glue-Ons. Using a flat-head screwdriver and a rubber mallet, carefully pry the boot away from the hoof. This works best if you stick the screwdriver head between the hoofwall and the athletic tape. Once you get the boot off, just pull the tape out of the boot, which removes most of the glue.

I actually like some of the glue to stay in, as it creates a custom shimming in the boot, so I can use the boots on training rides with minimal twist and no glue. Just mark the boots so you know which goes on the right and left hoof. The glue comes out pretty well, and it is 'softish', so leaving some residue in the boot (even on the soles) doesn't bother the horse.

This was a shot of the boots after three gluings, just before I put them on for this one.

You can see how the glue and some left over tape has lined the inside of the boot, making it somewhat of a custom fit boot.

And the other boot: much less glue stuck to this one. You can see the power strap a bit better on the inside as well.

I hope this helps a few of you. It works great on my horse, and we tried it on a little gaited horse that also twists off Gloves. It worked great for her too!

Natalie Herman

Submitted by Karen Bumgarner, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

One of my goals for the year was all five days of the Owyhee Canyonlands. Last year I used the Glue On's, which worked beautifully. They were flawless and still very difficult to remove after a week, but I did get them off.


Now as I see it, the drawback to glue is its pretty tough to clean them and reuse them even though I had lots of wear left on them. Plus I pretty well destroyed one while taking it off. I kept mulling over all this and kept thinking of not gluing boots. But I had a little voice telling me "you know you will get rubs after a week" and "you have a larger chance of acquiring scratches after a week". So many "you coulds"! This Queen of Tightwads could also save money using the Easyboot Glove Wides that I already had and not buy more boots, glue, tips etc. Hmmm.

My friend, Tamara Baysinger, had reminded me of the "nylon trick". She had been using the nylons to prevent rubs on her mare. I used them once in awhile to keep the cheat grass out of my velcro on the gaiters. I vegetated on all this and finally decided, no glue. I'll take my chances.


Every day after the ride I would pull the boots and bathe my horse because it was hot. I'd get all the sweat off and allow air to get to the hoof and pasterns each evening and all night long. I checked closely for any signs of scratches and I had none. There was not even one little bump, which I found very surprising.

We finished all five days without one rub and without any scratches! The Glove Wides still had plenty of wear left too so this tightwad still had boots to use.

Karen Bumgarner

Submitted by Åsa Nuttal, Team Easyboot 2011 member

I have really fallen in love with the Easyboot Trail when it comes to rehabbing hooves. They stay on and they are very easy to put on and take off. And with a fleece sock I made the hooves stay dry and rub free. The biggest problem with leaving on boots for a long time seems to be the rubs and the moisture trapped in the boot. So I tried to think of something that would prevent that.


I went to the store and bought a small fleece blanket. They cost next to nothing and come in pretty colors. I am cheap, so I ended up with the ugliest pattern because it was on sale. I also bought some elastic string. Then I went home to see if I could make something that would work. I placed a cadaver hoof (you use what you have) on a piece of cardboard that I used as a template, and drew a circle about two inches outside the hoof. Then I used it to cut two pieces of fleece. I thought it would be best to use two layers so the material would rub against each other and not on the skin at the heels.


Then I poked little holes around the edge of the fleece circle and thread the elastic string through. Now I had a little slip on sock that I could use with the Easyboot Trail.


They can be used a few days in a row and then they can be thrown in the laundry. Make a few pairs so you can change them out. Eventually they will wear at the toe but you can still use them for a while because at the toe you do not have to worry about a rub. Just make sure the hole does not end up at the heel when you put the sock on.

Åsa Nuttal

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Submitted by Natalie Herman, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

Now that the new, cotoured, double layered gaiters are on all the Easycare hoof boots, pastern rubs should be a thing of the past, right? Well, not on all horses. Some still get rubs, and almost all of them seem to be in a different spot than where the old gaiters were rubbing. They are no longer on the sides of the pastern, but on the front. Why? My theory is the rolled and sewn edge.

This seemed to be the cause in the old gaiters, and the new gaiters addressed that by double layers and no rolls. So I figured, why not do that to the fronts of my gaiters too? At least, until we get even better gaiters that have this option built in. Here is what I do, and you can do as well, to solve the little problem. So far it has worked great, and no more rubs!

1. Using a sharp knife or scissors, cut and pull out the stitches all along the edge of the gaiter and around the bottom 'corner'. Then peel apart - the layers are also glued together.
2. Cut only the 'top' layer (leaving a bottom layer sticking out past the top, just like the new gaiters do all around the top of the gaiter edges.
3. Cut a tiny bit of the 'bottom' layer if needed (from the rolled stitching, it tends to bunch up and not lay flat: cut off this 1-2mm.

That's it: you are done. Simple, huh? If you are worried about stitching coming undone, then you can glue the threads down. I have yet to have the rest of the gaiter come apart, since it is glued as well as sewn together.

    
I hope this helps those of you still getting a few rubs. Even on my white-pasterned horse this does great.

Natalie Herman

Submitted by Karen Bumgarner, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

Sometimes, even though it seems like we have everything a person could possibly need for a horse, we don’t.

And when we need something that you just can’t go to the store and get then we have to improvise. In this case I was needing an EasySoaker or something like it. My beloved old endurance horse, Zapped+/, had turned up suddenly lame. At 28 years of age, a veteran with 6,480 AERC miles, he as been amazingly sound. So it was really a shock to see him limping.

He is the herd boss, so I was pretty sure that no one had kicked him. I couldn’t find a mark on him. He had galloped out to pasture with the others the previous day and looked great. I checked his legs for heat and swelling but found nothing: no apparent signs of injury. I decided it had to be in the hoof which I keep trimmed up myself. I dug around with the pick and hoof knife and didn’t find anything unusual. I rasped his hoof a bit and only found some minor bruising at the heel. No sensitivity and only slight heat. I am not a vet but have learned a few things along the way. I wanted him to be more comfortable as I evaluated this so I gave him some Bute and decided to wait and see what the next day brought.

The next day came with a still-lame horse. The Bute had not helped much. This confirmed a problem in the hoof: a soft tissue or arthritic situation would have responded to Bute. But problems in the hoof don’t respond as well due to inflammation in the hoof capsule being so sensitive and having nowhere else to go. If it was a developing abscess, it was going to have to come to the surface and break before the old boy got any relief.

I needed to soak the hoof to help pull the inflammation out. I did not have an EasySoaker or any type of medicinal boot. So I took a heavy rubber bucket, hot water and a bit of tea tree oil. I would have used Epsom Salts but didn’t have any, and again improvised with Tea Tree oil as it is antifungal, antispetic and really cleans. The whole idea was to soak it, soften, and hopefully pull the bad stuff out through some tiny hole that dirt or a rock had entered through into the hoof laminae in the first place. I picked the hoof and placed it in the bucket of steamy water. He must have thought it felt pretty good as he was happy to stand with his foot in the bucket.

After about 30 minutes the water had cooled off, so I let him take his foot out of the bucket and put it on the nice green grass to keep it clean. I then gooped on a clay poultice. The clay would help pull any bacteria or infection out of the hoof or frog.

Submitted by Tami Rougeau, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

Raising Amatzing Grace (aka May) has been a trial in patience, but it has all paid off. She recently finished her second 100 mile ride at the Virginia City 100 and at the same time completed the NASTR Triple Crown in sixth place. This series of rides is endurance at it finest and May really rose to the occasion.


I came upon May when I was searching for siblings to my other mare. May was a gangly, thin, 18-month old and certainly not what I was looking for. But the owner needed to move some horses and her doe-like eyes just grabbed at my heart. Oh well, what are you going to do but walk her the several blocks home? My neighbor took one look at her and very nicely said congratulations (her face said "what on earth are you going to do with that?").  Recently she actually admitted that her first thought was just that and that I had lost my mind. 


Not only was she underweight but she had photo sensitivity burns on every white mark, face and legs. It took nearly six months to get her legs completely healed. Her legs were left with scars and sensitivity that have been an ongoing challenge for us. She is prone to scratches and will break out with the least rub. For early Easyboot users this posed a huge problem.

Another issue for May is that her (otherwise awesome) feet are not the "perfect" Easyboot size and shape. The wideness of her feet means that she ends up in a bigger boot to accommodate the width making it too big for the length. This results in a loose heel and boots that do not stay on. 

As sweet and loving as this little bay mare is, she can be nervous and flighty. When she is nervous she wants to move her feet. It probably bears mentioning that when she was young she was not very coordinated (hence the pun of her name, she was anything but graceful and it truly was amazing). Doing her feet was interesting at first. She would not stand on three legs. Lift a foot to work on it and down she went. We had never seen anything like it. We had to train her to stand on three legs by putting her against the fence. After about three weeks of this she got it, out of the blue she just started standing up. She was so proud of herself, you could see it in her face. In fact she was so proud of her new trick that she would continuously stand on just three legs. She still does it, especially if she is looking for attention or particularly happy about something. It is this sweetness that made the persistence worth every bit of the frustration.

So back to the challenge of the boots. We started off in Original Easyboots. After several episodes of boot loss, it became evident that we needed something else. About this time, Easycare put out the Epic and the Bare, both with gaiters. Brilliant idea, unless you have a horse who is prone to Scratches and can't tolerate any rubbing. On top of that, we also still had the fit problem. Being a minimalist I really liked the concept of the Bare so that is what we started with. It was a nightmare and resulted in our pulling at the lunch stop at Wild West in 2007. The frustrating thing was that we would adapt our booting, carefully trim and things would work well for a ride or two then it would stop working and we would have to go back to the drawing board. Thankfully there were a lot of choices back then.

In an effort to deal with the rubs, we used many of the various methods including vet wrap, tube socks and nylons. The vet wrap and the tube socks helped somewhat with the fit as well as the rubs but then we would have issues when conditions were wet. Nylons worked well but did nothing to keep sand out and during warm weather they created more heat. We did finally get a solution in the form of neoprene cuffs that we made from a sweat belt and Velcro tabs. This has worked for us for the last couple of years.

Between the fit and the rubbing I was pretty much done with the whole barefoot thing so I took a break and shod her for a few months so that her Scratches could heal and we could do more training to try to get her to move more efficiently. I love having barefoot horses for many reasons, so this was a hard decision, but it was the right one for the time. Thankfully it only lasted a few months and I had a plan.

Our next try was in Epics and this worked much better as we could adjust them pretty tight after they were on. I still used the vet wrap and sometimes the tube socks. The Scratches were still a big issue and our ride schedule was definitely impacted but this also gave us time to work out our boot fitting issues as well as her emotional issues.  In 2009, May tore her check ligament and underwent stem cell therapy. It worked great, we also took our time doing rehab and brought her back pretty slow. She ended up with that entire season off from competition.

When she finally came back in 2010 Easycare had come out with the Glove and glue ons.  That year we worked with Dave Rabe and were able to get a fairly decent fit with the Gloves.  That same year, my friends Lucy Trumbull and Leslie Spitzer introduced me to the neoprene cuffs which have been part of the final answer to our rubs. The solution for our Scratches came in the form of white vinegar. We wash her legs after ever ride and then spray her legs with the vinegar. I still have to check her legs daily for any nicks or abrasions as these will also lead to scratches. Between these two things we have been free of scratches for over a year.

So we started off the 2010 season with a new plan to use Gloves, along with the recommended athletic tape and the neoprene gloves. It worked like a charm and we had our best year yet. It may have only been 300 miles and five rides, but one of them was the Sunriver 100. We did all of these miles in Gloves and had no issues at all.

This year I had included the NASTR Triple Crown on my list of goals for May. Knowing that the 75 and the 100 are really rocky I wanted to increase the amount of protection. For the 75 I just put a bit of Goober Glue in the bottom of the Gloves to add a bit of cushion and to help keep the boot on correctly through the treacherous rocks. It worked fantastically and we had no issues at all (unless you count the torrential down pour we rode in). 

May's feet still don't measure up correctly for the boots but this summer Easycare came out with the Glove and Glue-On Wide sizes. Finally a sizing chart that was written for May's feet, or so I thought. In preparation for the Virginia City 100 I got her all trimmed nicely, waited a week and put on the boots. They fit like a dream and I thought that I finally had the text book fit that I had been looking for all these years. Upon arrival at ridecamp I set to putting on the Glue-Ons. What was a great fit three days earlier was not so good today on the front. The backs worked great. Thankfully, Dave Rabe was there and we went through our bags of tricks and finally got a size larger regular boot to fit OK on the front. It was no worse than I had been using successfully for the previous year but now she is in a full size bigger boot.

So maybe our problems are not solved perfectly, but we do have a system that is working really well for us. I do not believe that one should trim the foot to fit the boot but I do strongly believe that you have to have a correct trim. We use the Gloves most of the time and glue ons only for rocky 100s. Part of the secret to the Glue-Ons is having a good gluing protocol that works for you. The Adhere product is great as it sets up quickly. I don't use much, mostly just around the top of the boots. The Goober glue is nice and soft and provides a good cushion but it takes 24 hours to set up. I use liberal amounts of goober glue on the sole and bottom edge of the boot. We no longer have issues with scratches and our boots fit just fine. We might never get that textbook fit, but persevering and working through all of the issues was well worth it all. 

So if you are having issues, talk to others and take all suggestions. Be patient and persevere. You never know what will work for you.

Tami Rougeau

Submitted by Tami Rougeau, Team Easyboot 2011 Member.

It has been two weeks now since we finished the 2011 Virginia City 100 and the NASTR (Nevada All State Trail Riders) Triple Crown. It still seems like a far away dream. Probably for good reason, but more on that later.


This was my third attempt and completion of this 100 mile event. The trail alone makes this the toughest 100 mile ride around. It is just gnarly rocky and with that many rocks on the trail there is bound to be one with your name on it. The first two times I finished on my big chestnut mare Fancy and we wore glue ons. This year it was her half sisters turn to show her stuff and boy, did she. I will post another story about this remarkable little mare and will try to stay focused on this ride for this story.

Just like the previous two legs of this adventure (Nevada Derby 50 ) http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/team-easyboot/nevada-derby-glad-to-be-back and the NASTR 75 http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/team-easyboot/125-down-and-100-to-go, this adventure would never have happened with out the most amazing team of family and friends. I could not have done this without you and you know it. I had been on the road with work for weeks and had not had more than 2 hours sleep in months. The plane I arrived on Thursday did not get in till after midnight so by the time I was at the ranch it was after 1 am and my list of things to do was still long. But my husband had done the shopping for every bizarre thing I asked for, had the trailer prepped and ready to go and had been laying out clothing items that I mentioned over the previous weeks.  I love my non-horsey hubby! My friends Crysta and Lucy stepped up to be my crew with instructions to make me do things like eat, drink and stay warm. They did a really great job of keeping the zombie rider and the zippie mare together. When I arrived at the camp site I was also treated to valet parking services by Gina Hall. Now how nice is that! These folks are so great! Of course now in hindsight I am wondering if maybe they thought I was not safe to drive so they just tricked me out of my truck? Anyway we got parked and Gina again came to the recue of my little mare by providing panels so that May and her newest bestest boyfriend could be neighbors instead of her being tied on the other side of the trailer. Yes, I was pretty blurry by this time but there was still lots to do. Pressing on to get those boots glued on.

On a side note, I had forgotten the extra troughs I had promised Connie and when I arrived to camp the electric on my trailer was not working. My wonderful husband came to the rescue and sacrificed his day at the Reno Air Races to bring the troughs and to fix the electric problem. Not only was Connie happy to have the troughs and I was happy to have electricity but it prevented him from getting down to the races that afternoon when the tragic crash happened. It was very sad for everyone.

I had ordered the new Easyboot Glue-On Wides as that is what May measured into and was excited to have boots that fit correctly for a change (see any of my other blogs to read more about my fit challenges). They fit fine 3 days ago down at the ranch.  Now they were not so good on the front, drat. The weather had been wet/dry/wet/dry and I think this had more impact on her hooves than I had anticipated. I was determined to get my boots on before Dave Rabe got there and did it for me. I do not cotton to the belief that the foot should be cut down to fit the boot, too many folks have had issues with that. I also do not trim the week prior to any of these rockier rides. That is receipe for disaster here in our rocky as all get out trails. So I trim about 10 days prior and my boots are sized for the growth that they encounter. The downside to this way of thinking is if you go from a wet climate to a dry climate (or vice versa), the foot can change so you should have a good slection of sizes to choose from.

The number 1 Glue-On Wides went on the back feet nicely. There was a bit of a gap over the dip in the spade of her foot but a little more adhere at that point was easy. Since I did this set there was liberal ammounts of Goober Glue put in to the bottom of the boot and a sparing bit of Adhere along the edges. The GG provided the added padding for the treacherous rocks and the adhere actually holds the boot on. Dave arrived as I was cussing the new front boots that had fit nicely three days ago at the ranch and that now did not fit nicely at all. So out came our bags of tricks, trying on every single size we had. We even had to get one from Henry Griffin from his fit kit (another great guy). In the end we had a 2 on her left front and a 1.5 on her right front with 1W on both rear feet. Dave put the front ones on and he made sure that those boots will never come off, ever. They are still out there now.

Once the drama of the boots was over we just had to wait to vet. All I wanted to do was take a nap but that was not going to happen. Carolyn and I checked in. May would be riding with her NASTR 75 buddy OKAY and she was pretty happy about that already. Boy does she love that big white gelding. I chose to go to the trailer to go to bed instead of going to the ride meeting, I was really tired having only had 2 hours of sleep over the previous 2 days. I made some soup and my amazing, awesome crew showed up so we could go over the plan of attack for the next day. I don't think I was much help as I was in a vegetative state, only occassionally making some coherent sound that they took for agreement. We had managed to pack the crew bags thanks to Crysta who was totally on top of what they wanted and what I wanted (even when I did not know). So all was well and eventually I fell asleep as evidenced by being really angry when the alarm went off.

The morning was perfect weatherwise. I just love the start of this ride. We all congregate on the main street of historic Virginia City in front of the Delta Saloon. How many posse's gathered on this very street? What would Mark Twain write of this gathering if he were looking out the window of his room? The history is almost over whelming and it carries you through town almost mystically. If the streets could talk...


Eventually we got on and got going at a decent pace, down Lousetown Road then across and over to the highlands where we cross the highway and get our first trot-by. I will now fully admit that there was a very small part of me that hoped we would get pulled. I hurt so bad and was so tired I was having a hard time rating May. She was happy to just trundle along with Okay and Bishop but she was not smooth about it. Jaime said we were good to go. My knee was already swollen and everytime I got off to run it sort of squished and cracked. Instead of crying I just said a big prayer and kept moving. My horse is strong and she can carry me if necessary so off we went, walk/jogging down Geiger grade to the next vet stop near the market.


We made it to the vet check just a bit behind when I had planned to get there but the crews were waiting and everything went well. All three horses vetted in quickly and we went to the crew area to wait it out. Okay ate like a mad man and May stood there nibbling a bit and watching all the goings on. She is bad about doing that and I always worry but usually by the next check she gets the idea that she had better eat. Drinking on the other hand is really her strong suit to the point that I used to wonder if the reason she did not eat so well is because she drinks so much her tummy is just too full. The 45 minutes went by fast and soon we off on the next leg of our journey.


This is the leg that takes out a lot of riders - Bailey Canyon. I have a theory about why there is so much sandy desert in Nevada. I think that they took all of the rocks in the state and dumped them into Bailey Canyon (any left overs went into El Dorado canyon on the NASTR 75). Every year they add a few more and I think that rain actually makes them grow in size as every year it gets a little worse. At least there is no longer a bear living down there. So we took our time and made our way through then down to Washoe Lake where we had another trot by. For whatever reason by this time I was feeling a bit better and more awake. Jamie gaves us the big thumbs up and we were off again. May was in steady moving mode and hardly held still for me to get back on.


The next challenge of this ride are the S.O.B.'s. This obstacle has been described by many a rider using various expetives. Basically it is three serious downs followed by three serious ups. If Bailey Canyon was not enough of a challenge for the boot fit this certainly was. I opted to walk the downs and have May carry me the ups. May can climb like a mountain goat so all I have to do is stay up off her back and let her go. Since she is not fond of tailing (as evidenced by her stopping every other step to stop and stare at me with a look of total disgust) it is just faster and easier this way. The one good thing about this section of trail is that there is loads of bunch grass so going slow and being able to eat the whole way is a bonus. Once you get through the SOB's you follow the road up to the reseviour and a much needed water and hay break manned by more amazing NASTR club members. Then it is down the hill and into town for a nice one hour stop.


Our crew met us and we vetted through quickly with all A's except for gut which was a B. No surprise there since May had not started to really eat until we hit the SOB's. The Glue-Ons were working well for both horses and they were both still perky. At the vet check Okay was on alert for the blowing flag that flies over the camp. They ate, we ate and I even dozed off for a few minutes sitting in the warm sun. Before we knew it, the hour was up and we were off for the third loop that would take us up over Davidson Mountain.


We sure made short order of the trip up there. It seemed like no time and we were at the reseviour again and headed to the top of the mountain. About this time I got a text from Lucy asking me if I was happy. She had actually sent the message hours ago but it just appeared. She was a bit concerned at my less than energetic persona apparently. We were about an hour behind my previous years times and I was pretty concerned that we were not going to make it. Carolyn kept reassuring me that it would be fine. As the sun was setting on us I was not so sure and kept wondering where we had lost so much time. That slow start was not good but on the other hand all of the horses were very lively and stepping out well especially since the temperature was dropping. Up over the top and then down to the highway crossing where our super crew was once again waiting for us with water and food. All of the horses ate and drank well.

This loop has several memories for me and I can't help but think of all of them when I ride it, especially at night. This was my first 100 back in 2007 on my other mare, May's sister Fancy. We rode the whole loop by ourselves and even though I was never sure we were on trail Fancy just took charge and got us through. It was this ride that forced me to finally get my knees fixed when the vet threatened to pull me, not because of how my horse looked but because of how I looked. My very good friend Teri was crewing and thank the Lord she was there as she reassured him that Fancy was in charge and would take care of me. So he let me go with firm instructions not to get off the horse (which was not going to happen for any amount of money as far as I was concerned). This time was a far different experience. May, Okay, Bishop and Martini were strong and quite full of spirit as we headed out on the flat of Lousetown Road. Carolyn and I had decided that we would let them make time where the footing was good and take advantage of having so much horse until it looked like we should slow down. Well that lasted for almost 90 minutes when we over-ruled and forced them to walk a bit. They had just trotted out the whole time and we were doing the loop faster than we had ever done it. Amazing!


At the Cottonwoods hold they all once again vetted quickly with great scores and once again we were met by the greatest group of volunteers. There were blankets, cocoa, soup, coffee and a camp fire. It was a very nice 20 minutes. My only complaint was that Patty Meserle was not there with her famous home made soup that saved my life in 2007. It took Teri over a year to finally break down and tell me that it was actually Lipton instant soup. Regardless, it is still a very fond memory for me and I will always look for Patty's soup and anyone who ever asks "what is the best thing you ever ate at a vet check" I will tell you that it is Patty Meserle's home made chicken noodle soup, which she makes in her camper no less! She is amazing for sure. This is your reward for making it that far I have determined and it is well worth it, even if it did originate in a paper baggie.

So we sauntered out of the Cottonwoods with loads of time and happy horses and a big bright moon to light our way. We shared stories of rides and riders and when we hit the sandy wash I had to chuckle a bit. This was the area where the previous year Lucy was convinced that there were large rocks and boulders and that we should be walking. It is a sandy trail 3-4 feet wide without a rock on it. But it is yet another fond memory that I have of this ride.

We made it back through the canyon and up to the finish in fine time. Apparently May did not know that the ride was now over and she could relax. She insisted on trotting (i.e. jigging) all the way back through town and into camp. By this time I was pretty done and although it had been a fun day I was ready to be done and for her to take it easy on me. Jaime caught us up as we came in and vetted us even before we got a chance to hit the trough. He is very efficient and I was into following direction at this point. He gave us his classic smile and a good job, congratulations and we headed to the trailer.

Lucy was there again and was instumental in getting the tack off and put away.  What an amazing crew I had in Lucy and Crysta.  They took such good care of May and I all day.  Once May was settled I hit the bed and went into a total coma.  The next morning dawned bright and warm. We got up to watch the BC judging and mill around until the awards. Breakfast was served and boy was it good. This is another of my fond memories of this ride - breakfast. Complete with steak and eggs, this is one of the best, and you can even get a bloody mary in the Ice House if you want one. I love Sunday morning of the Virginia City ride. Awards were presented (see Lucy's VC 100 story for a complete rundown) and May ended up 14th on the 100 and 6th in the Triple Crown. When Connie asked me to say something I was too choked up. My little Amatzing Grace who could not even stand on three legs when I walked her home was a Triple Crown horse. She was clumsy and fretful but so loving and sweet I just fell in love with her and often wondered what on earth I would ever do with her. 

She now has two hundreds to her record and has more than proved herself as a steady going endurance horse. I love this little mare and I love this ride. No matter how hard it is and how many rocks they put in Bailey Canyon I cannot imagine not doing this ride if I have a horse that is up for it. It certainly helps to have a good trail companion and a wonderful crew but the volunteers of the NASTR club are top notch and they really make the ride. As time goes on it gets harder and harder to put this ride on but somehow they persevere - thank you!


So if you have not done this ride you better put it on your bucket list and save your money up. You simply have not done endurance until you have done this historic ride in this historic area. Oh yeah, and if you do make it be sure to get your boots on. If there were ever a test of the Easycare boot lineup, this would be it. And boots are the only way to go. 

Thanks to everyone who helped May and I through on this one, we could not have done it without you.

Tami

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.


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.


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.


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.


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.


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.

Submitted by Karen Bumgarner, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

Today I got my fit kit for the new Glove Wides in the mail. Hooray! Now to get the boys in off the pasture and play dress-up trying on new boots.


I had ordered the Easyboot Fit Kit for an 0.5. This gave me a size 0, an 0.5 as well as a size 1 Wide. I had guesstimated the two horses would need an 0.5 in the fronts, these measure 118 - 121 mm width and length. Both Blue and Thunder wear a 1.5 Glove which measures 116-119 mm wide but the length is always too long for them at 126-129 mm. Their hooves measure the same in width and length which is why I wanted to try the Glove Wides.


The 0.5 didn't go on real easy, but with a whack or two with the mallet it seated quite well and I thought it fit quite nicely. Then I placed a size 0 on the hind. I walked him around and they stayed on and I had to work a little to get them off.


Thunder is a tad wider hooved than Blue but they both wear the same size Glove. However it didn't take long to figure out that the 0.5 wasn't going to fit on his front hooves. I did get it on the hoof but it didn't seat well. I had to go to the size 1 for Thunder's fronts for it to look like a good fit. And the 0.5 Wide fit the hinds well.

So what do I see as the advantage in the Glove Wides? Since my horses have round hooves the Gloves always had empty space at the toe. On some rides I'd find some dirt or tiny rocks in this toe space where the hoof never touched. Thunder also has a tendency to forge, his hind boot hits the bottom or toe of his front boot in flight. With a shorter boot, there won't be as much to interfere. Often a difference of just a few mm can make a huge difference in how a horse travels. And since the boot fits the hoof shape closer, the break over will be cleaner and I am less likely to have any trouble with boots turning or anything like that.

Anything that makes it easier for the horses means more happy miles down the trail!

Submitted by Susan Gill, Team Easyboot 2011 Member in Australia

Jenny Moncur and I have just come home from a fantastic weekend which involved travelling 5+ hours each way with another special friend - Colette - to compete at our first 80km endurance ride in a long time.  My last serious ride was the National Tom Quilty 100 miler in 2009.  Since then I've had a bit of a holiday as I've brought along 2 youngsters and just completed 20km and 40km training rides.  Jenny is in the same position but more so, her last long endurance ride being in 2006.  My mare Joby was going to be completing her first 80km ride, and Jen's mare Promise was under the 13-month rule so running to novice times as well.  Colette came along as Camp Boss and strapper, and did an awesome job of organizing us both so we could relax and enjoy the ride.

Weather where we live has been wet, wet, wet.  In the end I decided to wait until we arrived to glue on Joby's Easyboot Gloves because the afternoon was forecast to be quite fine.  Her feet aren't the best barefoot examples at the moment, with dodgy frogs due to persistent thrush from her environment.  I just wonder what so many of the shod horses hooves look like from a worm's eye view!  So glueing on her boots seemed like the hassle free option to provide maximum comfort for the longer distance - Sikaflex cushions make her feel like she is striding across grass when she's travelling along bitumen and gravel roads.  And the ride conditions were very "ordinary" - wet, cold, and plenty of mud - again another reason to glue to minimize time and effort checking boots between legs.  Jen had originally planned to do the 40km training ride but stepped up to the challenge on the day, so she was riding Promise in Easyboot Gloves with hoof pads. 

Never one to be totally in the background, I pre-painted Joby's Easyboot Gloves in bright blue to match my riding colours - it would have looked a picture if my shirt wasn't hidden under wet weather gear!  I approached the glueing process with a typical aussie attitude of "she'll be right mate" which probably should have been refined slightly but got me through nearly the whole ride without a glitch.  Yes Kevin I agree, boot fit AND preparation are key factors - I did lose one boot around the 60km mark but Jen spotted it flying off so it was easy to find!


Each hoof was cleaned up on the sole with a hoof pick and then scrubbed with a wire brush, but remained moist due to the wet conditions of the past week.  I wasn't worrying about the dampness as Sikaflex reacts in a positive way to moisture.  The hoof wall was dry-scrubbed of mud, but possibly a fine residue remained in places - the boots were definitely less bonded then normal.  Perhaps I should have given them an actual wash.

A little touch up trimming, taking off a bit more toe, just to help fit and breakover, and a light rasp on the hoof wall if I remembered.  This is her off-fore.  You can see she's got a few trouble spots, a sad frog, and a bit of a flare to one side - a case of go with what you've got on the day.


Doesn't the boot look beautiful although it got covered in mud soon enough.  The gaitor is still attached at this stage. Again in hindsight, I could have used a greater quantity of glue - I hardly had any oozing out of the boot, and no mess on me at all - a dead giveaway when I think about it.


I just squiggled a quantity of sikaflex onto the sole, into the collateral grooves, and the concave area of her sole, knowing that when her boot was put on, the glue would ooze into position as needed because it is quite liquid under pressure.  Boots actually go on easier too, because it acts like a lubricant on the hoof.



The fit isn't that tight, the vee isn't stretched at all, but she actually needs that size for length.  So 4 boots in places, she snoozes quietly in her yard, and we fill in the rest of the evening.  I think the whole process for each hoof took less than 10 minutes - I was pretty cruisy about it.

Around midnight the rain started - we must have brought it with us.  I listened to the leaks in the horsefloat where we were sleeping, and wondered what else would be getting wet - pretty well everything due to more leaks or just condensation.  A 6am ride start meant getting up at 5am to get organised.  Jen put on Promise's Gloves in the rain.  I was one up on her via glueing the afternoon before although I did need to unscrew all the gaitors (Experience Tip: don't clog up the screw heads with paint, otherwise the screwdriver won't grab and undo the screw!).  We both got equally we saddling up the horses!

Off in the dark to start our first 40km loop.  Apparently it was really miserably cold and wet the whole day but we didn't notice because we were having too much fun!  Joby took it all in her stride like a seasoned campaigner, taking her example from Promise who knew what it was all about.  We rode to the conditions and enjoyed nearly the whole loop.  One section was quite daunting to most riders - it was a very boggy slippery track up a very steep hill, and down the other side.  Yes the boots slipped a bit but we just sat quietly on the horses and allowed them to choose their path, trusting that we were safer on then off them. Promise did a couple of metre long skids on the way down and looked like an elegant ice-skater, totally relaxed and unfazed by the experience - she almost looked like they were deliberate by the way she coped!

Back in camp, great parameters for both horses although Jen was starting to feel the pain from an extremely dodgy ankle.  Out again in continuing wet and cold weather.  Although the rain cleared up intermittently, apparently temperatures never made it to 6 degrees celcius for the entire day (according to the weather chart it actually felt like only 1.5 degrees for most of it) - but the horses just kept going like they were having as much fun as me.  Jen was past it, but her attitude kept her going to the end.  

Joby and Promise vetted through beautifully, with Joby winning the Best Managed Novice Horse Award which kept me grinning.  At a ride where some riders didn't bother starting due to the perceived conditions of the track, we felt really comfortable about going ahead, knowing that we'd all be ok.  Mind-set is everything, setting yourself up in a positive way makes all the difference!  My attitude was easy to maintain - I knew that I'd rather be out riding than not, so I was happy.  Jen's attitude was much stronger - it had to be for her to get over the pain and continue on.  We crossed the finish line together, knowing that the four of us have just passed one milestone and are now set up beautifully ready for our next adventure - a mini marathon in August.

Jenny was a little worse for wear after the event, succumbing to hypothermia, but was much better the next morning after sleeping with 2 hot water bottles and a Jack Russell Terrier :)

Lesson 1.  Dress for the conditions, even if you think you don't feel the cold.
Lesson 2.  Be a tad fussier with preparation and enjoy the results.
Lesson 3.  Attitude makes all the difference!

Submitted by Tennessee Mahoney, Team Easyboot 2011 Member

This past weekend, Sean and I headed to Pingree Park and 12 miles up and back the steep and rocky Flowers Trail to find the old B52 Bomber that crashed up there during WWII.  My husband, Sean, a pleasure rider by nature, rode his 17 hand quarab gelding “Rocky Top,” dawning his 60lb saddle with a 30 pack of Coors Light distributed evenly on each side in his saddle bags.  It was their first adventure in the new Easyboot Trails.  Being the endurance rider that I am, I had “Gloves” on my horse’s feet, who had already put about 20 training miles on that week.

Sean was skeptical about the Trails, when his size 4s arrived, he said they were just too clunky-looking to be any good.  Sean is very familiar with high performance booting and has seen a lot of boot blowouts, having crewed for me in endurance for years, I tend to push boots to the max.  But Sean and Rocky go on more relaxed rides, they still do all the crazy, technical, challenging terrain that our rough home states (Colorado and New Mexico) present, but they cover the ground a bit slower (don’t want to shake up the beer,) and they cover a little less of it (don’t want to end up with warm beer.)  Nonetheless, we always end up trotting several miles and cantering a few too, one can’t resist. 

The Trails were ridiculously easy to put on, making Sean even more skeptical, especially since I had slacked off on Rocky’s trimming schedule, and he was overdue for a trim.  I was so relieved that I didn’t have to throw my back out doing a last minute trim, the boots went right on and we could get on with our ride. 

The weather was perfect, classic Colorado; lush creek bottoms lined by aspen and climbing into lodgepole pine and craggy snow-capped peaks.  The trail was steep, all crushed granite, with some boggy crossings thanks to the cattle.  On the way back, in classic Colorado fashion, the wind suddenly picked up, the temperature dropped 10 degrees, and a rumbling black cloud came over the peak headed straight for us.  So we headed back at an ambitious pace, especially considering the terrain. 

I was proud of Rocky and Sean, he kept right up with the now-endurance-style-pace I was setting, I wasn’t stoked about the idea of getting pelted by hail in my tank top.  But as the saying goes here, “if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes!”  After a couple miles of trail blasting to escape the cloud of doom, it turned east, and we were back to a relaxed walk, swatting mosquitoes and soaking up the sun, the beer wasn’t harmed.

We were both very impressed by the Trails, they worked perfectly, weren’t clunky at all.  Did everything they were supposed to do and, even though we hadn’t used them before and we did a tough 12 miler, Rocky didn’t have any rubs.  He cruised right along in them like they were Gloves, but even better because they slipped right on a due-to-be-trimmed-hoof.  That alone makes these boots a perfect match for a pleasure rider; just get out and ride!

Sean loved them and said he would be using them during hunting season and on the upcoming “guys ride.”  I am sold on the new product, and I’m going to buy Easyboot Trails for my parents’ horses asap.

Thank you EasyCare for creating such an “Easy” boot for pleasure riders, I highly recommend them!

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?

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.


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.



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 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.


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.


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.


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 area on 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.