Well of course the hoof needed a touch up with the rasp first.
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 Karen Bumgarner, Team Easyboot 2011 Member
