With Uno on break after Virginia City 100, Roo just starting to come back to work, and Patrick busy conditioning Fergus for their next 50, the timing has been perfect to start riding my 12:3 hh Section B welsh pony, Jackit.

Jackit has been with us since he was 18 months old and he just turned five in July. Seeing just how high he could buck, I knew I didn’t want to be the one starting him, so this summer he spent ten weeks back with his breeder, Irene Harvey of Briarfair Farm, having his ego turned down a notch or two, and having manners instilled – with much success.
The returning pony is a joy to work with – especially when it comes to trimming feet. Prior to this, he was a complete Wiggle Butt, never being able to stand still long enough to get half-way through a single foot without him wanting to pull it away. Prior to me trimming my own herd, I have memories of my poor shoer having to deal with him – watching Jackit rear up, fall over backwards and end up in the ditch. He was, of course, far less concerned by this event than we were, but this is another reason I’m so pleased to get back the New Jackit.
Although at the time of writing this, I’ve only had two rides on him (too much fun!), I hope one day that he’ll do some distance riding – and as such is going to need boots.
To this end, out came the tape measure when we got home this evening.

I’m not thrilled with how Jackit’s front feet are currently looking – he’s very upright with quite high heels so I’m hoping that with work and regular rasping once a week or once every couple of weeks, plus treating him often for thrush (wondering if his heels are sore, so he’s tending towards a toe-first landing?) those heels will drop, giving him more heel-to-toe length.

Measuring across the widest part of his foot, followed by from tip of toe to buttress of heel, his measurements were:

Left Front: 105 mm wide x 105 mm long
Right Front: 111 mm wide x 106 mm long

 

On the rear feet, his measurements came out to:

Left Rear: 106 mm wide x 110 mm long
Right Rear: 107 mm wide x 107 mm long.

Predictably, none of these measurements fit neatly into the Glove sizing chart (which, as we all know, was designed for imaginary horses).

For the front feet, the lengths put him a mm under the smallest size of 00, while the widths put him in 0 or 0.5. Curses.

His rear feet were slightly less ludicrous – the lengths put him in 00.5 or an 0, while the widths put him in an 0. Since his rear feet look a bit heart-shaped, I’m leaning towards the smaller 00.5 – thinking the length will stretch.

He’s definitely going to need a fit kit to get him dialled in properly. Luckily, I have 00.5s and 0s, so I can try those on his back feet, but it’ll be interesting to see what works on his front feet in their current upright formation – and to see how they change shape from very regular rasping.