Written by EasyCare HCP Dealer, Kristin Thornberry of Outrun Acres
Tuck is a little horse of unknown breed or origin that over time has become my friend Britneys endurance horse. He belonged to a mutual friend who rescued him from a kill pen. Our friend who was already an active endurance rider saw something promising in the the little sorrel horse and brought him home with her. I don’t think she had had him for very long before she offered him to Britney to ride to get a feel for the beginning stages of the sport of endurance. Britney has been an avid trail rider for years but didn’t have any experience with the sport of endurance and was keen to participate in it.
Britney and Tuck really clicked together and she thought she would give the sport of competitive endurance riding a shot. She took an interest in the little horse and started helping to improve his health and conditioning. The pair began riding in intro-races which then quickly led to 25 mile races. The two of them just started getting better and better. Around this time Britney started to consider buying Tuck from our friend who whole heartedly supported the idea as well. After completing their first 50, the deal was sealed and the little red horse came home with her for good.
Many horses rescued from a kill pen need a whole body rehab. It doesn’t just take one person or professional to get them healthy and back on track. Tuck has a great care team and was doing incredibly well. But one thing that started to hold up the rehab process was the condition of his hooves. He had long toes and some what under run contracted heels. This distortion (although fairly mild) was in direct opposition to his natural upright conformation. Tuck was not technically lame but also was not moving as well as he should be and his vet scores were starting to reflect that. Britney being the awesome owner that she is got some lateral x-rays taken which revealed that some changes in his hooves needed to occur to hopefully improve his movement.
After Tuck was officially hers, Britney asked me to remove the steel shoes and trim him. Before his next race, I put him in a front pair of the EasyShoe Versa Grip Light with 11 Finger Tabs and applied them to the hoof wall with EasyCare’s Super Glue. He wore that pair of shoes for 6 weeks and did over 150 competitive miles in them. His movement improved and he started scoring almost all A’s during his vet checks. Even some of the vets started to complement his movement and one said “He moved just like a pure-bred Arabian.”
Tuck is currently competing consistently in 50 mile races in many states including Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Illinois, and Colorado where he races in all different types of environments and conditions. They have ridden in freezing cold rain and hot deserts; in deep sand and mud and rocky unforgiving terrain; on dry hard ground and through rivers and streams. He has so far (knock on wood) never lost an EasyShoe and is moving great and is sound in them. We currently have him in the EasyShoe Versa Grip Octo on his front hooves and he is barefoot behind. At his last hoof care appointment we decided to try to reset the Octos and see how well that went. So far so good! He has completed another 50 mile race in the blistering summer heat and came out of that race sound and healthy with his shoes holding strong. Then another 50 mile race. Next up he completed back to back 50’s in Colorado in the same pair of reset Octos. The most recent set of shoes in total have now done about 450 competitive endurance miles.
Britney and Tuck have achieved many accomplishment together. In 2022 They ended up 15th in the nation for LD miles and Britney placed 2nd as LD Rookie of the nation. 12 LD’s and 1, 50 for a total of 370 competitive miles. As of summer 2023, they have completed 10 more 50’s for a total of 500 miles. Their lifetime completed total competitive miles together is currently 870.
Her long term goals are to do some 75 mile races next year and maybe some 100 mile races the year after that. To hopefully prepare her and Tuck for the Tevis cup in 2027.
Britney loves how Tuck feels and moves in the EasyShoe Versa Grip Octo and it is currently her favorite type of hoof protection for him. They have dramatically improved his comfort and way of traveling and are holding up incredibly well to all type of terrain even when reset.
Not too shabby for a rookie endurance rider, on a little kill pen rescue horse, in a pair of plastic shoes held on with $.10 worth of Super Glue!
