Submitted by Karen Bumgarner, Team Easyboot 2014 Member
My red headed beast, Z Summer Thunder, cruised through the Old Selam 50 to finish up his AERC 4000 miles. While Thunder hasn’t worn Easyboot Gloves the entire 4000 miles, I have used them on him since 2010. In that time he has completed 3200+ miles in either Gloves or Glue on Boots.
Thunder’s first set of boots required that I learn more about balancing the hoof and getting a good fit. I refined my trimming techniques, rounding the hoof up, setting the toe back and really making the boots work on his hooves. I know that a good fit is a must to booting success. Booting success really requires a person to make a commitment to the horse, the hooves and the boots to make it right. But some people question why I went to boots in the first place.
Steve Bradley took this of Thunder and I at City of Rocks 2014
Thunder has a crooked foot, the left front turns out and requires constant trimming to maintain the balance. Plus, he forges if allowed to go any length of time between trims and shoes. Therefore shoeing wasn’t the best for him as we’d have to show him every 4 weeks to maintain the hooves, that created a lot of nail holes. I’ve trimmed horses for years and Al shod all our horses back in the day, I know how numerous nail holes can break down hoof wall integrity. It was always our practice to allow horses to go barefoot in between rides and all winter long. So transitioning to barefoot wasn’t a big stretch for my horses.
I knew after our first ride in the Gloves that these were going to work. He moved well and was much happier. We put on the Gloves and never looked back, racking up 865 miles in 2010 doing two 100’s and a multi-day. The Easyboots offer excellent rock protection and I was sure that I couldn’t have done the Fandango 100 or 5 days at Canyonlands without boots! Plus I believe they help absorb concussion and protect my horse’s legs and joints from harm.
And Thunder just keeps going, so far this year we have 620 miles. We also got our dream trip this year through the Oregon Cascades and westward to the Oregon Coast. Ten wonderful days of riding and camping! Our Easyboots have certainly taken us many places and if they could talk they’d tell of many adventures!
Thank you Easycare for a great product. I’m fairly sure that Thunder wouldn’t have reached 4000 miles in steel shoes.
