Sunday, April 6, 2014

The Great EasyShoe Fail

If there is one thing I know in this world, it is that O is the most frustrating horse on the planet when it comes to footwear.

Her feet are SO much better than they were when I first got her. They used to be paper thin, completely flat, and had her totally crippled even just on surfaces like pavement. Now, a year later, she is SO much better, but our terrain is still covered in rocks. Her living area and our riding areas are full of rocks. Big rocks, little rocks. Gravel, boulders. Rocks. 
So we need some help.

The problem is threefold: 
1) She has very crooked legs/feet and is toed in
2) She is a short-backed big mover, with some side to side fling of her legs, and is full of random erratic movement
3) She is made of paper and everything in the world rubs her, even just saddle pads and girths on everyday rides


All models of Easyboots rub her raw, and she rips them off. Renegades don't fit due to her crooked feet, and they spin and come off. Cavallos stay on, but rub her until she bleeds no matter how broken in (have had some success with Elastikon tape for dry, short rides). Every single model of synthetic glue-on that I've tried, she has stepped on and ripped off within a day. EVERY model, even just a rim of Superfast she ripped off. She doesn't step on herself until you add just that tiny little bit of extra weight on the foot, and then you can hear her vigorously clack-clacking along on every ride. (She does that in boots too, but not bare.) Every ride always ends up being one ride, because they always get ripped off anyway. I'm 100% sure she'd rip off steel too, if I chose to go that route, and god knows then she would take half her foot off along with it.

I've had my eye on the EasyShoe ever since it was announced last year. I've been eagerly awaiting it's arrival, and in February I pre-ordered a few to try. I made the discovery that she had sized out of the size she used to wear (which is good!), so I ordered the next size up and tried again.

And this time, I was determined NOT to let her get the best of these extremely pricey bad boys. They were gonna STAY damnit. They were gonna stay.

I glued them on with meticulous prep. I put a layer of casting material over the finished product. And then I added bell boots. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that would be called Overkill. That was me desperately going "stay. Please stay. Damnit, you shall stay. You have GOT to stay."


Surely, she can't rip off a well-glued shoe with a cast AND bell boots, right?


She looked ridiculous, but I was not taking ANY chances that these bad boys were coming off ANY time soon.



I applied them yesterday morning. 
I rode today. 
You want to know how long they lasted?

8 miles.

Yes.

8 miles.

EIGHT STUPID SLOW MILES, and she had ripped off both casts, torn a bell boot, and then ripped an EasyShoe off. I felt her snag up on it (we were seriously just slowly trotting along), and then a few strides later I saw the dental impression material go flying off, so I had to turn around and go find the glue. I found some strewn bits of cast as well... looks like she systematically stepped on it enough times to slowly shred it over the course of eight miles.


I hope you are proud of yourself.


"Oh, I am."


She's an efficient mover when she is bare - she never hits herself, catches herself, or does anything questionable when she is totally bare. (Most rides or workouts, I don't bother putting polos/bells/brushing boots/whatever on her, because she doesn't need them.) And it doesn't matter if I push her hind toes to the absolute limit of how far back they can go either, as soon as I put something on her fronts she is stepping on it.

But when your ho-hum not-forward trot looks like this....


.... you're pushing it to the limit when you start to add some more impulsion. The be-bopping slow trot is already cutting it prettttttttttttty darn close to the interference level.


Mares. Back to the drawing board, again, for the millionth time.


18 comments:

  1. Maybe your only option is to go completely bare and just let her adapt to the terrain slowly over time? It sounds like you're already making progress, and given that she also lives on rocky terrain I would think that would be a plus. It might be a while before you can take on a major endurance ride over terrain, but you've got stuff you can do in the meantime, and it sounds as though she really does better bare. Rather than continually messing with footwear, maybe just go with it. Because that does sound frustrating as all get-out!

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    1. It is *super* frustrating! Most of the time I go without anything at all, but whenever it rains she gets quite tender over tough terrain. If we go on long rides, I don't want to take the risk of her bruising badly. Usually we go with the Cavallos in those circumstances and wrap her up with Elastikon, but that's not much fun either :(

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    2. Maybe she wants you to design some new boots for her... you know knee high fleecy snow boots with real leather and laces... :D

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  2. That is one speshul mare you got there... ;)

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  3. I am owned by a mare for the first time ever and she sounds very similar! :)

    I used to have an older TB gelding with the worst hooves ever. I did find that biotin supplements helped him a lot, might be worth a shot if you haven't tried it!

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    1. She gets a great quality vit/min supplement with additional biotin and zinc/copper... it has really made a huge difference for her over the past year! :)

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  4. I was all excited for easy shoes because I thought they were going to come in colors and if Courage could have teal shoes, well, I'd be ALL OVER THAT SHIT.

    Alas, no. Plus expensive. Too bad they didn't work out for you.

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  5. Hello! I've followed your blogs for a couple of years now, but I believe this is the first time I've actually commented.

    Have you tried Old Macs Hoof Boots? I believe they are out of a New Zealand online store, Natural Hoof. My friend uses them as a barefoot eventer and she loves them! I've not looked at them too closely so I can't give you specific details, but it's an option to look into?

    http://www.naturalhoof.co.nz/

    Meghan

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    1. Hi there, Old Macs are actually discontinued product from the EasyBoot line :) I didn't know they were still being sold in New Zealand. They are similar to the Cavallos, but they'd probably rub her too... boo rubbing! Thanks for the suggestion!

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  6. Oh wow that really sucks! I can't even think of any other options to try, except maybe totally barefoot like Meghan said... it would suck to not be able to compete while she adjusts, but it might be the only thing that works in the long term... good luck finding something that works!

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    1. She's about as well-adjusted as I think she'll ever be... she did both of her LDs totally bare (I tried boots the first leg of the first ride, they sucked so I pulled them). She might be able to get through an easy 50 totally bare but that's pretty risky!

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    2. I forgot she did her LDs bare... but yeah that might be asking a bit much for a 50. I wonder if you could just wrap vet wrap/duct tape on her hooves and keep replacing it or something? I'm grasping at straws since you've exhausted about every option it seems like...

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  7. On the one hand, frustrating problem. On the other hand, one of the most amazing problems to have ever because OMG HER MOVEMENT. ;) Do you use hoof hardener?

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    1. Keratex, whenever I have some around.... but usually no. Sometimes Durasole though when the ground has been very wet!

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  8. Sounds like your best bet is finding away to toughen rather than cover, although that's got limitations.
    I would think trying a lot more Keratex, and venice terpentine when she will be somewhere for several hours where she's not able to get gravel stuck to it.
    Does she destroy bellboots if worn while barefoot? And have you tried the glue on easy boot glove?
    Uh, you could try toughening up the skin by using pastern boots (fleece to start) every ride? Then go the elasticon and cavelo route for long distance.
    http://tuffoot.com/ perhaps the human or dog for skin application; they have a horse version, not sure how good it is.

    All I can think of right now ;-)

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  9. The World's Best Hoof Oil has done wonders for others. You might want to try it.

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