This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Information Architecture) Hi! I guess we ought to introduce ourselves before I comment. We are Becky Vorpagel and Robert Thilsted in Monmouth, Oregon. We have five Fjords at the moment, including a wonderful older mare, our stallion, Sleipner, and three fillies, one started, one starting, and one waiting to be started. We love them dearly.
I've been tempted to comment on much on the list, but seldom have time and usually feel someone else knows better than I. However, I can comment on the EasyBoots as we have used them quite a bit. First of all, we have found that Fjords do need to be shod, and while some of them have hard hooves, a lot of this is myth -- if you ride them a lot, they need shod. Some, especially it seems to me the Dutch bred ones, have very low soles, so even if their hooves are hard, the sole is close to the ground where it can easily come in contact with rocks, etc. Also, I've noticed that many are not straight over their hooves (their knees, fetlocks, and pasterns are not perfectly straight) and need to be shod just because of soundness concerns. And I must say, since we live in a wet part of Oregon, our horses' hooves tend to be soft and thus are a bit more sensitive. And we live on a mile of gravel road and lots of gravelled and dirt logging roads around. In any event, we keep our riding horses shod in front year round, and use Easy Boots behind. I am not an especial fan of the boots -- we jokingly call them "not so easy" boots, but they do work, are cheaper than shoeing, and I would rather leave the horse barefoot if I could. Our older mare takes a 1 in front and a 0 behind, the just started filly takes a 0 in front and a 00 behind. Fit them as tight as possible -- contrary to the PR, they do come off. We tie little fluorescent marking tape flags on our boots to see them easily when they come off (paint doesn't stick) and we have just ordered some red ones, which the firm puts out once a year around hunting time. You can order them direct from the firm, for $36 each, but you can get regular black ones from Jeffers for $29 each. The EasyCare company makes an ankle bracelet for the boot so you don't loose it, but that seems dangerous to me so I don't use them. They are tricky to put on, and take some time, especially until they stretch out to fit the particular foot. We mark ours so that the left hind is always the left hind and if we're using them regularly, reserve a pair for one horse. Horses can be a bit sensitive to them at first, and I would just take one for a long trail ride without lunging it or otherwise acclimating it to the boots some. They can interfere with their footing a little, but are certainly better for the horse on gravel. The traction on them is not so good on mud or on grass (slick, wet type grass) and we've just purchased some studs from the firm designed to help with this. Can let you know if they work. Overall, if you're riding your horse a lot on such surfaces, I would say to shoe the horse. For the occasional ride on rough terrain or where you get a lot of pulled shoes in the winter from mud or whatever, they're helpful and worth the hassle. Incidentally, endurance riders tend to glue them on, so they don't have the same problems with losing boots. Happy Fjording! Becky Vorpagel
