This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Meredith Sessoms <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > I hate the expense and bother of horse shoes [...] driveway is gravel > [...] trails are rocky in spots - sharp chert and hard granite, not > shale or sandstone. So, I was thinking about buying her some Easy > Boots > > Has anyone on the list used them on a Fjord?????
Occasionally---usually when one of them jerks a shoe, although I also had to use them on Sleepy when I had him barefoot one winter---he just couldn't take walking to/from pastures on our gravel roads. > Did you like them????? > If so ... are they a permanent item in your barn????? > If not ... where did they fail????? > Are they hard to fit to the fjord foot????? > Are they difficult to take on and off every time you want to go out on > the trail????? They are a necessary evil. I keep them around because Sleepy is talented at taking shoes off in the winter mud, and his (and Nansy's, on the rare instances she jerks a shoe) feet fall apart on my gravel if he's barefoot for even a few days. They do not fit my Fjords well. I have sizes 2 and 3, but actually need about 2.2 and 2.7. It is a real pain to try to stuff a big round hoof into a boot that's a little too narrow. Cinching down a slightly oversized boot leaves a lot hanging out the back; Sleepy is even more talented at stepping on the backs of his Easy Boots and peeling them off than on his regular shoes. The one Fjord that I have who can keep Easy Boots on is the one whose hooves don't need them! (I've had best success keeping boots on by first creating a "sock" of duct tape on the hoof---not something I'd want to do long term.) I suppose that if one used them a lot, taking them on and off would become more routine; I find it to be a pain. I understand that many of the endurance riders use them with "garters"---a safety strap so that WHEN the horse jerks the boot off, it stays attached to the leg. That way, the rider can dismount and quickly put the boot back on, rather than having to waste time searching for the boot---which usually comes off in a river, mud puddle, etc. It may be that, if one gets custom-made boots, things work better. An acquaintance who had a carriage concession used them instead of shoes---less concussion and better traction on pavement, and they wore out at about the same rate. Of course, he had "ordinary" horses.... Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 30 mi SSE of San Francisco, Calif. -------
