Karen's EasyCare & Endurance Musings

New technology for horse foot wear

ABC News recently did a short story on advances in hoof care including the use of EasyCare hoof boots in place of iron shoes.  Click here to view. 

Adjusting new 2008 Easyboot Gaiters

The new improved gaiters on Epics and Bares are the same size and shape as before.  The only difference is that some of the materials have been improved.  This does make them less stretchy when they are brand new.  This will take a couple of minutes to get the adjustments just right when the boots are used the first time.  Once that takes place, they'll fit and work the same as previous versions of the gaiters.  Click on photos to enlarge. 

1)  This shows a brand new size 1 Easyboot Epic with an EasyUp buckle and the newest 2008 model gaiter.  This is on Chief's front foot.  You can see the gap I get when I put the boots on for the first time.

2)  I walk Chief down my driveway and back.  It's not a very long driveway so only took less than a minute.

3)  I tightened up the gaiter as it had already stretched a bit.

4)  I walk Chief back down the driveway and back again.

5)  I now retighten the gaiter and it is a perfect fit.  It'd be easier to do two or four boots at once. 

I did this at the Cuyama ride last weekend.  I walked Chief around the trailer, or to the water trough in camp to drink and back.  That is all it took on the first day, then the gaiters fit perfectly and some of them went on to do 100 miles on Chief.  Tigger used different boots (he's a 2 on front) for his 55 mile day. 

Easyboot Epics versus Easyboot Bares

One question I get pretty frequently is whether or not somebody should use Epics, or Bares on their horse.

Here are the reasons why I like using Easyboot Bares:

1)  They are low profile on the front so work great on a horses hind feet.  There is no buckle sticking out so a horse that travels close behind won't be hitting the buckle on the back of the front boot.

2)  Once the boots have been broken in and adjusted to the tightest setting for my horses feet, they are really the easiest and quickest boots to put on.  I like adding duct tape to the sides (see example in this photo of an Easyboot); it helps the boot to slide on over the sides of the hoof easier.

3)  I love how long the tread lasts - I can easly get a dozen or more 50 mile endurance rides out of a set of boots, plus training rides.  The tread is extremely long lasting.   

4)  The boots work great with dome comfort pads.  I really like using these pads in my horses boots now for all of their endurance rides; everything I can do to minimize their wear and tear will help with their longevity. 

Tips:  Be sure to allow your horse time to get used to the Bare tread.  This applies even if they are already used to going in regular Easyboot tread.  Chief took a few rides to get used to it, and once he did I have found that he can negotiate through almost any type of terrain and remain sure-footed.  He's done mud, wet grass, snow, and all kinds of rock, sand and pavement with the Bares.  Be extra careful when going through anything slippery!   

As you can see in the above photo from the AERC convention last week, Chief has Bares on his front feet, and Epics on his hinds.  It ended up that way because the demonstration we just finished had me showing how to put Bares on and we put them on the fronts, even though for riding I prefer it the other way around - Bares on the hind feet and Epics on the fronts.  Because the concrete was so smooth, even with the tarp over it I kept boots on Chief's non-demo-hooves so that he wouldn't slip.  It was extremely slippery for him bare hooved.   

I'll post soon on the reasons why I like using Easyboot Epics and what situations they are best suited for.

Tips on winter horse care for a barefoot horse

It's not easy keeping a horse barefoot in the winter. Here are some photos I took this morning.  As you can see, the ground is frozen solid.  This can make it very difficult for a barefoot horse! 

Easyboot and Easyboot Epics Tips

Here are several of my blog posts organized on Useful Tips for Easyboots and Easyboot Epics.  A lot of the tips are interchangeable between the two boots.  The difference between an Easyboot and an Epic is the Easyboot Gaiter.

Some of these things will also be useful for other boots such as the Bares and Grips.  I'll try to separate them by subject as well as possible and the link will go to each separate blog post by its title.  If you need help with a particular issue, just shoot me an email or submit a comment. 

Easyboots

Easyboot 101

Easyboot 101 For Endurance Riders (part 1)

Easyboot 101 For Endurance Riders (part 2, Easyfoam)

Advanced Easyboot Tips

Helpful Easyboot Tips

Tips for Reducing Heel Rubbing

Cable Adjustments on Easyboots

Five Easyboot, Epic and Grip Cable Adjustments

Opening Easyboot and Easyboot Epic Buckles

Changing a Cable on an Easyboot

Crimping a Replacement Cable

Duct Tape and Hoof Boots Tip

Easyboot Epics

Training Gaiters

Solving Gaiter Rubbing

Removing Permanent Cleat Covers

Do I Need a Heelstrap in My Epics?

Top Ten Tips for Removing your Easyboot Epic or Bare Heelstrap

Using Plumbers Putty

Tips for Using Epics

Using Plumbers Putty

Plumbers Putty and Hoofboots

Measuring Tips

Easyboot, Epic, Bare Hoof Boot Measuring Form

Maintenance Tips

Have you got a screw loose?

Videos

EasyCare Educational Videos - Easyboot Epics

How to Put and Easyboot Epic on a Horse w/ Pete Ramey

Karen's Videos

New Video on Wrapping to Prevent Gaiter Rubs

Driving with Easyboots and Epics

Donna Hornsby Driving Pharoah, her 18 year old Arabian gelding through downtown Springtown Texas. This was his first time to wear Easyboots, and he never took a wrong step as they covered lots of pavement, gravel, and even a cement bike path where they did not leave any marks like a shod horse would have during their 2 hour drive.  Donna owns Carriage Driving World, a magazine dedicated to the Carriage driver.

Photo by Jonni Jewell

Congratulations Garrett and Cyclone - BC on Day 3 of Bryce!

Here are photos of Garrett with Spyder at the Bryce Canyon XP this last week.  On the day after these photos were taken Garrett finished in 8th place with Cyclone and received the Best Condition Award!  Way  to go, Congratulations!  Cyclone is barefoot and used Easyboot Epics, and Spyder is also barefoot and used regular Easyboots. 

I'm working on putting up an album right now of photos from the ride.  It is taking awhile because there are over 500 even though I deleted at least that many.  I'll post the link as soon as the upload is complete. 

Cool photos of Traveler, the USC Mascot

This is Traveler, the USC Mascot - who performs using Easyboots.  He also uses Epics, and Old Mac's G2.  I wonder what my horses would think of having a job like that?  They would probably really like the attention.  Not sure about the lights at night though. 

Here are some more photos of Traveler. 

Photo of Chief's foot in his Epic showing no gaiter rubs

I've been pretty fortunate with all of my horses.  They have all done endurance rides (some of them a lot of endurance rides) with Epics and Bares and not had any rubbing problems from the gaiters.  This is a photo of Chief's pastern area just before I am about to take his boot off after riding him.  I can leave the boots on him for days at a time and this is how it always looks. 

For those of you that are using these boots and have had problems, I've got a category called "rubbing problems" in my blog (see left hand column) that might help you.  Here is a useful tips page on Epics that will include that information as well as other info that might be helpful to know.   If you can't find what you are looking for or need additional help, feel free to email me directly. 

One of the most important things to check first with any boot - is it a good fit?  A lot of the problems I have seen occur because the boot being used is not the correct size, or is not adjusted the best way possible.  You can see in my photo that this size 1 Epic fits Chief perfectly - right out of the box and without a single modification, I can take them and go do an endurance ride if I'd like.  If I am going to be doing an endurance ride of three days or more on the same horse then I tend to still use vetwrap just as a precaution.   Here is a video I've done showing how I wrap.

Photos sent from EasyCare hoof boot contest rider

These were sent to us from Ginger in TX.  Her horse Crackerjack is the one wearing four Epics on the right hand side of the first photo.  The next photo is of Ginger and Crackerjack at an endurance ride.  They are currently in the top twenty in the standings!

Can you gallop FAST in Easyboot Epics?

Definitely!  Click here to watch this video of a barrel racer that has Epics on.  This is CJ and "Chuck" with a race time of 16.514 seconds.   

Horses win 100 mile endurance ride using Easyboot Epics and Bares!!!

Congratulations to Rachel and Duncan! 

Duncan McLaughin riding Ginge and Rachel Reid riding Franshar Park K Shar finished in a tie for first place on The Rock 160 km (100 miler) on May 12, 2007.  Their winning time was 10 hours and 33 minutes.  Duncan's horse Ginge also received the Fittest Horse Award!  Shar used two Easyboot Epics and two Easyboot Bares for the entire distance.  Ginge used four boots for 125 of the 160 km and then two boots (fronts) for the remainder of the ride.

Pete Ramey on Clinton Anderson's Natural Hoofcare Show #127 - How to put an Easyboot Epic on a horse

Click on the photo to view video.  You can view more clips from Clinton's show on the EasyCare website at this link.  This video shows how to put an Easyboot Epic on a horse - Pete does an excellent job showing and explaining how to do everything, step by step. 

Custom Easyboots Available

Click here to read more about the new Custom Easyboots.  It's pretty cool that you can order your horses hoof boots any way you want them!

Do I need a heelstrap in my Epics?

I've been getting asked that a lot.  The answer depends on how the boot fits your horses hoof.  This applies to any of the Easy
Care boots that have a gaiter - Epic, Bare or Grip. My horses have hooves that fill up the boots very well so they are all fine to go 'strapless'.  You need to either use tapers, or leave in the metal gripper teeth or side plate in on each side of the boot to keep it stabilized. 

This is what the tapers look like. 

Starting in 2007 all Epics and Bares will come with the new lower profile comfort strap.  This should work for more horses.

If you do cut the heelstrap out or replace with tapers, it's still useful to apply duct tape to each side of the remaining taper part.  This helps the boots to slide on and off easier and also eliminates the chance of rubs.  This is probably not going to be a concern for a casual trail rider but if your horses spend a lot of hours and miles in the boots like mine do it never hurts to be extra careful!

If you do need to keep the heelstrap in to keep the boot fitting well on your horse and are concerned about the strap causing rubbing that is an easy fix - simply apply three layers of duct tape over the strap to smooth things out. 

Updated EasyUp Buckle Instructions

We just recently updated the EasyUp Buckle installation instructions.  You can find them on the EasyCare website under Education-->Downloads-->Instructions, or by clicking here. 

Five Easyboot, Epic and Grip Cable Adjustment Tips

Here are some tips on getting your cables and buckles adjusted.  Ideally when you buckle your buckle down you want to have the cable feeding up through the center tongs - see #a.  Here is what you may need to do: 

1)  Remove the cable from the grooves as in #b.  This will allow you to pull the boot farther apart on each side.  This is useful for putting the boot on and for removing it. 
2)  Once you have the boot on, feed the cable back through the grooves.  You may wish to pull the cable over the buckle before doing that so that you don't run short of slack.  Please use a hoofpick or other tool to do this rather than your fingers!
3)  If it seems tight, use your hoofpick or a screwdriver as a lever to get the cable over the end of the buckle. 
4)  If it is still too tight to get the cable over the buckle with the cable fed through the center grooves as shown in figure #b simply remove the cable from one or both of the grooves and use the boot with the buckle tightened that way. 
5)  Most likely by the second time you use the boot it will have stretched out enough that the cable will go over the buckle end without any trouble. 

The boots for your horse are often like boots for you - they take some breaking in time.  Once they are broken in, then you'll be all set and using them will become easier with each use. 

Really Awesome Deal on Easyboots!

Now is a great time to stock up on hoof boots if you need any.  New inventory has arrived and the new incoming boots are updated and improved.  In order to keep from shipping last years product to dealers, the remaining inventory has been placed into the Bargain Bin.  Currently, there are Boas, Easyboots, Epics and Soakers. 

Don't miss this chance for a really great bargain.  If your horse uses boots this is a great opportunity to get your next set or have a couple of spares.  There is nothing wrong with these boots, in fact if parts wear out or break you can replace them with the newest parts quite easily.  At these special prices, once word gets out they will not last long so don't spend too much time thinking about it!

If you get your order in soon enough you might also be able to get one of the free Get A Grip t-shirts.  Just be sure to add the size you want into your shopping cart prior to checking out.   

COMPETITIVE HOOF BOOT UPGRADE PROGRAM

During the month of March EasyCare is going to be expanding the Hoof Boot Upgrade program to include riding boots made by EasyCare.  More information on this will be available in the March newsletter.  You can subscribe by going to this link. 

Winter riding

Zenos got a bit more experience in the mud today.  He is learning and does pretty well but still needs more lessons going up and down slippery hills to learn how to slip and slide.  This photo shows what the front of one of his boots looked like (they all pretty much looked like this) when we got back from riding today.  This is one of the new EasyUp buckles.  They definitely stay up! (or buckled, rather....)

This photo shows what the buckle looked like before.....

EasyCare Boot Fitting Clinic

Today we did the EasyCare hoofboot fitting part of the 5 day Ramey/Bowker clinic in Tucson, Az.  The clinic has been going really well and everybody is learning a lot - it's been great!  I had a really rough job today (lol) - I got to show pretty pictures of endurance rides and talk about that and my horses.  Yeah, it was pretty rough :).   I also showed all of the participants how to put Epics and Bares on and shared a few tips.  Most of the tips are here in my blog.  You can find them by clicking on the categories in the left hand column by each subject as well as looking through some of the photo albums that are mostly in the left hand column.  A lot more information can also be found on the easycareinc.com website.

The next two days will have Dr. Bowker speaking.  I can't wait.  Everybody said that the information he presents is excellent. 

 

Easyboot Brochure

Here is the new 2007 Easyboot brochure.  This brochure is going to be included with the entire Easyboot line of boots including Easyboots, Epics, Grips and Bares.  Click on the graphic to download the pdf. 

I'll send a free pair of Custom Easyboots to the first two people that email me and tell me who is on the cover of the new Easyboot brochure.  We're still testing the boot builder module and hope to be able to take orders in another week or two.  Being able to order custom hoofboots is going to be way cool!  Each boot will be made for each customer and then Federal Expressed directly to them. 

If you don't know who that is, and would still like a chance at winning a free pair of custom boots, be sure to watch the other EasyCare blogs over the next few days for your opportunity!

Colored Easyboots?

So far 306 people have voted in the Easyboot Colors Poll.  Below is a list by % of what the colors are that people are voting for.  I like red, but would also like to have blue boots, or maybe purple or yellow.  It would be a fun way to keep track of my boots, different horses or sizes could be a certain color. 

Red:  29.7%
Blue 27.8%
Purple 17.6%
Orange 16.7%
Yellow 14.1%
Green 8.5%
Maroon 3.5%

Rocky and the new Up buckles

Click on the photos to see them larger.  I had a chance to have Dave take some photos of us riding today -- I took Rocky out with the new Up-buckle Epics.  They are awesome!  Click below to see and read more.

Top Ten List of Rules for Removing your Easyboot Epic or Bare Heelstrap

Before you remove the heelstrap from your boot, you need to make sure that it is not needed in your boot.  Your horses hoof needs to fit the boot fully enough so that if the heelstrap is not there, the boot will still be snug enough to stay in place.  It's best to try the boots with the heelstraps in the boot, and if they fit that way and there are no problems as a result -- leave them in.  I remove them for my horses since their boots are such a tight fit.  I like to get them into the smallest size boot possible and this works really well for them. 

Helpful Easyboot Tips

Here is a tip for pulling the nylon strap off of your Easyboot, Epic or Bare boot after putting it on and getting the heelstrap where you want it -- remove the nylon strap from the part that is closest to your horse. It comes out from the top easier than if you pull from the bottom.

To pop the buckles open on an Easyboot or an Epic, a pointy tipped hoof pick works great!

Here Chief models a size 2 Easyboot with the new cast buckle.  It fits him perfectly!  Click on the photos to see them larger.