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. 

Inspired talks by the world's greatest thinkers and doers

Ted.  Check it out.

Hoof Building, Tips on Protecting and Building Sole Callous

Chief Trotting in Hoof Boots

I made this video a couple of days ago with Chief.  He has been doing well so far this ride season and we're getting ready for the Color Country pioneer ride this next week in southern Utah.   

Patches the Pony

I am horses video

New Google Feature - Google 411

Trick Riding....sort of

EasyCare Video Contest

We are going to announce the winners soon of the 2007 EasyCare Summer Video Contest.  There will be ten winners.  Which videos do you like best?  You can view all of the submissions here. 

Ted and Peggy Recommend Easyboots - New video Contest Entry

There is still time to submit a video entry for the EasyCare Summer Video Contest.  It ends on August 31st.  Lots of great prizes are going to be given out to ten lucky winners.  Visit the EasyCare Video Blog to view the submissions so far. 

A lot of people have jobs similar to this ;)

Eastern High Sierra Classic, Video of Trail

This is why I am glad that Chief had four hoof boots on today.  I used Epics on his fronts, and Bares on his hinds (same Epics he used at Strawberry Fields).  The Bares seem to last forever on him, they just go and go and go.  I'll post more later on the ride.  It was fabulous, and great scenery.  LOTS of rocks tho!     

Dave beats easyboot buckle with hammer. Result: Buckle 1, Dave 0.

Dave Rabe submitted this video for the EasyCare Video Contest.  He took a boot that had done a 155 mile endurance ride and beat the buckle with a hammer, trying to break the buckle.  If you'd like to submit a video for the contest (you could win some cool prizes) click here, there is more than a month left! Here is the result of Dave's battle with the boot buckle....

Granite Chief, Video Cam, Easyboot R&D on Epics and the Start of our Home Trails

Here is a  video (below) that I made tonight with my my helmet camera.  I'm still figuring out how to point it to get the best shots, and what setting to use to record sound correctly.  Obviously I don't have it quite right yet ;^).  Still though, this shows the start of the trail from my home where I ride almost daily.  Chief was in a good mood tonight and very energetic in spite of the heat, we had a great time.  I always love riding him, so any ride on him is time well spent.  The Epic boots we're testing did fantastic too, even better! 

Rode to the horse - reining video

Easyboot Bares on the Rocks - Video Contest Submission

This is a great video submitted for the EasyCare Video Contest!  If you'd like to see what the contest is all about, check out the EasyCare Video Blog.  You've still got plenty of time to enter, so get out there and have some fun being creative with your horse!  Hope everybody is enjoying their 4th of July holiday in the USA! 

Removing Chief's Easyfoamed on Easyboot Bares after 155 miles and 9 days!

Below are videos showing me removing Chief's right and left hind boots.  9 days prior to this I Easyfoamed on two Easyboot Bares onto his hooves.  The Bares had the gaiters removed and had been adjusted to the tightest setting and had the lower profile comfort straps in them.  They stayed on 100% of the time through the entire three days and 155 miles of the endurance ride - they did not come off once!!!  -- Unlike other brands of boots that couldn't make it to the first vet check, dang!  As you can see, they are a good fit on him and came off quickly when I wanted them to.  I gave Chief a bath first to help soften everything up, that is why everything looks so wet in the video.  After I removed the boots I painted on some Hoof-Heal and after he moves around and everything dries out his hooves will be as good as new!  It took me just under 45 seconds to remove both of these boots.  I'll post later showing how good Chief's front hooves and pasterns look - I used regular Easyboot Epics on the fronts, and he had no rubbing. I will also work on some step by step instructions on removing the boots after they have been foamed on.   

Horse Training System

This is just too.....well.....too unbelievable!

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. 

Lighting the Torch - Horse wearing Old Mac's :)

Heart Monitor Video

"Listen to his Heart" -  by Denny Emerson

Merry Christmas & Happy Hannakuh (The Channukah song by Bon Jovi)

Hope everybody has a great holiday filled with friends, family and good times! 

Reno Balloon Race in time lapse

The Kiwi video

It appears that a lot of people don't get the Kiwi video.  Here's my take on it...

The Kiwi is a flightless bird.  This one has a dream to fly.  Obviously, he wants to fly so bad he's willing to do anything just to achieve his dream.  Even if it means he gets to live his dream and that's the last thing he ever does.  Since at the end he goes splat.  It wasn't that he was sad, he was crying tears of joy because he was doing what he wanted so bad -- flying.

It kind of reminds me of all the hard work we go through to ride our horses.  Get them trained, conditioned, then them and us packed and to an event -- the details and amount of work involved is mind staggering, especially for those of us who compete regularly on more than one horse.  It's a dream we all have that keeps us motivated.   

Kiwi!

This is really well done.  I hope you get it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tightening Adjustments on an Easyboot Bare

Just back from Equine Affaire in Massachusetts's.  We talked to a lot of people during the four days.  Lots of questions had to do with how to use the boots and of course which boots are best for different uses.  Many of the boots are good for multiple uses, so it really boils down to user preference.  Some people love their Old Mac's, and others love their Easyboots, or Boa's.  I know I have had really good luck using Easyboots -- the regular version, the Epics, and the Bares.  I find those boots the easiest to use for me, and the best boots for long distance (endurance) riding.  I've also tinkered around with Boas and Old Mac's.  They are easier to use for new boot users but for more serious trail or distance riders I think that the boots in the Easyboot line are probably a better choice.  It is of course, very encouraging to see in person how many boot users are out there, and how many are serious about keeping their horses barefoot and are as enthusiastic about the advances in hoof boots as we are at EasyCare!   

EasyCare Educational Videos - Easyboot Epic

I just recently added a few dozen new videos to youtube.com on various topics, all dealing with how to repair or update various EasyCare hoof boots.  Here is a link to all of the videos having to do with an Easyboot Epic boot.   I also have separate playlists for the other boots - Easyboots, Bare, Boa, Old Mac's, EasySoaker. 

Crimping a replacement cable

Win a free pair of Epics!

The first person to watch this video on how to change a cable out on an Easyboot (new model with a screwed on buckle) and tell me what the two errors are will win a pair of Easyboot Epics.

Easyboot Bare Adjustment Video

Just for fun....

Pucker Point at Tevis

I found this video at youtube.com   I'm going to try and embed it here - if that doesn't work for you here is the link.  There are also a lot of videos at youtube.com on using hoof boots.

Tevis video from the finish line

This is so cute.  After finishing the Tevis in 2nd place, Kassandra DiMaggio took time to let the kids pet her horse Geronimo.

There are more short videos on the Tevis website including the trot-outs of all the horses showing for the Haggin Cup.  The videos are below the photo album links.

Boa Boots and Clinton Anderson

Video of Clinton Anderson talking about using Boa Hoof Boots, and EasySoakers.  It's several minutes long, and I couldn't shorten it because I don't think he stopped talking long enough to break it anywhere :).  I'm glad he likes our boots! 

Old Mac G2's and Boa Boots

Download DSCF0215.AVI

Thought I'd give Chief a chance to try out some Old Macs G2's and Boa Boots before taking him out for a ride in them.  I took some photos and experimented with the video function on the camera (first time) while he ran around in them.  The video isn't great but it shows how he moves in the boots.  I think he did pretty well in them.  He has size 4 G2's on the fronts and size 1 Boa's on the hinds.

Karen's Videos

I put together a playlist on YouTube.com of my homemade videos showing how to wrap a horses hoof and pasterns before putting on an Epic (or a Bare).  This is one way to avoid having rubbing problems with the gaiters if your horses is sensitive skinned.  YouTube has a lot of other videos, some of them are pretty funny!

Tightening up the bungees

If you are having a hard time getting your Bare adjusted (see video) it might help to take the gaiter off and then start first with getting the adjustment done.  This is a photo showing the gaiter removed on one side.  Now it is a lot easier to line up the holes how you want on each side and then pop the gaiter back down and do the remaining screws. 

I find it is a lot easier to ride in the Bares one or two times before making any adjustments.  The boots come on the middle setting on each side, so if you have difficulty getting them on when they are brand new, you might consider loosening them up to the last hole.  Once used, they can slowly be tightened up to allow for a more perfect fit.  Click on photo to enlarge. 

Free Longing Horses with Boots

I often do free longe the horses together, usually two or three times a week in addition to riding them.  It's nice to see them move around freely, and how they interact.  It gives me an idea of how they are feeling -- are they moving normally, etc. -- and it also keeps them from getting too much pent up energy which can happen all too easily when they are endurance competition fit. 

If a horse hasn't had boots on before I'd probably want to longe him on a line the first time, and keep him at a trot and walk.  When they get going really fast at a canter or gallop and they aren't used to the boots, or even used to traveling that fast, they might step on themselves.  If they are wearing Epics or Bares they could rip their gaiters.  The gaiters are made so that they will come apart, but it gets expensive for the owner if the horse does that very often!  Zenos has done that once or twice, now he's gone several months or more without doing it so I think he's gotten used to the boots but more importantly he's learned how to carry himself better.  One good thing about doing this is that if the horse is going to step on himself, or be a clod -- you aren't on him :).

In my case, I didn't have time to ride all three horses today, so they got a group workout instead.  I try to keep their heart rates up for 15 or 20 minutes at a time.  It is easy when they are in a group, they really get going and have a blast.  Plus it helps to get some of the boots broken in.  The gaiters are so much easier to work with after they have been used a couple of times.  After I took them off today I tightened some of the bungees on the Bares to the next hole.  (see video) I would have gotten photos to show you, but I didn't have anybody to take photos!  I"ll get those photos just as soon as I have some help.