Boot Maine-ia: 9/30/09

On Saturday the 19th, several fellow members of the Mid-Maine Equestrian Search and Rescue (MMESAR) unit visited me for a weekend of pleasure riding. Here is Joe, tied next to Zephyr to keep him company while I gave his front hooves a quick trim prior to putting Easyboot Gloves on. Even with a fresh trim, I had to go with the size 2s, the largest I have. Those flares on his hoof walls are really interfering with the fit. After trimming, we tacked up.

When we left the property we rode .3 of a mile up the paved road to the trailhead of the historic Ice Road trail, which was used many years ago to haul ice on horse-drawn sleds from Hancock Pond to local ice houses. The trail is one of my favorites, but I think I may be the only local horse person who uses it, so in the summer time it gets ragged. I’m not even sure it’s used for much snowmobiling in the wintertime! There’s some mud, a couple of short go-arounds for downed trees, and a few downed trees to step over. I have to be honest, I enjoy the obstacles, it makes for good training on surefootedness. Zephyr can, and does, trot most of that trail.

We crossed several paved roads on this trail, then came out on a paved road, which we followed for maybe half a mile until we reached a small river with drinking access next to the bridge. Zephyr sucked down about 3 gallons of water, I think! Even Joe got in on the action; Jill hadn’t been sure what he’d do when faced with water. It took him a minute but he got there!  Love this first picture…

Check out Joe’s Cavallo Simple Boots! Jill is considering switching to Easyboot Gloves, she liked the looks of those gaiters better than the ones on the SBs. The SBs are rubbing his heels so we spent some time discussing trimming for hoof boots, and the evils of hoof flares.

I had to lead through the next section of trail, it’s a really neat trail but not well known and the owner likes it that way. To keep it hidden, not much is done in the way of trail trimming. I hadn’t been through in about a year, so there was more dead wood than usual. Zephyr got to show off his mad skillz as a chainsaw horse! Not really, no chainsaws in sight… but when you can grab a dead tree in one hand, grab the breastcollar’s wither strap in the other hand, and, without steering, urge the horse forward while pulling at the dead tree (resulting in the tree breaking in half with a loud CRRACK and falling on the horse’s rump) with the horse staying calm, I think you’re entitled to brag. No pictures from this section, silly me.

We popped out on a lovely 2-mile stretch of dirt road. For a road with no houses on it, there was a surprising number of vehicles! All trucks, of course, given how rough the road eventually gets.

We emerged into the blueberry barrens and were all overcome with the sense of how lucky we were to have such great weather, great company, great horses, and great places to ride!  The footing was everything from sandy dirt to granite ledge, but Zephyr was quite comfortable in just his front boots.

This stone house is an old homestead. I wish I knew more about it than that! All I know is that it’s at the top of the hill, and from the far side, it has a killer view. You can see all the way to Bangor!

The trail back included a long uphill on a rocky section of the dirt road. I was pleased with how comfortable Zephyr was on the rocks, despite being barefoot on his hind hooves.

When we were almost home, we stopped at Hancock Pond for a drink and a splash. Zephyr’s boots did not make a squelching noise when Zephyr stepped out of the water this time, so I think the squelching is a good indication of when the boots are too tight in the heel!

When we got back home, the boots looked great. New gaiter style on the right hoof, old gaiter style on the left hoof (reversed in photo). Still not getting the new gaiter as tight as I want, but it’s better, and clearly it’s working.

All in all, I think we rode about 14 miles, and since we mostly walked, it took us about 4.5 hours.  A great day!