Team Easyboot

New Team Easyboot Member in Maine

Hey y'all, I'm new to Team Easyboot.  Zephyr and I will be doing product testing for Garrett... mostly the new Gloves and Glue-Ons.  Next week I'll be doing 150 miles in the thick-toe glue-ons (at the Western Maine Pioneer Ride), using Goober Glue.  Wish us luck!  Look for my ride report on Garrett's blog after August 1.  Still trying to come up with a name for my articles there... maybe Boot Maine-ia??  Northeast Boot Scootin' Boogie????  I'm taking votes...

-Sharon L. in Maine (& Zephyr)
www.zegifts.blogspot.com

Indian Springs Ride south of Socorro, NM

Well we had 3 weeks off since our last ride.  Debbie and I entered in the Indian Springs Ride which is held in the rugged mountains south of Socorro, NM.  We entered the Limited Distance (30 mile) event due the technical nature of the ride.  The trail is very rocky and traverses through some of the most gorgeous country you will ever see.  If I could pick out a term to describe the ride it would be "4 wheel drive via horseback".  In general we can complete a 30 mile ride in 4 hours.  It took us 7 hours which included vet 2 vet checks to give you an idea that speed was not an option.  Again Easyboots all the way around on both my horse Selene and Jake.  The horses made the ride beautifully and the boots did well.  We did have one broken buckle on one of Jake's boots, but only broke off the tip of the buckle.  Selene's Bares did very well.  After 125 miles in competition and who knows how many training miles gaiters are starting to show some wear, otherwise they are holding up great.

Renegade Ride in Southern NM

Greetings from sunny/warm New Mexico

My wife Debbie and I just got back from a 3 day endurance ride called The New Mexico Renegade Ride held 30 miles west of El Paso in the desert of southern New Mexico. We were able to participate the last two days. Each day featured either a 35 mile (limited distance) and 55 mile (endurance) rides.  The terrain ranged from flat to mountainous.  The footing ranged from really good to 12" deep sand to extremely rocky.  The temperature ranged from the low 30's at the start to the mid 80's by mid afternoon.  I believe there were 7 lameness pulls the first day, 4 on day two and only one on day 3.  This is unusual for this ride but gives you an idea what the terrain was like.

My horse Selene and I competed in the 55 mile race on day 2.  We had Easyboot Bares on all fours.  This day was the rockiest of the 3 days circumventing Mt. Riley and through the pass where it was safest to lead your horse due to loose rock.  We completed the ride with all A's in 5 hours and 45 minutes.  I was impressed with the boots when one of the water stops was a dirt holding tank.  Selene had to wade out in 12" deep mud to get a drink.  I feared that the boots may get sucked off by the mud but they didn't. After the ride we simply cleaned them up and got them ready for day 2. I had two instances where Selene seemed off on her gait.  I stopped and pulled the boot off to find a several small stones (smaller than a pea) in the boot.  I dumped the boot out and reinstalled the boot and was on my way in less than 2 minutes. Easy fix!

On day two Debbie rode her 4 year old gelding, Jake on his first 35 mile ride.  Selene and I rode along for support. This day was a combination of deep sand and lava rock.  The 27 mile loop wound around and through a large lava flow. The second loop of 8 miles took us through a large crater caused by the explosion of trapped gasses under the lava flow.  We went slow for Jake's sake and made through the 35 miles in about 6.5 hours. We had easy boots on all feet.

The boots held up really well considering the amount of rock and lava we navigated over.  The horses finished with flying colors and the boots are cleaned up and ready for future rides.   Selene's boots have over 150 miles on them (in competition) much more than that if you consider training.  They have lots more miles left in them.  Jake's boots, Epics, have 60 miles (one fun ride and one limited distance ride) and lots more from training rides and they still look pretty new.

I have to admit that since going to natural hoof care last September and riding in Easy boots my horse has had fewer lameness issues.  Prior to last September my ride completion at this particular ride was less than 50%.  I have now completed the last 3 rides there without any problem.  So far, I think we made the right decision to go natural.

Endurance in Oz - barebooted and bareback

Endurance has started back in Victoria after the great EI outbreak and it is all happening over here, I can tell you! I have a couple of horses just starting their endurance career and have also introduced a great family of 4 kids plus Mum and Dad to the sport. Between us and another friend we have entered 14 separate rides over the last two weeks. One of those rides I was on the organising committee and still had to help manage 11 horses. It was busy!!

At Yarrabubba ride Jake and Nikita Verspaandonk successfully completed a 40 k ride which was the first for both riders and their horses. Nikki rode the whole way bareback - see pic of the two of them in front of my Easycare banner.

At the Rosedale Stellar Endurance Carnival two weeks later the whole family got into the act. Between them the Verspaandonk family competed in 11 events and totalled 520 km over the two day carnival with no vetouts. Zeke aged 14, compted in 2 x 40 rides on Friday and backed up for an 80 ride on Saturday. He won the fittest Horse award and was equal first junior rider with his sister Nikki, who won the award for the lowest heartrate on a bare/booted horse in the 80 k ride. Nikki rode bareback again in her 40 k ride, but agreed to use a saddle for the 80 k ride. She says she prefers bareback!   

All but two of the horses were barefoot or booted, and the remaining two horses had shoes on front feet only. Interestingly, the only horses to have any leg filling post-ride were the two shod horses. They have now had their shoes removed by the owner who is finally convinced!! Below is a picture of the family with all the horses they competed on.

Team Easyboot members Susan Gill and Jackie Hooper were also busy at the ride. Jackie was part of the crew helping run the event and handing out Easyboot Competition forms. Susan had a very successful weekend completing 2 x 40 km rides fully booted on her horse Danny. Next ride I will get my bum on a horse and finally get some miles on the board for the Easyboot competition.

Jenny Moncur in Rosedale, Australia

Heart of the Hills 75

Howdy folks,

  Well our second attempt at a 75 was alot of fun but unfortunately we did not get a completion. Fortune and I got through 67 miles and I decided to pull her for a sore back. We are flatlanders and sometimes hills can get the better of you, and we had plenty of good climbs at this ride. Again, she rode in her Bares and had no issues at all. They held up great as always. I have alot of life left in front ones I have been using as they have alot miles on them. The back ones are new, this was their second ride, but do not have the new gaiters on them. I'm looking forward to trying the new gaiters.
  We were about 3 miles out of camp on the next to the last loop and I noticed she was off so I got off and led her back to camp. I was thinking it was a front end problem, maybe something in the boot the way she was off, but that was not the case. Her vet scores were fantastic as well as her CRI's.

  I saw more people at this ride with boots on than any ride I've been to. Most I think did not have any issues at least I did not hear of any. There were 2 though that had some issues with new boots that they were using. They had the new gaiters on the boots and had 2 of them tear and one of the buckles had broke. They have informed me that they have talked to Easycare and the boots will be warrentied.

I could not be more proud of Fortune. She did fantastic and was over her sore back by the next day. I palpatated it and there was no soreness. We had an 8 mile loop left but what was a bit disappointing was that we had only 3 miles to go for our 500 lifetime miles. We'll get it next time. We are going to do a 100 at the end of April and can't wait to see how well the boots hold up. I have all the confidence in the world that she can do it.

Safe Riding,
Todd

Our first 75 miler

Hi Everybody,

My mare and I completed our fist 75 miler this past weekend at the Freeze R Burn ride in the LBJ Grasslands outside of Decatur, TX. She did the entire ride in Easyboot Bares. The boots on her front have  about 400 miles on them, the ones on her back were brand new. The terrain of this ride is not to diffcult, lots of sandy ground with few rocks. It's a fairly fast ride, usually and the weather was perfect as were the temperatures, but we took it slow. We got to ride in the dark for 2 of the loops I just love riding in the dark. It took us 17 hours and 10 minutes to complete the ride. It was a blast and I am so proud of Fortune, she did fantastic. The picture I attached was taken before the start of the second loop.  I do not have a crew and usually crew the ride myself so I am not able to take alot of pictures unfortunately. I had a friend make the banner for me. It was our first ride of the season and it was a great start.

Safe Riding,
Todd

Hello from Dave in Carson City, Nevada

 

I've been riding horses all my life. I got started in endurance in  1984.  My first ride was the Tevis Cup, a one day 100.  In the early 90's I started using Easyboots on my horses and now use them on barefoot horses.  I've ridden at least 30,000 miles in competition in the boots. That doesn't include training miles which is also a lot.  We tried the new Edge boot at Death Valley for four days and I thought they worked great and the boots themselves had no problems holding up on that rough trail.  They were easy to get on and off, the hose clamp really worked great.  If anybody needs help with their boots at a ride, come and see me.  Dave Rabe, Carson City, Nevada 

Schedule for Tasmania Australia

Well with the EI situation we are finally underway again in parts of Australia.

My first few endurance rides in Tasmania are:

Jill Sheean held at Sassafras -  80km ride on 2nd February.

Woodstock 80km endurance ride on 29th of March

then, Jill Sheehan Memorial - 80km on 7th June.

Kylie & Go Get Em Jack

www.freewebs.com/bootedendurance

DVE, Edge, rides

Got back from Death Valley yesterday. It was GREAT! I had a wonderful ride (ok, so the photo doesn't look that way, but it was day 4, I was lost, and staring into the sun...LOL). Tested the Edges on the hinds too. They held up GREAT! I LOVE how easy they are to put on and off. Stayed on for 4 days and had no boot issues. I DID start a heel bulb rub (want to try a heel strap in them next maybe) that I solved with a strip of duct tape. Also got the usual gaiter rub, but not til day 4...so that is better than usual, but also had a lot of winter hair on the boy, so not sure if this will change with a summer coat... So I STILL need a differant gaiter (it is NOT the stitching that rubs....so that change doesn't matter...will see if I can try a shorter gaiter version..)
Next ride for me: Eastern Mojave in the PS region in February and then Cuyama Oaks in March, also PS region (am doing as many Duck rides as possible this year and Tevis hopefully)
   Natalie

Rides in Gippsland, Australia

As already mentioned, after bushfires and floods and then the EI lockdown, it's so nice to be out and about again!

Looking forward to being involved in the following up-coming events:

- ATHRA Stratford and District Club Ride at Stockdale, Feb 10th.

- ATHRA Stratford and District Club Ride at Rawson, March 8th to 10th.

- Endurance Carnival at Rosedale, March 21st to 23rd .

(thanks Jenny, just sent you an email!!)

All the best,

Jackie Hooper
Gippsland, VIC, Australia