I have been trying to use Easyboot Epics for my horse, Tanna, while he's been out of metal shoes for a few weeks.
My efforts have met with less than rousing success.
I ordered lots of accessories with my pair of Epics to be sure I had everything on hand that I might need to try to make these boots work for me.
The first thing I did was remove the back strap with the metal teeth and replace that with tapers. In the past I have had issues with the metal teeth and the back strap rubbing, so thought this was a great idea.
My first ride, I tightened the gaiters and went for a 5 mile ride. My horse erupted in scratches. I'm sure it was brewing just below the surface, anyway. The next 5 mile ride I tried to protect with Desitin and vet wrap. This did not go well either. I ended up with some rubs on the sides of Tanna's pasterns. No lameness, but those rubs didn't look nice at all.
I ordered
Dr. Bickmore's Gall Salve and treated the rubs and scratches with this twice a day and every other day washed his pasterns with medicated shampoo from my vet.
I tried to do another 5 mile ride with the gall salve instead of Desitin. Still with the rubbing. I tried 2 more 5 mile rides with comfort pads with no better success. In addition, with the comfort pads, I began to see some rubbing at the heel bulbs. This may be because the pads raise the foot a smidge in the boot.
At this point, I am waiting for my farrier to come out next week and reshoe.
I was able to get 5 5-mile rides in, but at this rate, I will never be able to get any serious training in with these boots unless I can avoid the rubbing. Maybe I will try again after my fall competitions.
The above picture is of me and my husband, Daniel. We have been married for over 5 years. Daniel is very supportive of my addictive horse habits and faithfully accompanies me on on all my endurance adventures. He takes wonderful pictures at the rides and enjoys hanging out with the vets and ride personnel while I'm out on trail.
Over the weekend, I was able to visit my sister-in-law, Hannah, and her husband, Ken. Last Tuesday morning they were blessed with the arrival of their first child, Colton Montgomery. Colton was born at Baptist Hospital in the early morning hours of August 22, barely missing sharing a birthday with his 4-year-old cousin, Rinnah. Sabbath was the first opportunity I'd had to visit my newest nephew. To the left is a picture of Ben holding Colton. Ben is Hannah's older brother.
To the right, we have David, Ben's 5 year old son, getting aquainted with Colton. David has a little sister and 2 girl cousins, so he's very excited to have a boy cousin that he can play with. David's mom, Beth, is helping David hold Colton.
And back to the left, this was my first opportunity to hold Colton. I can't wait to watch him grow up and develop and find out who he is and who he will be. I adore my nieces and nephews and enjoy spending lots of time with them.
I removed and replaced the Easyboot twice over the weekend and never saw a single issue with the Easyboot. No rubs or bruising.
I called Billy (my farrier) last night and asked him about the chunk coming off Tanna's left hind. He advised me to wrap the foot in duct tape and if I had an Easyboot, still, to throw that on there, too.
This is Tanna's left hind hoof. As you can kinda see, there is a chunk coming off the hoof. I have my farrier coming out Monday. He couldn't come any earlier than that.
The top of the chunk is where an old cornet band injury was growing out. This probably would have been ok if he'd been shod, but combined with the dry, hard ground, flies and barefoot, that part of his hoof wall just weakened enough to crack. I'm unsure whether to go ahead and use my nippers and get rid of the hanging chunk or just leave it be until my farrier gets here.
