Shoeing with pads

[Sue Brown <sbrown@wamedes.com>]

I have decided that Blaze goes best in shoes with pads.  He's an incredibly
weenie when it comes to his feet...which is a good thing, for the most
part, since he will tell me when the least little thing bothers him -- but
a bit frustrating at other times that he is so sensitive!  I've been trying
him with easyboots on the fronts (the suck mud pulled his shoes off a
couple of times recently so I needed to let them go shoeless for awhile and
let the hoof grow out a bit), but he doesn't seem to like them for longer
stretches than a couple of hours.   

Blaze has one hoof that is odd shaped (on the leg that he wings a bit) and
the easyboot, besides making his winging worse and doesn't fit that hoof
well.  It's extremely hard to get on correctly (usually takes 3-4 tries
before he's happy...the other front is a one shot deal and he's fine), and
he starts getting a little bit off after a while.  It's happened a couple
of times now so I'm convinced it's the boot (I pulled him at the ride this
weekend because of this)...he's fine after I remove them and let him rest
for a little bit.  I've decided to go back to shoes with pads since this
seems to work.  Also, I've followed Karen's directions on her webpage on
easyboot application (and trimming, etc.) so I'm convinced I'm doing it
okay...I haven't tried the more finite adjustments like moving the strap to
different screw holes (altho I will to get a better fit for a "spare
tire"), but I don't think that I want to mess with this much more than
having an adequate "spare tire".

What I would like to know is what kind of shoes and pads anyone would
recommend.  I put them on last year and the weight difference definitely
shortened his strides (and he's not a particularly long strided horse to
begin with -- he needs longer legs. <g>)  Altho he was happy and
comfortable with this set-up, I found the shorter stride length a bit
disconcerting...besides making me post a bunch more than normal!  Are there
some lightweight combos that wouldn't add so much extra weight?  If he
wears them for longer than one shoeings worth (which was the total time
last year) will he eventually return to his normal strides?  List wisdom
needed here!

Also, he's on Leaps and Bounds to strengthen his (all white) feet...is
there something else that would work better for holding shoes in the suck
mud of western Washington?

Sue 

"If all you can do is what you've always 
done, then all you can be is what you are right now."
                              author unknown

sbrown@wamedes.com
Tyee Farm
Marysville, Wa.