Ridecamp: [RC] Old Macs *Required* Foot Gear?

Jennifer Judkins said:

>First topic:  I used a pair of Old Mac boots for the first
>real ride (in front only).  I don't know if anyone has used
>them, but I liked them.  Manny seemed quite comfortable
>in them.  They wore well and no rub spots on my horse
>( I wrapped some vetwrap loosely around bulb under boot
>to help with this).  Anyone have a different experience
>with them?

The Old Mac people had a booth at the recent 2002
National Trails Symposium in Orlando, Florida.  This
is a once-every-two-year conference where all the different
trail using groups (hiker, bicycle, mountain bike,
horse, ORV, disabilities, etc.) and trails planning and
management professionals get together to talk about
the state of the trails industry.

Now, as anybody who has had the misfortune of running
into a land/trail manager who dislikes horses knows,
one of the first reasons that they will give you for
forbidding you on "their" trail is:  "The horses tear
the trail up too much."

The Old Mac people manning the booth at the
Symposium told me that they had gotten a fair bit
of interest from trail managers who saw Old Macs
and immediately thought "Wouldn't it be great if
all horses were required to wear these when using
our trails!"  Evidently, they saw them as "horse
sneakers" that would have less impact on their
trails than "hob-nail boot steel horseshoes."

I don't know of any land manager who has actually
promulgated such a rule, but it is something to keep
in the back of one's mind.

Linda B. Merims
lbm@xxxxxxxxx
Massachusetts, USA

 

 



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