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RE: [RC] bosana boots and Epics - Linda CowlesA friend recently did all 3 days at the High Country ride with Bosana boots (www.bosanaboots.com). I remember when these first hit the market years ago, thinking they were a pretty cool product. The concern at the time was that since they are made of rubber, there is a lot of grab (no slide) when the foot hits the ground, causing stress on the suspensories. But they stayed on beautifully and the foot kept clean under the boot. I would think that a few miles on these boots would burnish the bottoms to the point where they'd have as much slide as a natural hoof, which has better traction than a shoe... Too much slide (particularly on a foot that isn't balanced right) can damage suspensories too. Is anybody else out there using them? Or has used them in the past? I'm having a hard time with full pads these days, too many problems with foot health on my main horse - he's very prone to thrush-like growth under the packing and his sole turns mushy. Two recent pulls for foot soreness and I'm looking for alternatives to full pads. I need to let his feet breath between rides. His foot is a little big for the size 2 easyboots (but too small for size 3), so that's not the best option for him. The domain doesn't have an "s" at the end - it's www.bosanaboot.com They are a very interesting boot... Was your friends horse shod, or was the horse barefoot? I've been focusing on the EasyCare Epics but I may get a set of these to try out if they'll stay on a bare hoof as well as the Epic does. I use the Vettec products to "fix" feet at the beginning of barefoot transitions - sometimes the horses wall is weak from nail holes or white line separation so I rebuilt it with superfast. There are a few products that you can use to coat the sole, but anything that would stay on a hoof like this would be too difficult to remove afterwards. One thing I like about the Epics is that you can use a boot that's too big; the gaiter keeps it in place. Shatirr has size 0 front feet and I've had him out in size 2 Epics on steep muddy trails with creek crossings, and in 25 miles, these boots only came off once, when he slipped in a muddy culvert. For boots 2 sizes too big? That's not bad. I use farrier or foam pads in the bottoms to make a half sized adjustments sometimes because steep feet need a more accurate fit. I was having some problems with the gaiter rubbing, and wrapped the pastern to prevent it for a while, but am experimenting with using silicone gel to cover the areas on the gaiter that rub. Linda Linda Cowles Certified Hoof Care Provider WWW.HealthyHoof.Com HealthyHoof@xxxxxxxxxxx =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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