Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

I just returned from the Fire Mountain 50 that others have described so 
well, and my challenge was to put the new Easy Boot EPICS to the SAND TEST. 
The entire 50-mile ride was either hoof-deep sand or soft dirt footing, with 
a few rocky areas thrown in for variety.

I put the boots on at 6 a.m. in the dark and never looked down at them 
again. At the vet check, I opened one of the Neoprene gaiters and checked 
his pastern, and saw it was as clean as a whistle (whatever that means). So 
at the lunch check, I did not even take the boots off. Rode the rest of the 
50 and never thought about his feet again until after the final vet check. 
When I removed the boots at the end of the day, not only were his heels and 
pasterns perfect, there was no sand inside the boots, just some fine silt - 
and that was only because the boots were ONE SIZE TOO BIG (there were no 
smaller test boots available) and his feet had just been trimmed, leaving a 
little room for silt to collect in the toe area. Had I been riding a 
100-miler, I am confident I could have left the boots on and just kept on 
riding another 50 miles. [What this translates to me is that even though my 
horse wears a size smaller on the hind, I can have just one size of boot for 
all four feet and not need to keep track of which boot I am putting on which 
foot. And shod horses can carry just one boot as a spare tire that will work 
on any foot! ]

I could not have done that kind of ride in the Boa Boots or the Old Macs 
without fear of rubbing, which happened to us at National Championship 
(Warner Springs, CA) with the Boas because of lots of sand and soft deep 
footing. There, we made it to the lunch check, but one pastern had a 
dime-size rub, so I took all four boots off and just finished barefoot. 
Someone else who has hundreds of miles using the Old Macs had to pull at 
that lunch check because of rubbing (I don't think he was using the 
gaiters). The gaiters do help a lot with keeping out rocks, but the because 
the boots come up over the hairline, the finer stuff can get thrown into the 
top of the gaiter and collect down at the hairline. If you are doing short 
casual trailrides, that may not be a problem, but 15 miles is about the 
limit in sand (and many people do not have that kind of footing in their 
area, so it would not be a problem for them.

Anyway, so far, the EPICS get TWO THUMBS UP from me!
Terry
"May the Horse be with you"

From: Gail Lawson <glawson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "'ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx'ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] Hoof Boot Comparison
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 2005 19:05:00 -0500
gt;
Am wondering if anyone has experience with both Boa Boots and Old
Mac Boots and how they compare for general riding purposes.  I'm
concerned about ease of getting on and off; how they do in sand,
mud, water; traction on rocky terrain.  I am thinking of using 
boots
in place of metal shoes.  My mare has good feet.  The 
advertising
materials sound good for both.  Appreciate your thoughts on these 
or
any others.  Thanks

Gail Lawson
Belmont, NH

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