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> I'm new to the list and to endurance riding.
Welcome to the most exhilarating sport with horses!:)
>
> I have a five year old appaloosa gelding built like a TB, who loves to trot. Where did you get your app? A friend of mine is looking for just his kind of animal?
>
> I'm trying to get set up with saddle, tack, etc. and need all the advice I can get (yes, I've looked in the archives- I wanted to hear how things are> *now*).
Have you ridden english saddles before?
>
My horse (Spot) is high withered, and I'm 5'9 with long legs. Any
saddle
> suggestions? Right now, we're using a old roping saddle and know this will> never do for endurance. We tried a 'Bighorn' and both hated it.
>
An aussie saddle without the horn, poleys and a nice light build would
be great for your long legs. I've been looking for a tack catalog from
the General Store. It used to sell an aussie saddle made by Queensland,
model "Outrider" that is the perfect endurance saddle..I think, light,
narrow twist, secure seat and comfortable. Afriend of mine has one in
New York...bought about 5 yrs ago. She doesn't have a current catalog
tho. The 800# dir assist has about 25 listings for catalog stores under
that name with no product descriptions!
> What do y'all think of this 'Bio-Thane' stuff? Down here in Florida in the summer this stuiff is great..no mold. I have a halter/bridle comb and a Vosel. I think they are great. I am a little leary of the reins.. people say if a horse steps on them, they will not break. They will brek the horse. I don't know. I tie my reins to my saddle with a rawhide tie just in case I come off and he runs free somewhere, he'll be safe.
>
> Should he be shoed or barefoot?
I tried keeping mine barefoot, but even here in all our sand, he was
going through too much hoof just in conditioning rides. This is our
rookie year. We've had two completions at 25 LD and gone to 3 others we
pulled before starting after the vetin due to a lamness question. I
won't start my horse when he's just a little off:) My advice would be to
keep him barefoot as long as you can without sacrificing his safety, ie
no toe cracking, not wearing heels down too much. We wore heels down
alot and it has taken almost 9 months to get them beack where they
should be.
A good shoe for endurance is a steel rim shoe or an eggbar. We started
in steel rim but moved to a lighter shoe (big mistake) alum polo shoe.
That's when we started having suspensory problems. Keep him in a good
supportive shoe. If you have lots of rocks/gravel/pavement, you might
need a padded shoe or even sneakers.
I'm starting a 4yo right now for my kids to use later and I'm gonna try
to keep him barefoot. We've been using Easyboots and they are great.
Most of the time I only boot his fronts. Today in our training ride,
I'll let him go barefoot to trim him back a little. Since it;s so muggy
and buggy right now our rides are mostly under 2 hrs. When we can do
more distance in the fall, I'll put shoes on him like my 5yo. Shoes
should give your horse support and protection. Those are the best
reasons for shoeing.
>
> Happy Tails,
Susan, Sabian, and the Fly Bye
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