Slypner Shoes/St. Croix and Learning

[Beverly540@aol.com]

Angie,
    We use the St. Croix, too, but I don't know if they are wide web or not.
What' exactly IS a wide web??  We used to use a very heavy steel shoe, they
lasted great, but they were very hard to keep on. The farrier (we don't use
him anymore) would put really long clinches on, to hold the shoes, I guess.
Anyway, the long clinches were just long enough that Flower was constantly
nicking her inside hind fetlocks. It was sad. And then, she would loose the
heavy shoes too often, of course, tearing her hoof up in the process. This is
how we got the low heel, long toe syndrom and the subsequent problems with
using easy boots.  Her heel is coming back nicely since we changed farriers. 
       Our new farrier has shoed twice, no lost shoes, no interference. Nice
clinches that are don't stick out and stab your hand when you go to lift up
feet! She did say they were St. Croix, but they don't seem heavy to me.  They
have a little ridge in the middle for traction, but it wears down pretty
quickly. We're still "green behind the ears," I guess. We are  riding about
100 miles a month which I understand is not a big deal to most endurance
riders. Sure seems like a lot to us, though!
         I remember when we first got the horses almost 2 years ago, we were
taking lessons once a week -- you know, an hour lesson. We would go out on
trail behind our house for an hour or two per week, no canter, very little
trot, mostly walk. Then I read that it took 400 hours to get a green horse
good and broke. I calculated that at our rate it was going to take about FOUR
years to get our  horses broke! They were only 4 years old and very green!
Man....were we stupid or what? But we've come a long way baby. Flower now has
328 hours on her since I started counting in March, 1996. My husbands new mare
has 150 or so hours on her since last Christmas. We are doing our very first
AERC sanctioned LD ride this Sunday. Wish us Luck!!!
         Regarding Slypners, I did not receive a single post from any riders
who could endorse the Slypner shoes for endurance or CTR or even just plain
trail riding. The consensus is that Slypners are okay for smooth surfaces like
ashpalt but not good for any kind of rough trail riding. Everyone on ridecamp
who had tried them rejected them and advised against them. The inserts won't
stay in. Plus, the shoes are expensive, and if the insert comes out, the base
plate is ruined. So--there you have it. Happy trails to all.
Beverly and Flower
Blue Ridge Mts. of SWVA