Quoting Julie Suhr: How Will You Know How Far You Can Go Until You’ve Gone Too Far?

Far and I took on the ultimate challenge last weekend and I daresay we are both stronger beings as a result of it, and I have yet to find my own answer to Julie Suhr’s question. I have felt drawn back to the Tevis trail since riding it two years ago on a wonderful horse leant to me by a generous friend. There is not a more challenging trail and there may only be a few trails on earth more beautiful and more liberating than the Western States Trail. I have yet to find them. I rode in Easyboot Glue-On boots this year, and the difference from riding in steel shoes was quite remarkable.

Far is one of those horses you know will only cross your path once in your life. I am fascinated in his curious mind and by a fire that burns in him very deeply. He grew up in the large open spaces of the mountains in the interior of British Columbia and he loves life.


I have transitioned three of my own horses to barefoot in the last 13 weeks and I have been around many other horses in the area who have decided to make the move from steel shoes to barefoot. Each horse responds very differently to the change and Far has been the horse who has adapted the most easily of them all. His movement barefoot and in the Gloves and Glue-Ons seemed immediately more comfortable for him than in steel shoes, and his feet look better than they ever have. It seemed fitting, then, to take on the challenge of the Tevis trail: what better test for the latest in many years of equine boot technology?

Far and I managed to pre-ride most of the last 17 miles of the trail into Auburn in various sections with Leslie Spitzer in the week prior to the ride. We went up to Robie Park on Thursday – and I’m glad we did. We got a better choice of camp spots and it gave us a chance to get the Glue-Ons applied by Garrett and the EasyCare Team before pre-riding the first few miles of the trail. Far was a monster on the pre-ride on Thursday and I wondered if he would be too much for me at the start line with 180 horses around him. It weighed heavily on my mind.

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