Durangogramma
Posted : 7/21/2012 4:57:25 PM
My horse is barefoot and can walk on anything except those pieces of 3/4" gravel on a hard-packed surface. I use Easy Boot Epics. They have a gaiter (so it keeps crud out of the boot). They're easy to use but you still have to put them on and off with every ride. I think that horses being barefoot is conducive to a healthier hoof. Having said that, I recognize that all horses cannot go barefoot. Unless your horse(s) have iron hard hooves (of which I've had 2), a boot for extreme riding conditions is great. I have a high school friend (we're both old now) who rides endurance in So. Cal. and she uses boots on her horses for that. Also, there's a new product out that my barefoot trimmer told me about a couple of trims ago. It's a horseshoe made of a plastic material. It gives with the foot so is a pretty good 'solution' for those who ride on rocky terrain but don't want to mess with boots every time they go out - probably those who do A LOT of it. She has shod one of her horses with them to test them out. She said they wear well and she's just re-set the pair on her horse. The only drawback she found is that you have to tighten the clinches part way through the 6 weeks between trims (not re-shoe, just tighten them).