Meet Karen and Bond!

Karen Corr and Bond Hardman from Lancashire are Trelawne Equines sponsored riders for 2010, congratulations to them both! They have been involved with the sport of endurance for approx. 12 years and have successfully introduced a number of horses to the sport. Among the horses they have produced was HT Aramis (Azlan), who reached FEI level, but unfortunately was taken from them suddenly when he developed cancer in his spleen at the prime age of 13. Azlan had been barefoot for the last 2yrs of his life and Karen and Bond had used Easy Boot Epics to help his transition from shoes. Karen told me "After losing Azlan, we had to start from scratch again. Luckily we had purchased a yearling colt, Jalaal ibn Krayaan ( Looey) from Pearl Island Arabians, with a view to him following in Azlan’s hoof steps as a top class endurance prospect. At 4yrs old, Looey was joined by his half sister Tweela and Bond and I rode together until they had both managed to upgrade to Open level and started to complete 65km rides. They managed this completely barefoot!"
Last year, Looey upgraded to Advanced level by completing an 80km ride completely barefoot. However, throughout 2008/9 we also used Renegade hoof boots when the going has been tougher.Tweela unfortunately didn't enjoy the longer distance rides, so she now lives with Bonds sister where she thoroughly enjoys just having fun! Bond and Karen have been watching the developments in the Easycare camp with interest for some time now, and jumped at the chance of entering when the competition when it was advertised. Trelawne Equine received a lot of very strong entries, and it took a good few weeks to reach the final decision, but in the end Karen and Bond shone through! Their passion for the welfare of their horses and their belief in barefoot is obvious and we are delighted to be working with them this year. We have already had a fitkit and boots out to them, and even with the limitations of the weather have manged to put the Gloves through the paces on a couple of strong rides. Karen reported to me that Subah has had a problem with the girth so has needed to be rested, but Looey has been out training and wrote " Anyway, the Easyboot Gloves had a run out today with Looey, who was being quite spirited with Bond. They stayed on throughout, without the power straps, no twisting, rubbing. I was amazed when they stayed on as he powered up hills from 0-60 in not many seconds. And then, they stayed on as he jumped up some steep steps out of a river - Renegades never stayed on his hinds when he's done this - they were notorious for popping off when he powers uphill in canter!" What is really good with this story is that Looey's feet are not considered to be the ideal shape for Gloves, and when I sent them to Karen I warned her they may not work as he has a very typical wide foot, yet they seem to be performing far better than a boot that was supposed to fit that shape foot! The glove really is a remarkable boot and continues to impress us, the simple design and ease of fitting is unmatched in the hoof boot market.