Everyone Knows Thoroughbreds Can't go Barefoot...

Well thats what we are led to believe! The truth is, with the right trim, diet and excercise there is no reason why virtually any horse cannot enjoy the benefits of an iron free lifestyle. The biggest obstacle most horses have to going barefoot is the attitude of their owner. Barefoot (particularly in the beginning) can be tough if the horse has lees than ideal hooves to start with, but I'm sure you will agree the rewards of a healthier, happier longer lived horse are worth the little extra work in those first couple of months!

This is the story of Miss Bronte, sent to us by one of our dealers in the North. Angela has helped many horses to enjoy being shoe free, as well as trimming she can supply and fit any of the hoof boots in the Easycare range as well as advising on diet and management of the barefoot horse.

Miss Bronte’s story… so far…

Miss Bronte – Bronte to her friends – is a five year old thoroughbred mare. She has had a very typical thoroughbred life… so far. Raced as a two and three year old, she ran six times, her claim to fame being ridden a couple of times by leading lady jockey Hayley Turner. Bronte just wasn’t fast enough to race and after coming last in her final race she was ‘retired’. Retired meant being chucked in a field and forgotten about, until she ended up at the Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre in spring 2010. She was under weight and lame when she arrived and was immediately shod. The TRC worked with her and got her into a good enough condition to put her up for adoption.

This is where Paula Smith comes into Bronte’s life. Paula has had horses for years and recently returned from living in Australia wanted a youngster to bring on and event, eventually. Being a friend of mine I had already convinced her of the benefits of going barefoot though it was not something she’d ever thought of doing with any of her previous horses. We had the very common discussion about thoroughbreds, especially ex-racehorses, not being suitable for barefoot because ‘thoroughbreds have bad feet’, but I convinced her to give it a try.

We gave Bronte a couple of days to settle in before removing her shoes. Underneath the shoes her feet were pretty typical of a horse shod too young – small, wider than longer, underun heels, poor horn quality. Shoes off, first trim done and then it’s that first walk across the yard. Paula’s yard surface is quite challenging in places for a newly barefoot horse, gravelly in parts. Bronte was tentative as she walked away but sound.

Paula is the perfect client – she does every thing I tell her to the letter. So Bronte got walked in hand round the roads in the village and her diet was adjusted to that of a barefoot horse, low sugar/starch, poor grazing. Paula built up the work slowly, never doing more than Bronte was comfortable with. Soon Paula was hacking out round the village – again just at walk and Bronte was sound at every step. We had a couple of slight backwards moments, when Bronte came slightly footy. Both these times coincided with her being in season – a very common thing we’ve been finding… mares going footy when in season. It’s almost certainly related to hormonal changes and a client of mine has found that supplementing with Agnus Castus powder has solved the problem.

Due to the shape of Bronte’s front feet – much wider than they are long – I fitted her with Old Mac Originals. In time the shape of Bronte’s feet will improve and we hope to get her into Easyboot Gloves. However for the time being and the stage of Bronte’s work the Old Mac Original’s work perfectly. Once fitted with these front boots Paula started hacking off road. Our local tracks are mostly very stony and pretty challenging for the transitioning barefoot horse. But with Old Macs in front and nothing behind Bronte has been exploring the countryside with ears pricked and a long stride.

Paula alternates riding out with and without the boots on at the front. When being schooled Bronte doesn’t wear boots. I have trimmed her three times now and the nail  holes are almost grown out. Her feet have improved hugely even in the short space of time I’ve been working with her. The Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre were dubious about taking her barefoot – convinced she would be dog lame without shoes. They were very impressed when they came to see her – and could hardly believe it as they saw her walk over the stones and gravel without shoes or boots.

Watching the mare being schooled or just powering round in the field is wonderful – she has a huge elevated trot and in time, with lots of schooling, will produce a pretty spectacular dressage test.

When she first arrived I was worried about her conformation. She had marked toe first landing when she first arrived and her pasterns, which are on the long side, were very low to the ground – not a good combination for long term soundness. Since the shoes have been removed and the feet have strengthened up her whole posture has altered. She now has a beautiful heel first landing. Her pasterns now sit at a more natural angle underneath her and no longer looks so prone to injury. This will only improve further as her feet develop. The great benefit of having barefeet is that the horse can grow exactly the foot it needs to suit it’s own conformation, unlike with shoes were the farrier will try to get the feet to conform to the text book ideal.  Shod hooves are almost always weak at the heel causing all sorts of injuries long term.

Bronte’s story shows what can be achieved with a thoroughbred ex-racehorse in the short space of time. Credit has to go to Bronte’s owner Paula. Simply removing the shoes is not enough. It is essential to get the diet right and to do the transitioning work. Together Bronte and Paula make the perfect partnership and hopefully will go far together. Without shoes of course!

Rockcrunchers Barefoot Trimming Services - AANHCP trained barefoot trimmer available for trimming and boot fitting covering Northern England and the Midlands. Contact info@rockcrunchers.co.uk or phone 07554 011634 www.rockcrunchers.co.uk

Result!

Here is a report from Karens weekend, Karen was using Easyboot glue ons and Easyboot gloves on Looey, and had a great time by the sound of it!
"We had a fab weekend up in North Yorkshire…here's the story…
We travelled up to North Yorkshire after work on Friday evening. On route we stopped in Thirsk for a chippy supper. It's amazing how you end up meeting people. I was stood waiting for Bond to come back to the Land Rover and this couple and their daughter, who were from Norway on holiday came over for a chat. They were laughing because they have horses themselves and said that while travelling through Yorkshire they hadn't seen 1 horse, only sheep and cows!! When they saw our trailer they came over to have a chat to some fellow horsey people - obviously getting withdrawal symptoms ;-). They then spotted Bond's sign writing on his Landover - Pennine Barefoot - and asked what we were doing with the horse. I told them we were on our way to an Endurance Event. It turns out that they use Easy Boots on their horse too!! They had tried Boa's but thought the EasyBoots were way better - what a small world. We gave them directions to the event and they said they might try and pop over to have a look at hat was going on at some point over the weekend.
By the time we got to the venue it was going dark and had started raining. We quickly set up a corral for Loo and had a bit of a blether to a guy from Ambleside who was crewing for his wife the following day in our class. The rain didn't stop all night - I woke at about 5.30am since we were sleeping in the trailer and the rain was pelting it big time. I lay there for the next 2 hours praying for it to stop - it didn't. Our vetting was carried out in a torrential down pour - the forecast said it would be sunny with a few scattered showers! However, by the time we'd tacked up and I'd got on board, the sun came out and it stayed like that for the rest of the day. The farrier who checks all the horses shoes/hooves/boots before starting was convinced the glue-ons would get "sucked off" in all the Yorkshire clay - so off we went to prove him wrong.

Looey was in top form - I'd been warned about a potential "Nike Effect" with the glue-ons from some fellow Endurance Riders who have just started to try them on their horse. Yep, Loo was pinging along with a spring in his step. The endurance rides in North Yorkshire are never a doddle - plenty of hills and varied going of bridleways, farm tracks, field edges, forestry, moorland and a wee bit of roadwork. The views are stunning - I managed to appreciate them on the 2nd 42km loop when Looey had chilled out a bit! The class we had entered was the Drover's Dash 85km ride. It wasn't a endurance race but the class was going to be judged based on the "performance formula" where points are awarded using a calculation based on final resting HR and average speed. This makes it a bit more interesting - being  a wee bit competitive, it means that I was trying to keep our speed up but not take too many risks incase he tweaked himself. The going on the first 42km loop was very slippy - this part of Yorkshire hadn't seen as much rain as we had in Lancashire - the ground was still quite hard, but with all the overnight rain, it had made the surface very slick. It did make riding a more difficult. The worst bit was the last section which had a lot of red clay - it was like a skating rink - I had to ride very tactically and choose the bits with the best traction - Looey nearly lost all 4 feet on a couple of occasions and I nearly went out the side door! We rode the first 42km all on our on - we caught sight of a couple of riders just in front but never caught up with them.

After the first 42km loop we had to go through a vetgate - I wanted to get Looey's HR under 64 ASAP since this is a good way of making up time - the clock keeps ticking until you vet. We untacked him, threw a load of water on him to cool him down and I took his HR which was 60. So we presented to the vet in 4 minutes. We had a break of 30 minutes in which Loo munched on his oats and sugar beet and then we were back out on the same 42km loop. We had caught up to riders who'd been just within view in front of me since Looey had vetted so quickly. We ended up riding along together for the rest of the ride, taking it in turns to lead when the horse in front had switched off. The ground had dried out a lot since the morning which made life a bit easier. When we got back to the venue, we had a 30 minute wait until we had to go to the vetting. . Looey looked fine, so we let him drink and eat and kept walking him round periodically to prevent any stiffness setting in. I also massaged his hamstrings since there were plenty of hills, so he had worked hard. The vetting was a nerve-wrecking experience. The 2 riders I'd ridden with vetted first. 3 vets were watching the horses trot up and they each wrote on a piece of paper whether the horse was lame or not, this was then handed to the Technical Steward who told the rider whether the majority thought their horse was sound - a 3 card trick!! The 2 horses were considered to be lame! It was Loo's turn - his heart rate was under 64, so that's a pass - next was the trot up and then the stomach churning wait for the verdict - it was a unanimous decision - he'd PASSED!! Phew….!!!

So, then we had to await the results of the Performance Formula at the prize-giving. We'd come 3rd out of 7 starters - icing on the cake…the class was sponsored by Bailey's, so we received a feed voucher as well as our rosettes. I was really impressed with Looey on this ride. He answered all the questions I asked of him and completed at a speed of 13.8kph which is pretty good for a challenging ride like this. He's still a young endurance horse and has lots of developing to do yet but he improves on each ride. The glue-ons stayed on and got lots of attention from fellow competitors - including those who shoe their horses. Interestingly, the farrier was seen out on course on a number of occasions, nailing shoes on horses who'd lost them in the sticky, slippy going.
The ride itself was extremely well organised. Heidi Lewis had lots of volunteers opening gates and manning check points. The landowners had gone out of their way to move stock for the weekend, so that gates could be left open and there were lots of them!
And finally, a big "Thank-you" to Trelawne Equine - your advice and sponsorship are really helping to make it happen for us this year!"

Thank you from Trelawne Equine for being such a great ambassador for Barefoot horses and hoof boots

Bertram in his Epics!

Bertram from Denmark is a very happy pony in his epics! His 'mum' wrote to us to say " The little boy walked much better and was almost silly-happy!" when he was fitted with his little pony size 000 Easyboot Epic hoof boots and 12mm comfort pads. Bertram, being so small is between a size pony and 000, but we ended up booting him in a 000 with a pony size cable and 12mm hard pads to ensure the boots stayed on tight and the hoof was in the correct place for a natural breakover. Easyboot Epics are one of the few hoof boots that cater for very small ponies, our own Shetland who is only 7h1 also wears the 000, so there are very few small ponies that cannot be booted! The Easyboot hoof boots with comfort pads in are ideal for ponies suffering from or prone to laminitis as they pads will help to support the internal structures and promote circulation. Shoeing a laminitic horse decreases the blood flow and increases concussion leading to far worse attacks and long term repercussions.

Tevis Through the Eyes of a Sales Guy

The paragraph at the bottom of this post on Easycare's blog pretty much sums up the way we at Trelawne Equine feels about Easycare. We started this company out of our belief that barefoot was the best thing we can do for ours horses, and after a number of years of using and selling a variety of hoof boots, that the Easycare range are the best possible products to help you achieve this. Easycare are totally unique in their knowledge, passion and experience in the field- I don't think any other manufacturer of hoof boots in the world can even begin to claim the same amount of research and sheer hard work has gone into their product! You only have to look at the vast range of boots available from them and see the long list of things people have achieved in Easycare boots to see how different and pioneering this company is.

"This was my second Tevis as a crew member for the Easyboot riders. This year was much easier for me because I knew the area and that is was going to get hot during the day. I also had a better sense of what I should expect from our human/horse teams. Last year there was the fear of the unknown: it was our first Tevis glue-on attempt. 2010 was very different for a number of reasons: there was even more on the line this year. In 2009 Easyboots performed almost flawlessly, so in 2010 not only did we want to repeat our 2009 performance, we wanted build on it

This year Garrett and the EasyCare team booted almost twice as many horses as last year. Because of the way Gloves and Glue ons performed over the past two years it was not a surprise that more people wanted these high performance boots on their horses. Tevis is a grueling 100 mile trek over some of the most rugged terrain in the Sierras and your choice of protection can make or break your experience.

2010 exceeded our expectations. EasyCare had six horses complete in the top 20 and a 59% completion rate vs. only 51% for horses with other forms of hoof care. If those statistics were not impressive enough, Garrett and Lisa moved from 16th and 17th place to 8th and 9th in the last six miles. To top it all off Garrett and The Fury won the Haggin Cup, an award for the horse that is judged to be in the best physical condition the day after the event. The Haggin Cup is viewed by many as the most prestigious award in the endurance world.

I have been with EasyCare for almost four years: it is a great company with amazing support team. I have never in my short lifetime been as proud to be part of something in my professional life. Easycare and are hoof boots are making a difference, we are changing the way people view hoof care. We are creating better lives for horses and offering solutions where  there used to be none. It feels good to be involved with company that is effecting change and making a difference. It was a proud day not only for EasyCare, but also for barefoot horses."

Increase the Longevity of Your Boa Laces

The Boa Horse Boot is a popular choice for Hoof Boot customers in the UK as it is a very quick and easy boot to use. This versatile protective horse boot is easy to install and remove. Keeping your protective horse boots clean will help increase their longevity. Here are some helpful tips to add life to accessories such as Boa Laces:

• Keep them as clean as possible.
• Wipe away any excess dirt or mud from the Boa Laces after each ride.
• If the lace hesitates when tightening the Boa Dial add a little water to loose it up.
• After riding in sand or loose dirt take a small air hose (or even an air-filled keyboard cleaner) and clean them thoroughly.

Of course you always want to make sure the cap is installed properly on your hoof boots. Click here for instructions on making sure you've installed your Boa Cap correctly. Remember you can damage the dial closure system if you don't use your Boa Cap.