20% off hay analysis!!

Barefoot hoofboot distributor Trelawne Equine is working with feed manufacture Dengie Crops Ltd to help educate horse owners about the availability of hay analysis, which is used to assess a horse’s nutritional status.

Dengie’s forage analysis service normally costs £20 for the basic analysis which includes protein, fibre and oil, or £30 for the comprehensive test which includes minerals. However the company is offering 20% off this price to customers that quote this code:

DHFPRIM2012

 
Simply email feeds@dengie.com with your personal details, quoting this code. You will then receive a ration evaluation sheet which should be returned with a sample from your regular hay ration.

A New Lightweight in the Hoof Boot World

Did you know.... The new Easycare Trail hoof boot is on average around 20% lighter than a similar size in a Cavallo Hoof Boot? The lighter weight the hoof boot is, the easier it is for your horse. People don't think about the weight of a metal shoe and how it influences the horses movement, and boots are no different! You shoudl condition your horse to regular boot use before using them to do extremely long rides, the same as you should build a horse up in work with meal shoes. All of the Easycare range of hoof boot are designed with these little important details in mind and will help to ensure you have a brilliant booting experience!

The NEW Easyboot Trail- Could THIS Hoof Boot Really Be The Easiest Boot In The World?

The Easyboot trail hoof boot from Easycare has arrived! This simple hoof boot is so quick and easy to use, but unlike some other 'easy to use hoof boots' already on the market these boots offer superb traction from the trusted pattern of theOld Mc G2 hoof boot and will not come off (when used correctly of course!). The size chart for the new trail boot is the same as the Old Mac G2, and this boot will accomodate around 6-8 weeks of growth making it ideal even for farrier/ pasture trimmed horses. 

How Not to Fit Easyboot Gloves!

Primrose Hill, our little barefoot ambassador is growing up fast, and we have been trying to get her out and about in the forest to get used to the great outdoors before she starts to be ridden in the spring when she turns 4. Unfortunately, with the bad weather we have not been able to get out as much and coupled with the enforced confinement to the yard she had to endure for 6 weeks due to an injury to her hoof, it has meant that she is starting to feel the stones on the tracks when we take her out. We decided to introduce her to hoof boots to help improve her feet (as we can use the comfort pads which have great therapeutic value) and protect them from the sharp stones so as not to ruin her confidence and enthusiasm for going for walks. Being young, she is not he most patient of young ladies, (although she is generally very polite!) so it was an interesting experiment to make a compromise with her boot fit.
The Easyboot Glove is my personally boot of choice, and her feet are luckily a good shape for them. Her front measure 110mm x 110mm, which put her between a 00 and a 0. Using the fitkit, I determined that the 00.5 was as small as she could go, but with pads in the boots they were a little trickier to get on so a compromise was made and a size 0 was used. Now, as you can see from the picture, they are gappy and even the gaiter is loose! They do not grip the wall as tight as I would like, and there is a clear channel at the front of the boot but much to my surprise, they have not moved an inch during our outings! I must make it clear that we are only walking and trotting in hand for no more than an hour, and she does have straight movement which I am sure helps, but there have been a few 'merry moments' along the way which I would have expected to cause a problem! She is about ready to go down into a smaller size now as she is used to having the boots applied, but I thought it was interesting to see and testament to the superb design of the boots that even when they were incorrect size they would cope with a basic amount of work. Of course we don't advise that the boots be fitted like this for riding, but it does support the idea that a well fitting glue on hoof boot (without the glue!) can be used to lead horses to and from the field, or to an arena and back for example and be used a bit like a very quick and easy 'slipper'.

Message from SA

We had our National Championship Show this last weekend and a was the National Champ in my grade on Cherry Hall, he is the one with the white face. On the other two boys i got first's in all my events. Unfortunately the weather here is unbareablely hot so we are limited to two day show's. Poor Hawaiian has tendon problems from polo so he only managed jumping the first day, I am thinking about retiring him from the jumping side of life, unfortunately we do not have the technology/machinery here to treat his problem as required so we are stuck with traditional methods, but so long as he is fat and happy I am too.

Well all 3 are all rounders, I use them for hacking and I do dressage, jumping, endurance and cross country.
My oldest Hawaiian is now about 17 he is 16 hands, I bought him as an ex polo pony and he was brought up to Zambia from Zimbabwe where he was bred and he was a race horse who won (according to his passport) several races. His father was Hawaiian Love and his mother was a mare called Espirit de suit. He has been barefoot for four years now, I took off the shoes the min he was mine.
My pony the chestnut, Rafiki (this means "my friend" in Swahili, an African language) he is 14 years old and 14.2 hands, we bred him in Zimbabwe with our own thoroughbred cross welsh mare and a friends pure breed Arab stallion he is an absolute spoiled brat but he is family and we love him. He has NEVER had shoes.
Cherry Hall is my most recent, I bought him straight off the polo field, I took an immediate liking to him and had to have him, he was also bred in Zimbabwe and also won a few races. His father is quite famous for producing show jumpers his name is Hall Gate and his mother was a mare called Cherry Time, he is very sweet but also VERY dumb (eg: he walked into the center part of our horse box today when I was loading him) He has had no shoes since I got him 3 years ago.
All 3 are fed on a pellet produced by a local company which I mix with maize bran, they get fed three times a day and are spoiled with rejects from the near by farmers and have hey ad lib.
Would love the hoofpick but is my location not a problem? lol!
Is great to have some one to bragg about my babies to.
I almost forgot, several of our Zambian riders are off to the Congo to represent Zambia in show jumping this weekend.
If my boy's do make the blog I would love to be sent the link.
Kind regards,
Valerie.

Kestrels Story from Ireland

Kestrel is a 9 year old pure bred Connemara bought as a 4 year old having only ever competed in dressage competitions. He didn't know how to gallop, was extremely spooky (still is!), had never hacked on the roads, hunted, been to the beach - boy was he going to be challenge!


I didn't know then just how much of a challenge he would be when he went lame after completing a second 40 mile ride (to attain Silver Shamrock with the Irish Long Distance Riding Associtation at the age of 7). He was laid off work for 6 months (without shoes), had two sets of x-rays taken which showed up absolutely nothing and generally improved once the shoes were off.

This led me to barefoot websites and some research and my first boots were secondhand Old Macs Originals from ebay. When his feet grew and changed shape I bought a new pair of Old Macs G2s from a supplier in England (we're a bit backward here in Ireland and I have only today for the first time seen an advert for hoof boot fitting - in the south of Ireland - about 150 miles from where I live). These worked well and I now have a barefoot trimmer who comes on a regular basis to trim Kes's feet.

We've progressed to Easyboot Epics which I put onto Kes for a ride on Sunday past which gave them a really good try out as we took part in a pleasure ride around Clandeboye Estate in Bangor, County Down where we were knee deep in sticky mud. I was amazed my boots stayed on despite having looked up the Easyboot site on numerous occasions and read everyone else's reports. Our other horses are also barefoot including a 14 year old TB mare who hacks regularly and we use the Old Macs on her (the boots fit both horses which is very handy) and will never have shoes on them. Their feet are all amazing -despite the fact that as we live in Ireland and the ground is frequently very wet.

It's not called the Emerald Isle for nothing you know! I would recommend barefoot and Easyboots to anyone - just send them my email address and I'll convince them!

Name: Valerie McKie
City: Belfast
Country: Northern Ireland
Favorite Boot: Easyboot Epic

The Prescription for Hoof Ailments

The Easyboot Rx is just the prescription for horses requiring a therapy boot that offers stability and support without being heavy or clunky.

Relief for Your Horse
Veterinarians, hoof care professionals and horse owners alike rely on the Easyboot Rx to help horses healThe Prescription for Hoof Ailments
and recover quickly from many horse hoof problems. It provides support and relief for horses suffering from chronic lameness, laminitis, founder, navicular and other lower limb/hoof problems.

The Rx is an excellent choice for those horses that simply have difficulty standing on hard surfaces for extended periods of time. The boot can be used to speed recovery and offer protection after surgery or injury, lessen fatigue and add protection during trailering as well as offer a safeguard in the breeding shed.


Easy Application Application is quick and easy. The unique upper of the Easyboot Rx folds down and opens large enough to accommodate the wide base of a hoof, allowing for quick application without strength or force. After the hoof is placed in the Easyboot Rx, two hook and loop tabs are fastened to provide a secure fit. A quick pull on the hook and loop tabs and the Easyboot Rx is easily slipped off the hoof. Each boot has a double hook and loop lock system that prevents the boot from opening unintentionally.

The Easyboot Rx is not intended for riding but can be used for light turn out.