As some may know I’ve been transitioning Tissy to barefoot for a few reasons. One because she’s not being ridden as much, shoes turn out to be expensive for cost per use. Secondly living on clay fields over winter means shoes get sucked off an disappear on a regular basis and three because I am genuinely interested in the management and conditioning of a barefoot horse.
I’ve had lots of tips, such as asking my farrier to show me how to rasp rough edges and little chips in between professional trims. Using a specific supplement such as the Kevin Bacon Hoof formula. Taking things slowly and letting her hooves adapt to life without shoes, although it’s not new to her really, as she ordinarily spends three months a year without them and does her walk work barefoot.
Tissy has been doing really well but is a little ‘footy’ on stonier surfaces, and as we ride on a lot of them I felt she needed something to help. Now in my head I kind of thought if I’m going to use boots then I might as well just use shoes but seeing as one of my reasons was pulled shoes in winter, it actually didn’t seem like a bad idea.
So I messaged The hoof boot shop, who I’d seen were doing a run past us, and asked for them to come out to advise on what type of boots would suit our needs and to fit them properly. I’d done some research on boots and I wasn’t confident that I’d be able to order the right size and which boots were most suited so professional help seemed like a good idea.
Rachael was great and guessed Tissy’s size before even lifting a hoof. We tried three brands, equine fusion, Scoot boots and the Flex boots. We ended up going with the flex boots as I found the equine fusions a bit clumpy and didn’t like the structure around the heel of the scoot boots. It’s early days but I’m super happy with the fit and how easy they are to put on so I’ll keep you updated with how they ride.
Beth Endurance 