Review of New EasyBoot back Country Glove-Trail

[Roger Rittenhouse]

OR
What I did at Home during AERC Convention. First one I missed in 20
years. Sort of miss it. Could not really afford to go. Tax refund
paid for the BIG $$$ spring vet bill. IR/EC horses blood work is
costly.

I used some of the refund to buy a pair of the new Trail Glove Boot.

For the past 2 years plus I have used the Bonnie B4 boot on Omni with
good results.

While very satisfied with the B4, I wanted to try another boot that
might be easier to install and less 'mass' Since Omni has oblong non
round hoofs, the B4 boot is Round. While it fits the length, it is
wide for his hoof. The strap on system works great to hold the boot in
place.

The pair of the new EZ boots arrived today. Weather is great. Had to
ride and test the boots

I measured his newly trimmed hoof at least 4 times. I could not find
the mm scale so I used the 32inch scale and converted. The sizing is
the same as the glove. Want it long enough for base support but
narrow to grip the hoof.

I settled on size 2.5
Took an real effort to get them installed. I used a rubber mallet to
seat them. RF was tight. LF better but still tight.
I felt the size was .5 too small. I should have ordered size 3.
Oh well once installed there is no return. I have to test ride.

Once I got them seated and worked the rear heel capture in place they
were easy to lock in place. The mallet sure helped to get them
seated.
The wide Velcro back flaps worked great. That part was easy.

A little trot in hand went well. Boots stayed on. He moved nice. I re-
checked the heel and was able to get a finger in the boot to check
heel/hoof contact. Appeared OK.

Hand walked down the hard road, some trot. No slipping.

Mounted at the dirt road, and off we went into the forest.
Walked a mile. Asked for an easy trot. All felt fine.
The B4 boots due to size would clip inside on each other, but not hit
the cannon bone.
The EZ boot did not hit. He also did not forge from behind. I had the
B4 boots behind.

Cannot determine if the boots are working as desired with just a few
miles, so we did 7.5. Mostly at a walk some at a trot and some
jerking around being an idiot Arab. He will never grow out of being an
AH at times. Once an Endurance horse always a wild a...

We mostly walk,but I let him ramp up to about 8-9 mph to see how he
traveled.
Very easy going stride, less the kick out and hops.
I thought he was moving almost like BF.
Very nice.

Returned home.
The LF was tight to remove. Heels looked good. The captive lip at the
lower heel, did show tight contact as did the back of the heel bar. He
did have good 'wear marks ' on the heels showing full base contact.
The heel bulbs looked good no rubs

RF was really tight to get off. Showed more pressure contact on the
hoof heel bar below the bulbs and more indentation in the heel captive
lip.

Both hoof walls showed the 'wear' or marks from the grip of the Glove
on the side and the quarters. This shows good width size. The boots
were gripping the walls.

I think I should have ordered size 3. But since they are used, I
cannot return them. They may fit better with a touched up toe and
some wear/use molding to the hoof.

His trim is only one week old. I will touch him up next time we go
out. Try to get the toes back a little more will give a little more
room at the back of the boot.

After a few more rides, If they are still tight to get on, I will 'try
' to sell these and get a Sz 3.

First impression, they are nice, appear to work well. I like how he
moved. Will know more after 5 or 6 more rides.

Hope those who went to the convention had a good time.

RogerR

[Buddy]

Roger. That is a lot of work to eventually ride your horse and I am
thinking you enjoy the work better than the ride. Anyhow, enjoy
whatever you want to do, I do. Buddy

[Kathy Sherman]

Nice review, Roger. If the boots are too small and you need to sell or
trade, check out the yahoo hoof boot exchange.

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/hoofbootexchange/?yguid=273393199

Kathy

[Sheri Devouassoux]

Thank you for the review.  I am currently using Renegades and am very happy with them.  However, I would like to test out some other boots, too.  Just to do a compare/contrast with them.

Sheri

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[Roger Rittenhouse]

WHAT?? have no idea what you are implying ?.
I found the boots easy to put one, they worked OK. It was a REVIEW
report of my ride with the new boots.
It took me about 15 minutes to put on the boots.

We keep both of the horses barefoot and booted when needed.

I had a great ride, enjoyed it very much - --

So whats your point???
R

[Roger Rittenhouse]

I sold the the old style boots on that list.
Few more rides to find out IF they will work out
R

[Roger Rittenhouse]

Sheri
I tried the Renegades on him. I had quite a few pairs since they
worked so well on the Foxtrotter I had last year.

They would not stay on his oval shaped hoof. I really tried to get
them to work. I liked the R boots. Just his hoof shape did not match
the boot shape.

Best boots I used that never came off in the mud or on trail was/is
Bonnie B4.
Just wanted to try another boot.
Always trying to find something better and easier.

Might have been best to not fix something that was not broken :)

RogerR

On Mar 10, 8:05 pm, Sheri Devouassoux <sheridevouass...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Mountain girl]

I don't know...you never know if something is better until you try.
So kudos for trying and thanks for the review. The Renegades work for
my current horses but I got by with Epics for a couple of years
because I didn't try something different. They did not stay on due to
overreaching at the canter. The Renegades stay on despite the
overreach because of their design. But if I bought a different horse
with a different hoof shape I would be open to change so I like to
hear about what other boots work for people.

> > Sheri- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Sheri Devouassoux]

Roger,

My horse has oval shaped hooves, too.  The Renegades have worked beautifully, so far.  But I am not doing hardly any speed work because he is coming back from and injury and I am taking it really, really slow.  I am concerned that once I start riding faster, I might have problems.  I know that there are boots out there that are better suited for an oval hoof.  And like Mountain Girl said "you never know if something is better until you try."  I am glad that there are so many boot options now.  

Anyway, thank you for taking the time to write the review.  I, for one, appreciate learning what works and doesn't work for others.

Sheri

[Karen Cox]

A boot with a better fit may be the best way to go. But if you like the Renegades, I'd try them at speed before you give up on them. I do think they are pretty forgiving with a less-than-perfect fit (though my issues have been the opposite, too-wide flared feet with low angles). 

And if you can't find boots that work for you, another thing you might try is liquid shims on your R's: http://www.renegadehoofboots.com/custom-fit-heel-boot.html. I've never had the need to try this so don't know how well it works, but thought I'd share the link as it's sort of buried in the website. 

Karen in MT

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AERC # M39603 
www.allthingsendurance.com

[Sheri Devouassoux]

Oh, Karen, I am not even close to being ready to give up on my Renegades!  And I know all about the liquid shims.  I will certainly give that a try if it comes down to it.  

I think that (maybe) Roger thought that I was trying to imply that Renegades are somehow superior to other boots on the market.  That was not my intention AT ALL.  I was just thanking him for taking the time to review the Easy Boot Back Country Gloves.  And I was also letting him know that I use Renegades.  And that I would like to try another type of boot in the future, just for kicks.  I think (no, I KNOW) that it is very difficult to interpret tone in a post.  I really wasn't trying to imply anything other than what I posted.  Sorry, Roger, if you did not understand what I was trying to say.  I was not trying to be rude!

Sheri

[Roger Rittenhouse]

Sheri
OH my error I was NOT posting to your reply.
It was to Buddy G.

So sorry.
Went back and re-read my response, I failed to post the 'reply to
name'.

I loved the Renegades when I was using them on the 2 foxtrotters. They
stayed on in deep mud. Both had nice round hoofs. I thought they were
the best fits all boots. Used them for about 3 years while I had those
foxtrotters. About the only good thing about them was their tough
hard hoofs. :)

There was no way I could keep them on the gelding. I had to really
tighten them. He still would pull them off and got real sore heel
bulbs because of all the extra pressure from the heel captive. I
gave up with them.

I really tried to make them work.
The boy can go BF over dirt trails with some rocks/ stones, but not
the stone covered roads I have around here to ride.

There sure is no boot that works for all horses, same as saddles :)

No problem with any of your posts. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

RogerR


On Mar 11, 6:04 pm, Sheri Devouassoux <sheridevouass...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Sheri Devouassoux]

Well, there I go, assuming that it is all about ME!

Sheri

[Karen Cox]

I have decided to boot my horse on her back feet this year for rockier rides, and her back feet are much more oval than the fronts, so I wonder how the Renegades will work (I haven't done the measurements yet). 

I think it would be funny to have Renegades on front and Gloves on back. If that's what it took, that's what I'd do :) Nice to have a choice of products, both in shoes and boots, because every horse (and rider) is different. 

[Kevin Myers]

Roger,

Thanks for this review. It sounds like a pair Size 3 Glove Back
Country boots might be the ticket for you to see you through the
entire trim cycle. The biggest difference between the Glove and the
Glove Back Country is that the upper keeps the boot on the hoof, and
so success is less dependent on a perfect fit. When Gene Limlaw
brought his mare to Colorado for our photo shoot last fall, we went up
two half sizes larger than the Gloves she wears and the boots worked
famously.

There is an application video on the boot here: http://youtu.be/u-UvxjQSkZg.

Please continue to keep us all updated about your impressions of the
Back Country.

Best wishes,

Kevin Myers

http://blog.easycareinc.com/blog/bootlegging

[Roger Rittenhouse]

Hi Me again
SECOND RIDE REPORT NEW BOOTS EC GLOVE BC

Rode yesterday. Not a long ride only 3 miles. Nice day, had to get
out for a short one and try the boots again. Also had to get over the
non-convention withdraw. :)

Greatly improved.
I set the boots out in the sun while I cleaned up my boy, cant hurt
and may make them a bit softer.?

I thought the days into the trim cycle was only a week, it was 10
days. I filed the FL just to clean it up some and get a better roll.
Worked the toe back just a little. Few swipes of the file was all I
needed. This hoof grows sort of normal compared to the RF.

I wanted to help with the slip fit of the boot, so I applied at thin
film of Vaseline to the inside heel captive area. No, not a long term
good idea as petroleum based grease will rot the rubber, this was
just a test.


Boot slipped right on with only a hand slap. I do have a rubber mallet
that I use to get a good seat. Better then bashing the hand. A check
at the heel area showed the boot was well seated with a very slight
gap at heel.


The front right has a flare problem, always had it. Better now that we
no longer shoe. I had to rasp off the slight flare, roll the side and
take a little toe. Boot went on with a good hit with hand then
tapped in place with the rubber mallet. This was a close tighter fit
at the heel captive area but not as tight as day one.

Just a little hoof touch-up filing and both boots fit fine.
I did not use any boots on the rear.

Off to the trails. Rode a mile or so on the dead-end hard top. Asked
for a little trot. Nice easy going no slip. Into the trails with
leaves, mud and downhill terrain. Went quite well with almost no
slipping. the tread gripped fine. Few loops around the woods trail and
into an open field. Boots went through ankle deep mud.

Back to the barn. Boots came off with a sight effort, easier then
first ride but did not just fall off. The grip marks on the hoof wall
at the quarters indicated a tight fit.

I think the size 2.5 is a good fit IF I keep the toes and front walls
close and tight. If he would go a week or 2, the boots would be too
tight. Since I am the primary trimmer, I can work the hoofs as needed.
I have a professional BF trimmer on a 7 to 8 week schedule to re-do
my trims and make corrections as needed.

I noted how well he seemed to move as in break-over and getting the
forehand moving faster. The boots have a 'natural balance' design.
That is, there is a nice beveled toe with the break-over point back
behind the white line. As in a natural balanced shoe. I 'think' he
moves better in the boots then BF. He has tendency to toe clip or toe
drag which causes him to trip at times. The boot design gets that toe
over and up into the fight faster. At least I noted he tripped less.

He really drags his rear toes, a real daisy clipper. Related to his
age and hock-stifle issues. Plan on a rear set in a month.

As has been stated many many times, no boot is perfect for all horses
in all conditions. The advantages we have today to find a design of
boots that works well for your horse and riding style is significant
compared to the limitations that I (we) had to deal with when they
are shod.

Initial impressions for now are positive. I will find out more as we
hit the trails this spring.
For me and my old horse the EasyCare Glove Back Country is working
and fills my (our) requirements.
RogerR

[trailpal]

Thanks for the update! good to see what sort of minor changes can
improve boot fit! As the flares are about to finally finish growing
out, I will be getting new boots for my boy - definitely a different
size, maybe a different model.
Rosalie