This is great for showing how the hoof expands upon weight bearing. There are more videos on this topic on YouTube that you can check out. Too bad they haven’t done one on the benefits of NOT shoeing in this particular series. Still, it’s good to see hoof mechanism like this.
Chief did over 500 training miles in his new Renegades before doing an AERC ride in them - becoming my favorite boot because of how he moves in them!
In the photo slideshow I posted yesterday showing Chief’s hooves while he was wearing Ground Control shoes back in 2004 you can see that the way the shoes were applied that Chief had a great deal of hoof on the sides and quarters that was able to expand and contract plus enough shoe in the back and sides to offer support.
I think that the Ground Control shoes helped make it so easy for Chief to transition to going barefoot permanently. It is kind of ironic that Chief was originally totally hoof boot challenged. He seriously could not trot a straight line in an arena in perfect footing with boots on without tripping and falling. There was no way I was going to be able to ride him in boots on a trail and that’s why he got put into the Ground Controls.
I think that Chief was a bit of a late bloomer and it took him longer than any of my other horses to learn his coordination and develop all of the muscles and strength necessary to carry himself so that he wasn’t clunking down the trail like he just left happy hour! 
Now I think that he is the most proficient and agile horse I’ve ever ridden in technical and challenging trails.
If anybody is having a horse that is proving to be hoof boot challenged — don’t give up. Keep trying different things until you find something that works and then come back to it later if that is what it takes. It can take a lot of patience, plus trial and error on the human part of the equation. Not every horse takes to boots right away. Chief took longer because of his conformation – he’s really short backed with long legs so needed to do more miles and time on the trail to develop the coordination and muscling to carry himself without getting in his own way. On the plus side, his conformation has a lot to do with him staying sound and going so well for so many miles with so few problems.
Hoof boots and hoof protection options for barefoot horses have changed a lot in the last five years which I know makes it a tossup between having more choices making things confusing and more complicated versus having more choices which increases the liklihood of finding something that really, really works. I”m fortunate that the strap on Renegades work well on all of my horses – I like them not because of their ease of use (which is a good point) but because of how the horses move in them.
TACK SALE! I just cleaned out my tack room and have a lot of old boots that I’d like to sell. Riders like the the old style easyboots and I have them in 0, 1, 2. Mostly black but some red in size 2′s. There is no point in keeping any of the 2′s as I don’t have a horse that takes that size and I’d rather somebody get some use out of them than to have them sit in my tack room collecting dust. I also have a variety of other things and will try to get a list together if everything isn’t already spoken for before I get that far. Anybody interested, let me know!
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