Mother Nature decided to make life a little more interesting at the Foxcatcher 25/50 in Fair Hill, MD on 4/16/2011. We had gotten a fair bit of rain in the previous week, so the ground was already soft, but the trails started out in good condition. The early morning weather was quite nice, in the low 50s, but the rain and high winds started at about 11 AM and got steadily worse throughout the rest of the day, ending in some spectacular thunderstorms. With over 100 horses covering the same ground, it turned to fetlock-deep, sucking mud very quickly. The dirt trails through the woods, including the switchbacks on the steep hills, became covered with a slick coating of mud that the horses slithered down and lunged up.
I’ve been using Renegades on my horse for a while now, but I had never tested them in this kind of mud before. Well, they did not budge for the entire 50 miles, including doing the last 20 miles in the crazy weather. On the third leg, we passed a rider leading her horse back to camp because the mud had sucked one of his shoes right off, but our Renegades stayed on tight! And my horse’s feet looked great at the end when I pulled them off.
I love having boots that are so easy to put on, take off, and clean; that require zero modifications to fit and work properly; and that stay put without rubbing. A big two thumbs (and four hooves) up from Jill and Sasha!
The picture attached is from the morning of the ride, before the heavy rain started (when we were still clean, dry, and warm). Photo credit is Hoof Print Images.
Thanks,
Jill Surkin