Thanks, Karen, for submitting another great report…we’re so pleased that the boots are continuing to work so well for you and your horses! Congratulations on your successful weekend!
Over Memorial Day weekend I went up to Idaho and rode in the Owyhee Fandango endurance ride. The weather didn’t exactly cooperate, raining on us during the 500 mile drive to camp. It rained further on Friday during the first day of the ride and turned the trails into a muddy mess.
Fortunately I was riding my most experienced horse Chief, in the 50. He’s a pro when it comes to negotiating through mud! I felt safe and secure on him going up and down the slippery hills with his Renegade® Strap-on horse boots on. I saw lots of slip and slide marks from other horses but never once felt like we were in any danger of falling.
We ended up finishing 19th that day on the 50. Chief did well and except for getting B’s on gut sounds (ironic, as he eats so well) finished the ride with all A’s on his vet card. We both really enjoyed the trails and the scenery. The best part is that the vet checks and loops were out of camp all day. Chief is so fit and opinionated that he is best being ‘out’ all day and not having to go in and out of camp. I felt secure leaving camp at the start with Renny’s on Chief knowing that we’d get through the ride. I always carry spares with me, just in case. 
I took Saturday off to get ready for the 100 on Sunday with Bo. I wasn’t bothered by not riding (it’s unusual for me not to ride all of the days of a ride) since it rained for hours and hours and the loops came back to camp for the ride that day. Trying to rate Chief in the mud coming back to camp multiple times would have been a real workout and something I didn’t need to do before the 100.
For the 100 I used size 2 Renny’s on Bo’s fronts, and size 1 Renny’s on his hind feet. I over-slept that morning and had less than a half an hour from the time I actually got up until we rode off at the start to get everything ready. I literally threw all four of his boots on in seconds flat and off we went! Those same four boots didn’t move, twist, turn, rub, come off or do anything but work flawlessly for the entire 100 miles! At midnight the boots were pulled off and that was it – DONE!
I love the fact that I can throw strap-on Renegade® boots on my horses for a ride for one to five days a month and then can keep them barefoot the rest of the time. Bo can now be barefoot for a month until he’ll have boots put on his his next adventure. It was nice to get up in the morning and not have to worry about Bo’s hoof care. I didn’t even need to think about having to pry and cut glue-on boots off of him. Even better, I didn’t have to spend any time prepping his feet before the ride. This was the 2nd time Bo has completed this 100 using strap on Renegades. The first time he finished 3rd and this time we finished 8th.
One other thing worth reporting is that my friend who was doing her first 100 on a shod horse was only able to finish the ride after putting a pair of size 2 Renegades on over her horse’s iron shoes more than halfway through the ride. Her horse came up sore over the rocky hard footing and was able to trot out sound with the Renny’s on! She finished the ride and the boots were in great shape, no signs of increased wear due to being used over metal shoes.
I can’t say enough for how well the Renegades are working for my horses. When I need them for a special reason I can use glue-on Renny’s. Most of the time though, we stick to using the strap-on version of Renegades. They are wonderful! My horse’s both do great in them! Oh, btw – Bo finished the 100 with all A’s on his vet card. He had a perfect boot ride that was awesome!
Follow Karen on her blog: Karen’s Musings & Endurance Ride Stuff