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CONGRATULATIONS TENNESSEE MAHONEY ON A VERY SUCCESSFUL 2008 RIDE SEASON!
From Tennessee:
The last ride I did in the boots was a 50 miler in Moab at the Canyonlands Pioneer, Nov. 1st. I was warned, by many, that the boots would get sucked off in the deep sand, and that they wouldn’t have any traction on all the slick rock, but they performed very well. I never lost a boot and we had a great ride. There is a very steep (ridiculously and dangerously steep, called Wipeout Hill) slickrock rim that you have to climb up and come back down later that people slide all over the place on; the boots did fine. I was riding Pearl, wearing orange boots, size 0 and 00, the boots already had 200 racing miles on them, and are still good for training.
I use orange, my tack is purple but you guys can’t make purple so I just stick with orange. Sometimes I use the copper on Sabella, my chestnut mare. I LOVE the glue ons.
[Editor’s note: Purple has not proven to be UV stable at this point.]I sometimes rasp the breakover just a teeny bit to custom fit each horse. I often ziptie over the velcro to make sure it doesn’t catch on a bush or something and come undone.
In the beginning, I was disappointed because I was only getting about 150 miles total out of them before they were totally destroyed. So I would only use brand-new boots at a race. But now I’m AMAZED because I have a pair that I’m still using that I KNOW has 350 RACING miles, plus some training miles…and they’re still good! Just wearing very thin on the bottom, I’ll probably only use them on training rides from now on until they finally crap out. I have no fear whatsoever of starting a race with old boots now, as long as I have a fresh pair of straps and a good cable.
I’m not sure what changed; it could have been many things. In the beginning, my horses’ feet were fresh out of steel and in the very beginning of transitioning into good bare feet, and I was an amateur with the boots; now my horses have awesome perfect feet and I have A LOT more experience with the boots. I bet I have boots lying around that still have life in them that have 400+ miles.
[Editors note: Horses fresh out of metal shoes can be heel sore, which causes them to land toe-first, which is hard on hoof boots and causes excessive toe wear.]This was my first year competing with barefoot horses and it was AWESOME. I’ll never go back. Yes, it’s more work, but it’s worth it. I went from being totally dependent on my farrier (who was destroying my mares’ feet, and charging me way too much) to being able to take care of my horses’ perfect little feet all by myself. Blaine St. Peter has taught me how to trim an awesome performance hoof, and he continues to help me rehab other hooves every day.
Pearl raced in boots, glue-ons and barefoot this year (she completed 4 races TOTALLY barefoot). She never could have gotten feet like that without the help of Renegades. Plus, she wasn’t just tip-toeing thru the ride, she kicked butt. She took 1st and BC on three of those times.) Sabella raced in glue-ons and boots (completing two 100 milers in glue-ons.)
Renegades are SO easy to put on (once you know what you’re doing.) When they’re on, your horse’s feet are totally safe, even the heel bulbs; you’re invincible! They stay on a bare foot without all that ‘stuff’ that goes up the pastern and begs for a disaster. Plus, they look cool. ;)
(I think they are even a good choice for people who usually carry a hoofboot spare in case they throw a shoe; it takes about 1 minute to jump off, get the Renegade® boot out, slip it on and go.)
I rasp often and in small amounts. I have pea gravel in my corrals. I use zipties at races. I always remove the boots at vet checks to make sure they are clean and the hoof and heel are clean and make sure little rocks haven’t gotten stuck in the heel captivator between the pad and the plastic. I often dunk them in a bucket of water to cool them off and rinse them off and clean mud and sand out of the velcro. I keep old toothbrushes to clean out the velcro straps; in my saddle bag I have one of those plastic hoof picks that has a hard bristled brush built in. I use duct tape when gluing boots on.
I get Blaine to make me reusable [Equi-Pak] CS ‘insoles’ that fill in the frog so the hoof doesn’t get all nasty when I glue them on. After a race, to get glue-ons off, just lube your horse’s pastern and upper hoof up with baby oil; the hoof absorbs the oil and the boots just fall right off; you’ll find them in the pasture the next morning.
I did 885 miles in boots/glue-ons in ’08 – I pasted all my “Renegade® rides” below.
(Unless you want to subtract the 200 miles I did totally barefoot…which I couldn’t have done without renegades, not to mention I went out with a full set of Renegades on my saddle just in case, and I wouldn’t have gone barefoot without them tied to my saddle, so you might as well count them.)
[Editor’s Note: We love to hear reports of barefoot performance!]2 100 mile completions, 1 in the Top 10, both on DWA Sabella (All 4 glue-ons stayed on through The Big Horn 100 and we placed 9th; if you’ve done that ride you know that means something.)
10 Top Tens
5 Best Conditions
My mare DWA Pearl (aka DWA Sabsons Abby) is ranked #1 Best Condition in the Mountain Region 2008. She did every mile in Renegades or barefoot. (Consider the fact that I’m a Featherweight when you look at this ranking.) She is also ranked 3rd Place Featherweight and 9th Overall in the Mountain Region Point Standings
DWA Sabella ranked 6th Place Featherweight in the Mountain Region Point Standings
2008 Season
Color Country Pioneer on DWA Sabella
04/11/2008 55 miles 25th place
Color Country Pioneer on DWA Pearl
04/12/2008 50 miles 11th place
Antelope Island I & II on RR Saphira
04/19/2008 25 miles 19th place
Kenlyn Urban Challenge on DWA Pearl
04/26/2008 50 miles 6th place
Owyhee Fandango Pioneer I, II, III, FEI 100 on DWA Pearl
05/24/2008 50 miles 8th place
Owyhee Fandango Pioneer I, II, III, FEI 100 on DWA Sabella
05/25/2008 100 miles 15th place
Owyhee Fandango Pioneer I, II, III,FEI 100 on DWA Pearl
05/26/2008 50 miles 1st place BC
The Wyoming on DWA Pearl
06/15/2008 50 miles 1st place
Big Horn Elevator on DWA Sabella
07/19/2008 100 miles 9th place
Fort Union Pioneer on DWA Sabella
08/31/2008 50 miles 1st place
Fort Union Pioneer on DWA Pearl
09/02/2008 55 miles 1st place BC
Fort Dodge on DWA Pearl
09/08/2008 50 miles 1st place BC
Coronado on DWA Pearl
09/11/2008 50 miles 1st place BC
Grand Canyon Pioneer XP on DWA Pearl
10/09/2008 50 miles 24th place
Grand Canyon Pioneer XP on DWA Pearl
10/12/2008 50 miles 6th place BC
Moab Canyons Pioneer on DWA Pearl
11/01/2008 50 miles 16th place
