I continue to gain with Remi on his feet. I absolutely love the Easyboot glove boots. Remi wore them pretty much 24/7 for about 2 and a half months and then we started getting rain. With the mud the gloves shifted on his feet and they started to tear at the toe and I was having to replace the hardware on the gaiters often.

I did have to let Remi go without boots for a few days when the mud was really deep and unfortunately he lost all he sole he had built up with the shoes and fill in pad material I had him in earlier this year. His sole is now very thin at the toe and he is tender. The good news is he seems to be building a stronger digital cushion and his frog is getting more dense.

Remi is not the only barefoot horse having trouble lately in my area. We had drought for 18 months and then about 15 inches of rain over the last month. Many horses lost their built up sole and some of them have not had a long enough dry period to toughen the remaining sole. It is very interesting to me that two barefoot horses on exactly the same diet and in the same environment can have such different reactions. My mule, Tess, who has been barefoot for about 6 years is having no trouble what so ever.

I took a picture of Remi’s sole but it is hard to see how thin it is. At first glance one might think that he had a nice concavity but at the front of the toe I can press with my thumbs and the sole gives easily. I believe it is critical to keep protection on the barefoot horse when the sole is this thin. I use the easy boot pads inside my boots and I am thinking about trying some sole guard to fill in all the sole and around the frog so I don’t have to take the boot off everyday to clean it out.

I put edge boots on Remi tonight and I am thinking they may hold up better in the mud. They are harder to take on and off so I will go back to the glove when the weather gets dry again. Keeping Remi in boots these last few months has been a bit of trouble but it has been worth the effort. He is moving in the pasture very well and I can see his confidence in his feet growing. He still lands more flat or even toe first most of the time but his heel is getting better. I have had to be patient for his digital cushion to develop before I tried to lower his heels too much.

Remi is happy and sound in his boots. I just wish I could find one that worked in all weather but it is not like I wear the same footwear for all conditions so why should he:). Madalyn

I get my boots from natural trimmer, Steve Karshner and he gives great service.

very thin sole

edge boot on Remi