HomeUncategorizedRenegade boot saga: the problem pony

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Renegade boot saga: the problem pony — 4 Comments

  1. I feel your pain, though I stick with boots too. Because for me there are so many more hours he sits around in pasture than hours that we ride! There are always kinks, with flares, growth, etc, a lot to plan for. I, like you, have had very few issues with my Renegades. But when I do, it is uphill after water, or when we are moving at endurance-ride type speed (hard to replicate at home usually!). I hope you find a solution, I know for me that is why I decided to glue on for important rides. (though a few years ago I did boot only fronts and was fine during rides, and did one 50 totally bare). Good luck!

  2. I mostly use Renegades/Vipers and have had a good run with them. I would really suggest training in them, even if you don't intend to do that long-term. Just train in them every time until you sort them out, then you'll be able to go to a ride with a fair amount of confidence that they are working for you. Try to get in a good long training ride in boots before you go to a ride – if you are worried that the boots will fail and be damaged on a long training ride there is a fair chance they are going to fail at the ride.

  3. You are 100% correct! If I were a smarter person and more dedicated to actually fixing things, I would absolutely do that. But. Booting at home has a small list of reasons why I tend not to do it: 1. MUD. I hate dealing with muddy boots in the dark. 2. Speed. Pony refuses to go at proper endurance speed at home, so there's no real overstep most of the time to cause problems, while there can be at rides (though in fairness, I don't think that's usually a major factor at rides either). 3. The only place we lose boots at home is that one long uphill after a river crossing, and we lose the one boot there about 90% of the time. If we're not going out to that trail, I have absolutely zero concerns about losing boots, and then we go back to point 1: muddy boots are a pain.

    I think you're right, though, and I think that's going to be part of the plan for the rest of the summer. We have Plans for next weekend, but after that.. if we go out on a brisk solo ride, I'll make a point to deal with her front hooves within the week prior, and see if that flare can get controlled and maybe the boot can stay on 50% of the time.

    It's a hard hill for us – it's the same hill that we lose boots on at Fireworks – because she knows she's going home, and especially at the ride, she wants to really fly uphill with wet boots and wet hooves, which I know all the boot folks say is a disaster in the making for boots anyway. With a hoof that's just-barely fitted in, we're hitting (minor) disaster most of the time.

  4. I've contemplated glue-ons for our (hopeful) fall 50, but I'm so afraid I'd screw that up even more! At least at the one we're shooting for, we've done the 25 bare, so if that's what it comes to I'm not going to panic. (I think.)