# Two topics! Boots and night riding!



## hisangelonly (Oct 29, 2011)

Has anyone used cavallo sport or simple boots? Do they stay on through mud, water, rocks, etc? I will be conditioning on gravel (bigger rocks. Not pebbles) mostly because that's all I have :/. Will the cavallos hold up to the conditioning plus the actual endurance rides? Would it be wise to put boots on the front and shoes on the back? Or just leave the back alone? His feet are great. But the gravel is brutal. If cavallos suck, then is there a better boot that's still wallet friendly and easily applied? 
And night riding. I work the useful hours of the day (usually.). Our nights are warm and when the moon is out its not hard to see. Does anyone here condition at night or maybe just night ride for fun? I used to have a horse that rode better at night (he was...strange) than in the day. I live on a gravel road that rarely sees a car. So not really any risk for vehicles not seeing us.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

If you're going to shoe anything, do it on the front and then put boots on the back when necessary. Since the shoes will always be on, they should be on the front, and i imagine it could actually be unhealthy to shoe the back and not the front. You could shoe and then have a spare pair of boots for when a shoe gets thrown (I recommend Renegades if you do this since they're a bit more forgiving of fit than Easyboots). You already know my preference is not to shoe at all and use my Easyboot Gloves, but I have not heard about cavallos except here and there and hesitate to use a boot that isn't popular amongst the endurance crowd.


----------



## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

As for night riding, it should be a problem as long as you know the area and take appropriate precautions like reflective gear for both you and your horse and possibly a head lamp. I've heard of other people conditioning at night because of the cooler temperatures. Just make sure you can see decently well (i.e. good moonlight) and get used to your horse at night. Of course, night conditioning will also get you ready for those EARLY morning rides and late-running 100-milers that begin and end in the dark!


----------



## hisangelonly (Oct 29, 2011)

Okay so if I was to go the shoeing route on the front and carry a spare boot, there are flexible shoes that are nailed in. Apparently people like them and they're better than metals. I've seen some neat ones like GROUND CONTROL HORSESHOES (877) TRACTION and Happy Hoofwear (I am a sucker for colors!) but I've never known anyone that uses them. I know someone that has cavallo boots and they like them. It's hard to find honest opinions on the makers site. :/. 

I'd be riding on our gravel road in the dark. I know it very well. It seems like fun!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

I have no experience with those kinds of boots, so am no help there. 

I love night riding though! Assuming you have a safe area, it's a great way to get out without having to worry about crowds or heat (or pesky things like work).


----------



## hisangelonly (Oct 29, 2011)

phantomhorse13 said:


> I have no experience with those kinds of boots, so am no help there.
> 
> I love night riding though! Assuming you have a safe area, it's a great way to get out without having to worry about crowds or heat (or pesky things like work).


Have you ever known anyone who uses poly or flexi shoes? I think they're cool but I don't want to order them the regret it! 
Lol yes work gets in the way all the time! Darn work! If only I could win that pch thing where you get $5000 every week for life lol. I'd be set!!!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

ground control shoes are horrendous on gravel, DONT use them.
could go into great detail, but cavelos are not suitable for endurance or endurance conditioning. They are ok for casual walk only short distance riding.
You will have to look long and hard to find an experienced endurance rider that uses boots that isnt using either easyboot gloves or renegades. With many using glueons at the rides themselves.
Honestly though if your doing all that gravel riding just put steel shoes all around. There is a reason they have been around a thousand years.


----------



## hisangelonly (Oct 29, 2011)

Our gravel is ping pong ball sized rocks. Would the gravel still bother him and make him sore with steel shoes?
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

I would use boots. No reason to shoe a horse that doesn't need them for the gravel road, imo.
I actually go out on the road and canter my mare, along with edges of hay/corn fields and a dirt road the hay guy uses to haul the hay.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## hisangelonly (Oct 29, 2011)

See the only grassy areas here I can ride on are on the side of a highway. People aren't too wary of horses around here and don't care to slow down and keep goin their 70 mph past us. It scares me really! On our gravel rd there's barely any cars so that's why I want to ride on it. The gravel is terrible and the size of ping pong balls. I liked the cavallos because they're friendly to my wallet. I like the cavallo sports better than the simple though. On cavallos website there's endurance riders who use them but I don't trust what the makers site says too often! I wish I could get trial boots lol. But I love the renegades too its just theyre expensive! The easy boots seem to cost less and I am going to have to measure his foot to see if he will even be able to wear either.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Griffith361 (May 3, 2012)

hisangelonly said:


> See the only grassy areas here I can ride on are on the side of a highway. People aren't too wary of horses around here and don't care to slow down and keep goin their 70 mph past us. It scares me really! On our gravel rd there's barely any cars so that's why I want to ride on it. The gravel is terrible and the size of ping pong balls. I liked the cavallos because they're friendly to my wallet. I like the cavallo sports better than the simple though. On cavallos website there's endurance riders who use them but I don't trust what the makers site says too often! I wish I could get trial boots lol. But I love the renegades too its just theyre expensive! The easy boots seem to cost less and I am going to have to measure his foot to see if he will even be able to wear either.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_



I'm in almost the exact same situation! Except I don't HAVE to ride at night, but I do kinda end up doing my last few miles in the dark sometimes lol. 

As far as the boots go, my 12 YO Quarab has been barefoot all his life and my prime conditioning route is gravel/caliche road with large rocks also. I researched boots for a long time, and ended up going with the Renegades. If you understand the basic mechanics of how the hoof works and grows, Renegades are adjustable in the right ways and allow for full range of motion without rubbing. The heel captivator is seriously genius even with my guy who has some occasional overreach, the boots stay in place. I live on the coast of South Texas and when we get rain at the ranch I board at, the black farmland dirt turns into deep, slick, tar-like mud that's a foot deep. I've ridden through it and not only did the boots stay on, they clean up like a shiny new penny with just a dunk in a bucket of water, and a quick spray off with a hose. 
They're super easy to put on and take off, and after watching or reading instructions on adjusting, that's super easy also. 
My horse was also weary and tender footed when I asked him to just walk across the gravel road. The first day I tried them out I rode him down the road and I could literally see the surprise when he stepped foot on the road and his feet didn't hurt! We rode 2 miles on all gravel that day and he moved out like a champ and didn't miss a step! So impressed with the renegades (if that wasnt already obvious lol)!

I was worried about the cost as well. I'm in the middle of planning a wedding, and on a budget, but I saved up for 4 MONTHS and ordered my front set about 2 months ago. Totally worth it!!

Also, I sent pictures to Kirt at Renegade and he told me the sizes to order because my guy seemed to be between sizes.


----------



## hisangelonly (Oct 29, 2011)

Yes I love the renegades. The toe has to be trimmed short for them to fit. But that's okay.  and I love colors. Lol.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Iseul (Mar 8, 2010)

I wouldn't be willing to over-trim his toe (what it sounds like) for the sake of fitting a boot..Bad idea if his toe isn't meant to be that short. We can cut our hair too short and be fine, but we don't walk on it. D:
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## hisangelonly (Oct 29, 2011)

Lol I know what you mean! I need to measure and see if he is eligible for them. If his hooves are just some weird size, then I guess renegades weren't meant to be
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Faustinblack (Aug 16, 2011)

If you buy from the company and get the boots home, and they turn out to be the wrong size you can always send them back to exchange for a different size. I had to do that cause my horse was hard to find the right size. And the people are really great. Worth the money, IMO
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## jillybean19 (Dec 23, 2011)

hisangelonly said:


> Yes I love the renegades. The toe has to be trimmed short for them to fit. But that's okay.  and I love colors. Lol.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


That's interesting - the opposite seems to be true for Easyboots. Thee friction that holds them on comes from the top of the boot, and an indication of a good fit has the split slightly spread to make a V. Most of the time, the slope of the boot matches the hoof so that it fits snugly and without a gap. However, some hooves are slightly more sloped (like one of my horse's), leaving a gap between the toe and the boot. This is usually fine, since that's not what holds the boot on, and you can add athletic tape if you're worried about security. I've never had to trim a toe long or short for my easyboots to stay on.


----------



## Lanny Collins (Mar 30, 2012)

hisangelonly said:


> Yes I love the renegades. The toe has to be trimmed short for them to fit. But that's okay.  and I love colors. Lol.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


I believe you need to visit the Renegade website and watch the video that shows how to adjust for fit. I have tried the others and will only use Renegades. My Paso and MFT both had a little longer toe (front feet) which made the captivator a little hard to get on around the heel bulbs. You just need to let the cable out to give give the captivator more clearance. That is what the small allen wrench is for which is delivered with the boots. The round metal button in front of the toe of the boot is where the cables are adjusted. I let the cable out and easy as pie. Just have to mark the boots to remember which goes on front. I tie fronts together and hinds together using a string. one knot in string for front and 2 knots in string for hinds.


----------

