Oops, I did it again.
Aug. 30th, 2023 02:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickSo last year we went up to State College to do sweep for the 4H Competitive Ride, which happens in the fall. It's a horse function wherein you ride about thirty miles give or take. There's a maximum time and a minimum time for completion (you can't go too fast or too slow). The thing is judged on the fitness of your critter and the relative degradation of your critter over the course of the ride.
I've done this event before (2007, 2009, 2011, 2017) and ridden sweep (to clean up the trail markings after the kids have gone through) in 2008 and 2022 and when Bird was 4, so... 2015 or so? Last year, Bethany (she runs and organizes the thing) wanted to have more adult riders on the trail. Adult riders on the trail help kids do better at pacing and following the trail and not being lost (it is very well-marked, but... kids) and stuff. So, this year I signed up as an adult rider. You have to have a sponsoring kidlet, which I have one of (I could not pick this child out of a police lineup, but you do not have to KNOW your sponsoring kidlet, there just has to be one and the club I rode with when I was a kid has a spare kid, so...).
Since it's a 4H thing and since the last time I had all the clearances was more than five years ago, I have to re-do all of that stuff. No, I've never been arrested. No, I have absolutely no history of child abuse complaints or involvement. Yes, I will complete the online child abuse training as per requirement. *sigh*
I understand the desire and obligation to do whatever is necessary to keep children safe especially when they are under the care of people who are not their parents, but also I understand that there are two sorts of people who come up clean on a background check:
People who are not criminals
AND ALSO
People who are good at being criminals
I do know that it is not helpful to point this out during one's background checks and so I did not.
Also, 4H is under the auspices of Penn State and the whole Sandusky thing is a very sore point on that front so yeah, they're gonna make every effort even though about half of the every effort is BEING SEEN TO BE MAKING THE EFFORT. Fucking Potemkin Villages everywhere.
I did get three adults to be character references for me. My references have collectively known me for a lotta years. I have... G, whom I met at 11, N, who's known me for the same timeframe, and riding instructor A for the last eight years. So... 42 2x plus 8 is... 92 years.
The other checks will come back clear. I had to list all addresses since 1975 and all the people I lived with during that time. I did not include my college dorms or my college roommates but since I didn't have my college dorm as my residence of record (not for taxes or voter registration), I don't think that matters.
So with the Not A Pervy Criminal thing sorted, I got started on footie protection for the horse. Normal horses get shoes. I ... Bird objects to shoes. He is not a fan. I also don't ride him on hard surfaces enough for shoes MOST OF THE TIME. For my special snowflake horse and the sort of riding I do, removable footie protection is probably the better option.
For years, this has been a product I refer to as Not-So-Easy Boots. (They're called Easyboots. This is... not an accurate description of them.) Some years past, at the Cowboy Church ride down in White Sulphur Springs (I am nonreligious but you are allowed to attend as a nonbeliever provided you sit politely through the relatively minimal church service which comes with a free chicken barbeque luncheon), the mom of a 4H'er from back in the day (said 4H'er now married with two kids) was "Hey, the easyboots are a pain in the ass. You should try the Fury Hearts (same company, different removable footie protection product). They're a hell of a lot easier to get on and off."
So this year (what with the wrist still not quite up to snuff following the Wrist Incident of 2022), I ponied up (see what I did there) for some Fury Hearts, which, despite their twee name, do appear to be easier to put on and off than the NSEboots. I can still play NSEboots as a backup but they are not easy for me to get on and off my horse since my hand strength took a hit with the wrist issue.
For any sort of removable footie protection, there is an adjustment and learning curve during which you are learning what you need to do/adjust/modify to get the boots to work on your horse's feet. (Sometimes you cannot get the boots to work because your horse has wrongly shaped feet that do not fit with the boot. This is the way of the world. It can happen that your horse's feet just don't work with the brand or style of boot you're trying and there is no way to tell that except by buying the boots and failing repeatedly with them until you just give up.) But, most boots have some degree of adjustment or modification that can allow them to function their best with your horse's feet.
You have to try them on, adjust them, ride as you mean to go on in them, adjust fit some more, watch some youtubes, etc. There's a whole learning curve that starts with "buy the right size" and goes on to "adjustments for better fit" and then to "adjustments that void the warranty" and so forth. Meanwhile you are observing the boots, how they stay on your horse, how your horse travels in them, how they may or may not interact with the hoof/fetlock/whatever where the boot and horse touch each other, etc.
I am trying out the Fury boots. They are not bad boots. They seem to stay on fairly well. The back boots are fine as is in terms of boot fit on hoof shell, but I'm still tinkering with the height adjustment and I got one boot with shitty rubber strappy bits and I need new rubber strappy bits, which I have ordered. However, I have either a width problem OR a clipping problem with the front boots and I don't know which one it is.
Width problem: Possibly hoof is too wide for boot at back corners. Symptoms: Small crack up center of boot, wear marks at corners of back of hoof, not sure hoof is fully and comfortably seated on sole of boot (it is difficult to see). If hoof is prevented from fully seating on sole of boot, that could cause outward pressure that might crack center of boot from force of each step down.
Clipping problem: Possibly hinds are striking small trailing edge of front boots, holding it to ground and causing crack in center of front boot. I think I would notice this in terms of tripping or hitch in gait, but since the fitting videos even suggest taking off the trailing edge with nippers or whatever... can't hurt to address that.
Solution to width problem: Shaved off half an inch on each "back corner" of hoof covering (but not sole part) on boot. Boots are a rubbery plastic so you can trim them with hoof nippers or a utility knife or whatever. I think there's still enough hoof covering to keep boot on horse, will try it out tonight.
Solution to clipping problem: Removed small trailing edge of front boots using hoof nippers. It's about 1/4 of an inch of material and I don't think it will matter in the grand scheme of things. Again, will try it out tonight.
It's a trial and error sort of thing, here, and basically you have to look and see what is going on with the fit and stuff and come up with a theory and try out the theory to see if that fixes the issue you are having.
I do not like the learning curve of playing hoof boot games, but once you get the hoof boot fit issues dialed in with a boot that works for your horse, it's generally pretty easy to keep the horse booted and trucking down the road.
I've done this event before (2007, 2009, 2011, 2017) and ridden sweep (to clean up the trail markings after the kids have gone through) in 2008 and 2022 and when Bird was 4, so... 2015 or so? Last year, Bethany (she runs and organizes the thing) wanted to have more adult riders on the trail. Adult riders on the trail help kids do better at pacing and following the trail and not being lost (it is very well-marked, but... kids) and stuff. So, this year I signed up as an adult rider. You have to have a sponsoring kidlet, which I have one of (I could not pick this child out of a police lineup, but you do not have to KNOW your sponsoring kidlet, there just has to be one and the club I rode with when I was a kid has a spare kid, so...).
Since it's a 4H thing and since the last time I had all the clearances was more than five years ago, I have to re-do all of that stuff. No, I've never been arrested. No, I have absolutely no history of child abuse complaints or involvement. Yes, I will complete the online child abuse training as per requirement. *sigh*
I understand the desire and obligation to do whatever is necessary to keep children safe especially when they are under the care of people who are not their parents, but also I understand that there are two sorts of people who come up clean on a background check:
People who are not criminals
AND ALSO
People who are good at being criminals
I do know that it is not helpful to point this out during one's background checks and so I did not.
Also, 4H is under the auspices of Penn State and the whole Sandusky thing is a very sore point on that front so yeah, they're gonna make every effort even though about half of the every effort is BEING SEEN TO BE MAKING THE EFFORT. Fucking Potemkin Villages everywhere.
I did get three adults to be character references for me. My references have collectively known me for a lotta years. I have... G, whom I met at 11, N, who's known me for the same timeframe, and riding instructor A for the last eight years. So... 42 2x plus 8 is... 92 years.
The other checks will come back clear. I had to list all addresses since 1975 and all the people I lived with during that time. I did not include my college dorms or my college roommates but since I didn't have my college dorm as my residence of record (not for taxes or voter registration), I don't think that matters.
So with the Not A Pervy Criminal thing sorted, I got started on footie protection for the horse. Normal horses get shoes. I ... Bird objects to shoes. He is not a fan. I also don't ride him on hard surfaces enough for shoes MOST OF THE TIME. For my special snowflake horse and the sort of riding I do, removable footie protection is probably the better option.
For years, this has been a product I refer to as Not-So-Easy Boots. (They're called Easyboots. This is... not an accurate description of them.) Some years past, at the Cowboy Church ride down in White Sulphur Springs (I am nonreligious but you are allowed to attend as a nonbeliever provided you sit politely through the relatively minimal church service which comes with a free chicken barbeque luncheon), the mom of a 4H'er from back in the day (said 4H'er now married with two kids) was "Hey, the easyboots are a pain in the ass. You should try the Fury Hearts (same company, different removable footie protection product). They're a hell of a lot easier to get on and off."
So this year (what with the wrist still not quite up to snuff following the Wrist Incident of 2022), I ponied up (see what I did there) for some Fury Hearts, which, despite their twee name, do appear to be easier to put on and off than the NSEboots. I can still play NSEboots as a backup but they are not easy for me to get on and off my horse since my hand strength took a hit with the wrist issue.
For any sort of removable footie protection, there is an adjustment and learning curve during which you are learning what you need to do/adjust/modify to get the boots to work on your horse's feet. (Sometimes you cannot get the boots to work because your horse has wrongly shaped feet that do not fit with the boot. This is the way of the world. It can happen that your horse's feet just don't work with the brand or style of boot you're trying and there is no way to tell that except by buying the boots and failing repeatedly with them until you just give up.) But, most boots have some degree of adjustment or modification that can allow them to function their best with your horse's feet.
You have to try them on, adjust them, ride as you mean to go on in them, adjust fit some more, watch some youtubes, etc. There's a whole learning curve that starts with "buy the right size" and goes on to "adjustments for better fit" and then to "adjustments that void the warranty" and so forth. Meanwhile you are observing the boots, how they stay on your horse, how your horse travels in them, how they may or may not interact with the hoof/fetlock/whatever where the boot and horse touch each other, etc.
I am trying out the Fury boots. They are not bad boots. They seem to stay on fairly well. The back boots are fine as is in terms of boot fit on hoof shell, but I'm still tinkering with the height adjustment and I got one boot with shitty rubber strappy bits and I need new rubber strappy bits, which I have ordered. However, I have either a width problem OR a clipping problem with the front boots and I don't know which one it is.
Width problem: Possibly hoof is too wide for boot at back corners. Symptoms: Small crack up center of boot, wear marks at corners of back of hoof, not sure hoof is fully and comfortably seated on sole of boot (it is difficult to see). If hoof is prevented from fully seating on sole of boot, that could cause outward pressure that might crack center of boot from force of each step down.
Clipping problem: Possibly hinds are striking small trailing edge of front boots, holding it to ground and causing crack in center of front boot. I think I would notice this in terms of tripping or hitch in gait, but since the fitting videos even suggest taking off the trailing edge with nippers or whatever... can't hurt to address that.
Solution to width problem: Shaved off half an inch on each "back corner" of hoof covering (but not sole part) on boot. Boots are a rubbery plastic so you can trim them with hoof nippers or a utility knife or whatever. I think there's still enough hoof covering to keep boot on horse, will try it out tonight.
Solution to clipping problem: Removed small trailing edge of front boots using hoof nippers. It's about 1/4 of an inch of material and I don't think it will matter in the grand scheme of things. Again, will try it out tonight.
It's a trial and error sort of thing, here, and basically you have to look and see what is going on with the fit and stuff and come up with a theory and try out the theory to see if that fixes the issue you are having.
I do not like the learning curve of playing hoof boot games, but once you get the hoof boot fit issues dialed in with a boot that works for your horse, it's generally pretty easy to keep the horse booted and trucking down the road.
