Wednesday, February 11, 2015

WELCOME TO HELL

never been so excited to be here
At the recommendation of my farrier, we pulled Courage's shoes for a cycle this winter. There are lots of advantages to doing that--letting the nail holes grow out and the hoof wall get stronger and the heels expand out and yadda yadda yadda.

What it came down to is that Courage has been on and off for six weeks because his poor tender OTTB feet were not so happy about the frozen ground in winter. Oh, and then it thawed and he started soaking them 24/7 in his muddy run. Guess how that went???





it helps a little when they sparkle
Exactly like you'd think. Someone doesn't have a run anymore.

Anyways. Farrier comes back tomorrow to put shoes on (YAY AND HOORAY I CAN'T EVEN WAIT OMG), and I just realized what that means for us:

A one way ticket back to bell boot hell.

Dammit.







fleecy bell boots
Don't get me wrong: as a confirmed tack ho, I have lots of bell boots in many different shapes, styles, and colors. It's a great collection.

It's just that it's a lot less fun when you're under strict instructions to use them at all times.






snowflakes and sparkles
I'm trying to tell myself it won't be all bad, but the truth is I probably can't use pull ons and just leave them alone until the mud dries up (June?) and until then, it's that same stupid drill, over and over and over.

Bell boots to ride.

Bell boots to turn out.

Bell boots to travel.

Bell boots to eat.

Bell boots to pee.

I can't be the only one. Who else has a permanent residence here?

26 comments:

  1. Fiction wears bell boots 24/7. I just toss a pair on and when they fall off (usually 2-3 months) I put on a new pair :) He never has any rubbing/fungus issues with them (thankfully), and they work for all areas of riding, so no biggy!

    Those bling bell boots are very adorable.

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  2. Roz used to wear bell boots 24/7. We did the pull ons and that worked pretty well for us.

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  3. Simon lives in gummy pull ons. We only switch it up to for showing, which then are black Velcro.

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  4. Riva lives in the heavy duty thick rubber pull-on bell boots until they fall off. They are not pretty, but they do the trick!

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  5. Lol @ bell boots to pee!!!

    That seriously made my morning. Ty

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  6. Thankful my horses rarely lose shoes...like once every 4 years! But I always ride in them. My condolences for your future trip to Bb hell

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  7. Mine also lives in bell boots unless, as recently, he decides to pull of four in the span of six days, and I have been a touch too lazy to bust out the pull-ons. I'm not sure how it goes in super muddy areas, but pull-ons do fine in the clay out here in Cali, as long as you are diligent and scrape the mud out from underneath. HOWEVER, I have spoken to multiple people who "gave" their horses scratches by leaving bell boots on overnight/over a week/over whatever. I've never seen it in a TB though, only in WBs with white feet.

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  8. Another 24/7 bell booter here (when Hampton has shoes on). I put a pair of Pro Choice no turn boots on and pretty much leave them on all the time. I will take them off to rinse and clean sometimes when they get too disgusting to handle. But they seem to be doing their job, and so far no fungus problems. Still, annoying. The struggle is real.

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  9. My gelding is in 24/7 bells boots, but I'm not really bothered by it. He lives in fleece lined ones and requires no care. If he's being ridden I replace with no turns and then put the fleece ones back on after the ride. Shasta is also on upside down bell boots 24/7 to prevent bed sores. They just get removed for riding and otherwise require no work at all. We don't wash or care for them and just let them decay until they need replacing.

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  10. Pongo is in them 24/7 too! We do the BOT ones to help with circulation in his hooves and protect his elbows from shoe boils. They've been going strong for months, but BUT we havent been doing regular turnout and what not.

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  11. If O was shod she'd live in them. (Gogo too). Those short-backed, big-strided beasts are hell on shoes. When O is booted, if they are the kinds of boots that just won't come off no matter what the hell you do to them, they'll stay on - otherwise she rips them off. Gogo would regularly slice the back of her front feet with her hind feet - and this was totally barefoot! She always was in bells for turnout or riding.
    I don't know what I would do if O was shod. (Kill myself, probably). I'm going to try the EasyShoe again this summer when she is competing... hopefully with bells and a cutback, I will be able to keep them on for more than 8 miles, which is how long the last set made it before she stepped on them and ripped them off.

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    Replies
    1. Truth: if the easy shoes came in colors, I would be all over them.

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    2. They ought to come in snazzy colors. Alas, black and clear are all we get. Although they do make Easyboots in red and blue.. apparently they wear through faster because of the color or something. Booooo.

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  12. ME! Except Miles can't wear them 24/7 because then his thrush gets even worse. So it's constantly take them on, take them off... find a boot that matches since one disappeared in the mud.

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  13. Yankee lived in them permanently because he was The King at lost shoes and nabbed heels. B does not anymore since he loses them faster than I can purchase and do not feel like going broke on bell boots. So far he hasnt yanked anything but I am TERRIFIED he will nab a heel. Luckily, hes bare behind and I intend to keep him that way for now.

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  14. I use the thick pull on bell boots for my horses who wear shoes. They stay on all the time however when they come in I flip them up to give the hooves a chance to dry.

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  15. I'm totally amazed by all these people who have horses who don't eat their bell boots off their own feet.

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  16. Okay, I have actually never even owned a pair of bell boots and have had horses all my life, but we don't shoe. Thank goodness because I could totally see loonie group eating them off each other!

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  17. I think Ries needs them on all four feet. He is speshul

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  18. Bell boots for every ride, sometimes for turn out, definitely for shipping. But then, I'm paranoid about coronet band and heel bulb injuries. He doesn't live in them, though, because I am also paranoid about scratches developing on his pasterns.

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  19. When I did 24/7 bell boots because we set shoes back for a while, I used pullons 24/7. And I live in WA state. I always ride in bell boots cuz my horse reaches after landing jumps, so it was kinda nice not to have to put them on/off for a while. I just hosed them out when I rode.

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  20. Farrah wear the, 24\7, she doesn't have shoes but catches her heels all the time

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  21. Chloe is starting to live in gummy pull on bell boots 24/7. I have intermittently ridden in bell boots but seeing as how Diva Pony as decided to start pulling off her shoes, I think they will become the norm from now on.

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  22. I was a gum pull-on 24/7 kind of girl. Only came off for the farrier and the dressage test.

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  23. I tried the keeping bell boots on wiz 24/7 but he got bad rubs so I pulled them and ... well, they haven't come off yet so I just left them off. :P

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