Glove Update

Glove Update - Fergus n' Roo's Boots 31 May 2009
<click on small pics to see big ones>
	Colourful feet, pre-ride - Roo (foreground) and Fergus. (Thanks goodness for coloured PowerStraps so I can keep track of what's what...)
	After the ride - Roo's Boots: Roo's front boots - now on 183 miles (including one 50) and going good. Wearing a little at the toe, but not too bad. I'm very pleased with how these are working out.
	Gaiter damage - a little bit of tearing at the corner of the velcro, but that's all.
	Roo's back boots. After having twisting issues and boots coming off with the 0s, I finally rasped enough toe off him to stuff him into a pair of 00.5s. This worked great - for the first time ever, I was able to go up my local boot-pulling hill with only very minor twisting (which reset itself by the end of the ride). I was very excited and thinking I was on the road to having the perfect boot set up. Then yesterday we rode CA Loop. This photo was taken about a third of the way through and the boots still look good, although he'd definitely bulging out the front and it's very taut (I had put athletic tape under, although I'm not sure it made any difference)
	And this is what the boots looked like by the end, 15 miles later. :( (boots have a total of 28 miles on them). Since Fergus wasn't in great condition, we walked a good deal of the last half of the ride (most of which, as you know, is downhill) and then up Driver's Flat Road at the end. I haven't had problems with this kind of wear before (although I know he drags his toes on downhills) - the larger size 0s he had been wearing on the back have 55 miles on them and haven't worn like this (but they aren't pulled so taut across the toe). I think had we been going faster, they might have faired better - less toe dragging. He was also forging going uphill, and I felt the breakover needed to be a little more aggressive (he does this in shoes on hills and on the flat) and I had been contemplating dremelling more breakover into the boots. Not sure that would work. :( My worry is that the boots wouldn't last long enough to complete Tevis, given the amount of downhill that will have to be walked (Devil's Thumb, Deadwood, Volcano Canyon, CA Loop, etc). My current plan is to glue on (using Goober Glue) the same sized shells as he wore for CA Loop for two days of 50s at Cooley Ranch in two weeks time and see how that works out. Cooley has lots of steep ups and downs, so this will be a good test to see how the boots stay on, and how they wear.
	After the ride - Fergus's Boots: His size 2 boots - have been used on front and rear (and on another horse), now with 170 miles on them. A little wear at the toe, but nothing drastic. Looking good.
	However, he's been hard on the gaiters. I think much of this damage was done before we put the PowerStraps on, when the boots were twisting and coming off and flipping around to the front.
	More gaiter damage.
	...and this is the other boot - slightly less damage and still working. Not sure how much longer the gaiter above will stay together, though.
	Size 3 boots - looking really good. They have 115 miles on them and have been used exclusively on the fronts. No gaiter damage. He's a little loose in them, and would go better in size 2s all around, I suspect. Patrick says he doesn't move as well in the boots (has a big, long, sproingy trot), so I'm thinking maybe I need more aggressive breakover here too. Fergus has never worn shoes.
	Sole wear: Boots front to back: 00.5s - 28 miles (used on backs) 0.5s - 183 miles (used on fronts) 2s - 170 miles (used on fronts and backs) 3s - 115 miles (used on fronts)
	Same boots reversed, front to back: 3s - 115 miles (used on fronts) 2s - 170 miles (used on fronts and backs) 0.5s - 183 miles (used on fronts) 00.5s - 28 miles (used on backs)

Glove Update - Fergus n' Roo's Boots 31 May 2009

Glove Update - Fergus n' Roo's Boots
31 May 2009