Or should the title be “Gen’s New Shoes cost more than Manolo Blahnik’s which means I will never buy a pair of nice shoes for myself”.
As you all know, I was not looking forward to shoes going onto my barefoot horse. That being said, I think it was totally the right thing to do and I am happy that I did it. I don’t know about cuteness wise, but functionally these shoes are amazing. So as I mentioned back before Christmas Gen had a crack in his feet. I had not realized how bad it was, but as soon as my Farrier saw Gen’s foot from a cell phone picture it was clear that drastic measures needed to be taken. Gen was a little tender on the hard ground, and his feet were a little warm, but he just didn’t seem that bad. The night before he got his new shoes was the worst. Somehow Gen’s slightly warm feet had gotten HOT and even his tendon was feeling the effect. It was so swollen and hot that I wrapped him and worried about leaving him.
The next morning he got his new kicks and suddenly all signs of discomfort went away. My farrier reminded me that while Gen can be pretty tough when it comes to hoof and leg pain he was clearly hurting before the shoes. I had a mini heart attack when my farrier gave me the price of the shoes, but going and seeing Gen after work the day he got the shoes showed me that they were worth every penny. Not only was Gen’s tendon cool and hard again, but his feet were also cool with no signs of warmth. I really had not realized how bad things were until after they were fixed. So what makes these shoes so special?
So let me walk you through the shoes step by step. I, unfortunately, did not get a good picture of Gen’s hoof with the crack in it on my camera and I don’t know how to get a cell phone picture to the internet. I will tell you that the crack was so high and so deep that traditional nail on shoes were not an option. That left glue on shoes. Because of Gen’s tendon we need a shoe with the most give possible, which is aluminum. Add to that the fact that it is winter where I live and that means SNOW Gen also had to get snow pads and little ice picks so he does not slip in the ice. Now the most expensive part of this whole shoeing was the equipacks. What is an equipack you ask? That is a special rubber/plastic/other stuff mixture that you pour into a mold around a horses foot. Why is it so special? Because the giant hole in my horses foot was hurting him, so by filling that hole with a substance that has the ability to grow and give like a foot makes any pain from the crack disappear. A lot of dressage riders use equipacks because they said it helps with their horses movement. I didn’t care as long as my horse moves without pain. Since you want even pressure Gen got them on both front feet.
My horse went from barefoot to top of the line shoes! It is like going from not having a coat at all to getting one made for the antarctic winter!
I hope that Gen’s foot grows FAST! Because I cannot afford these cool new shoes every 6 weeks! Even if he were ridable I still wouldn’t want to pay because I think barefoot is the best thing for most horses. That being said, barefoot was not an option so I am really glad he has his new shoes! They are making my horse comfortable and taking his pain away so they are worth every penny!
A Horse and a Half 