Renegades

I have had another look at my Renegade hoof boots. After more measuring (I painted the underside of his hoof with hoof oil and stood it on paper) I realised that the length and width were still fine for Ben, but that the heel captivator was too close to the boot and therefore was too tight on Ben. A look at the Renegade website showed that the cable attaching the captivator could be tightened so I reasoned that it could also possibly be loosened. It could. (My husband obligingly did this rather fiddly job for me.)

Success and Ben proved so today on our ride with Sandra. It was a bright but cold day with a strong wind blowing. As we trotted up a long hill into the wind, I stood out of the saddle and Ben took this as a signal to canter. He came back to trot on my weight aid but felt fresh and energetic and generally raring to go. At one stage, in walk, he spontaneously went into self carriage, rounding his back and feeling quite wonderful. He came out of it and I asked for it again and he duly obliged with a few more steps. He felt proud and joyful.

We dismounted and walked back beside Ben and Cassie for the last twenty minutes or so. Ben’s eye was shining and soft and as I met his eye, he turned his head to me and licked my helmet.

There was quite a funny Ben-incident at one stage. We stopped at a waist high grass bank to allow Ben and Cassie nibble the grass at the side. As I chatted to Sandra I felt a jerk and realised that Ben and I were now on top of the bank. The grass was far greener up there obviously.

I like the Renegades very much. They are easy to put on and take off, easy to clean and there is nowhere that I can see for them to rub; cool colours too.