Answers...

Well, I'm kind of at a loss about what to write and how to write it as I'm still, on a gut level, processing everything.

For the record, if you own more than one horse, I think you're required to have at LEAST one who is an utter and complete JERKFACE while the other (or others) are angels.  Welcome to my herd dynamics.

Socks.  Saint for the blood draw and vaccinations.

Dakini.  Saint for the blood draw (even as the first vet tech missed the vein and was wriggling the needle around trying to find it, Dakini only moved over 1 step and then she had to get stabbed again by the second person who hit the vein) and for vaccinations.

And then...there's Strider. 

The vet noticed as we brought him over towards the barn and trailer area just how tender he was on the rocks.  So, we couldn't get a good trot out there, so we put him on the grass area and he had his tech trot him out and back.  He said he didn't really see anything.  So, then we tried to lunge him.  Good luck.  Strider was full of beans, piss and vinegar and wouldn't keep to a consistent gait.

So, the vet brought out his hoof testers and checked his legs and said he just wasn't thinking suspensory.  But, after hearing about the 2 rides where we came up lame at, he agreed that perhaps it was percussive.  He suggested X-rays of each front leg, which we did (I will post them once I get them).

And I FINALLY got my answers.

The vet said that for endurance horses, he likes a sole depth of (either) 13 or 14.  Strider was at 7.8 on one foot and at 8.something on the other.  Or, as the vet put it, "He just sheds it faster than he can grow it."

And all of a sudden SO MUCH history snapped into focus.  Why he can appear ouchy when the ground in their pen is dry clumpy-clods.  Why rocks have ALWAYS been the bane of his existance. 

Also, for my own edification, I asked the vet if he thought Strider had ever bowed either of his front tendons.  Sounds insane, but I've heard it from 2 different people that they thought he had bowed.  Which I always thought was nuts, because WHEN would he have done it AND managed to heal without SOMEONE noticing?  Vet said if he had, he healed up cold and tight.  But he honestly felt he'd never bowed.

So, now on to the processing section.

So, YAY, no 6 months of healing a suspensory injury.  No fear about bringing him back sound for LDs and 50s or maybe more.

But, we're talking shoes.  Shoes and pads for rocky rides.  No pads for conditioning and pulling shoes in the off-season.  Add more biotin (it can't hurt) to help with sole growth.  Push the toe back for break-over.  Re-evaluate in 8 months with more x-rays to see if we have more sole growth and maybe go back to barefoot (I will probably wait a year to re-evaluate with x-rays).

Understand, my rational mind UNDERSTANDS and AGREES that we MUST do whatever we possibly can to make him comfortable.

It's my emotional heart and gut that is struggling with this.  I have managed to keep him barefoot for 11 years.  I feel like I've lost the battle with him.  And it's a bitter pill to swallow.  Because I know the pitfalls of shoes.  And I know it can cause troubles. 

And, it now makes my recreational sport hobby even more pricey.  I don't want an "okay" shoer to do my horse.  So, I turned to the other endurance rider at my barn and asked her about her shoer.  She's on a 100 mile horse.  And, she demands and expects the best from people who interact with her horses.  $120 for a set of front onlys.  Pads are an additional $30.  I haven't talked to him yet myself, but she says she believes he'll be comfortable dealing with a gaited horse.

I always feel like I bring an extra "curveball" to this game of endurance.  I'm not just on a horse, but a gaited horse.  Which, really, isn't that big of a deal.  But some people treat gaited horses like they're some kind of oddity.  They're really not.  I mean, conditioning-wise, how I do it is a little different than the Arabian riders.  I'm not as fast as they are.  But that's probably as much my fault as it is anything else (I just can't ride 5 days a week!).

So, while I've had some loving input on fighting against the shoes, and I'm not exactly in a race to get them put on (I think I'll have them set at the beginning of March), just to give myself time to research and look into all the different types, this is probably the road I'm heading down with him.  I'm going to give him whatever supplements I can to help him grow sole.  I'm going to Durasole him while shod and unpadded.  I need to figure out how to keep under the pad free from thrush and fungus. 

It's just an entirely new aspect of horse keeping I've never dealt with, so it's intimidating to me, and kind of scary.

For the next few weeks, we'll just ride in the arena where the footing is about as soft as it can be.  There are SOME rocks in there, and I can potentially even ride him on the soft side of the property where the footing is good and he's gone beautifully for me before.  Right now it's about conditioning him back into shape.  He wasn't as fit as I wanted him to be for River Run.  I own that as my own failure.

But, I've looked at the calendar, and ASSUMING I can get 6 weeks from a pair of shoes, I can set a new set, reset, and depending on wear, either do another reset or a new set and finish off the season and pull them for the summer.  Knowing the rides (now!) like I do (and pulling one from memory), it will be unpadded, padded, unpadded.  I'm going to hit the 6 week mark for the very last ride, BUT, it's at the same location as Armadillo Run, so it's barefoot friendly in the first place, so, if he happens to lose a shoe, I can pull the other, or toss a boot on there and finish it.  I believe.  We'll see.  I may run the LD instead of a 50 as that's Memorial Day weekend, so HOT.  And, it's a 2 day!!!  So, I'm excited and happy.

And then we'll just pull them after the ride and leave him bare naked all summer long with trims.

Honestly, I'm still adjusting on a gut level.  I keep trying to see the positives (my horse will be SOUND once I do this).  And there are LOTS of endurance horses running in steel.  Hell, Tivio (the 100 mile Paso Fino) runs in steel.  So, we'll be in good company there.  And, as my friend at the barn pointed out, look at the success rates of the Decade Teams and how many run in steel. 

But mostly, I simply MUST do what is best for my horse.  Unerringly and unflinchingly I MUST do right for him.

*deep breath*

So, here we go.