Barefoot and Loving It(?)

Yesterday after taking Lilly into the ring, Bill (and Ruby) and I headed down the (soft, muddy) road which I thought would be OK for her newly naked feet. But she was walking so gingerly and tripping so much that my gut feeling was her feet are too delicate for any riding without shoes. It pained me to even be riding her, thinking she might be suffering. She kept walking off to the side of the road to be able to place her feet in the snow. Bill and Ruby got so far ahead of us, I couldn't even see them! I admit, I'm very wimpy when it comes to an animal in pain. Lilly might know this. On the way home she didn't seem to mind the ground under her feet as much! Still, I don''t think she was faking.

I've decided not to re-shoe Lilly. I really want to have her try the barefoot trim. Again. I'm thinking I didn't give it a chance before. The trim Bill gave her on Friday was the "barefoot trim." He is going to check her feet every two or three weeks, watching them carefully and trimming as needed. Then in a few months we'll re-evaluate. I know toughening her feet will take some time.
So today, just in case her feet are still ouchie, before heading down the road, I put boots on her.

Here she is all ready to go.

The difference between yesterday without the boots and today with the boots was remarkable. As long as Lilly is barefoot, she'll probably be wearing these boots on the trail. In the meantime, I'm trying to read more about hooves and soles to see if I can glean any info about what exactly makes her feet so dainty. Like I said a few posts ago, this brumby's feet are complicated. However, she was stepping out so nicely with these boots on that she was even able to make an enthusiatic lunge toward Henry who annoys her very much.