Help for Hoof

Today Lilly's hoof with its missing chunks got some triage. Using a kit from a company called SBS, you can basically create an instant hoof where there is none. The directions on the box indicate doing such a thing is a walk in the park, and I think if the horse had been sedated, it would have been just that. But of course Lilly was not sedated, and just when we needed her to stand very still, she'd suddenly start wiggling around like a big, furry worm, throw her foot to the ground, and compromise the set of the filler. This happened a few times and then, what can you do? You have to learn from the experience and try something different the next time. The problem is that you have this giant animal who weighs half a ton and who can't undertsand english and who doesn't particularly care to stand on three legs for any length of time, and then you've got this sticky gluey stuff that somehow has to go straight from the tube onto a meticulously clean hoof and then hang there for several minutes while it takes its own sweet time to harden. Theoretically it shouldn't take all afternoon. Theoretically, it can get done in ten minutes. All I can say is, thank god for Bill. Because if anyone can get something done, it's him.

Here's Lilly's beautiful leg and foot. She's on a towel because the hoof had to be very clean before applying the filler. (Keeping the hoof up off the dirt was a challenge in itself.)


And here's Bill finishing up with some sole guard. The sole guard application had its own series of setbacks(!), but all's well that ends well, and as I write this, that wiggley brumby is back out in the pasture with a steadier, stronger hoof to gallop around on.

Here's what she thought of the whole thing. Usually right after she squirmed enough to destine that round's application of crack filler to a ruinous state, she'd calm down and start moving her mouth all over.

Just like this. Silly brumby.