Hoofin' It? Not Quite

It has been almost a week since Bill built the bionic hoof for Lilly. She is still not quite better. She's well enough to chase horses in the pasture who are lower in the pecking order away from the food she wants to eat, but I can still see a teeny gimp when she walks. I thought maybe today she would be sound enough to ride at a walk, but after watching her, I decided against it.


It has been really hot and dry here. We have really needed some rain. Friday after work I drove over to see Lilly. At the exact time I arrived, there was a deluge! Suddenly, water was everywhere. Here is Lilly checking out a mini-river that formed along the side of the road. Here you can also see the special wrap Bill put on Lilly's hoof (right) to help the synthetic hoof stay on her foot. It provides the fake hoof a little support. I forget what it is made of, but it feels very solid. Not like cement, but very strong.

In the barn I noticed that someone had bitten my poor brumby!! Immediately I blamed Ruby because I always blame Ruby when I see Lilly has been bitten. Ruby is so bossy! Bill says he sees Lilly doing the same to Yogi but I pretend I do not believe him. I joke, My poooor brumby! Am I the only one who loves and cares for this sweet and innocent flower?

In any case, I cleaned it with some Calendula Wound Cleanser, and then gave it a nice coating of SWAT. When I arrived today there were so many flies on this little wound. Ugh! The bugs are so terrible this year. Last year was wet and rainy and cool, but the good thing about it was the bug population seemed very low. (Not that I am complaining about the heat and sun. I really like it.)

Today as I returned Lilly to her pasture, I watched her walk off to join the other horses. I won't see her for two weeks because we are going to the beach. So I might not be able to blog for a while. This will give Lilly some good pasture recuperation time. Bill calls this kind of time "Dr.Grass." So she'll be hanging out with Dr. Grass for a while. My worry is that the big chunk of hoof that is missing will have to grow out substantially before she's truly sound. I seriously hope this is not how it works out. I can't imagine not riding my brumby for months!! Bill has other horses I can ride of course, but I really only want to ride Lilly. I'm such a big baby. Ultimately however, I just want Lilly to get better and I will do whatever that takes.

Meanwhile, in other space and time, Brandon and I have been taking Gettysburg to an Agility class. Each Wednesday night we go and for an hour try to lure her through obstacles that frighten her.

She really hates this teeter. She hates that it teeters. So we have to lure her onto it with Pupperonis...which smell terrible and cannot be healthy.

This was one of her favorites. Until she jumped through it and the whole contraption actually fell over. Then she hated it. So we had to start from scatch with that one. One of the things Getty loved about Agility class was that Henry was one of her co-pupils. Both Henry and Getty had a hard time focusing on the obstacles because all they wanted to do was play with each other. Next time Henry and Getty will have to be in separate classes!

If I can figure out how to blog using my camera on my iPad, I will blog while on vacation. But if not, I will be blogging again in TWO WEEKS! I am excited to have you see the changes I have planned for my blog. Wait until you see it!! It is going to be great! (Thank you, Madeline Miller, for helping me spice things up!)

Farewell, fine blog-readers! See you soon!