Kipling aka The Silver Bullet and I completed a very difficult 50 mile ride in Colorado on Friday in 102 degree heat. It was the Mountain Mettle ride Managed by Sue Horne, Linda Browneller and a terrific, friendly bunch of volunteers and Vets. Mammoth task! Great job! Although an avid barefoot person, I was contemplating shoes and pads for this tough ride. However, the Easycare company still continues to assist me so diligently that I went for the glue-ons. Kevin Meyers sent me some boots and John Haeberle here in Laramie helped me apply them. Well actually, he did the work while Yvette Haeberle and I assisted. Hey this is important! It really makes it easier having extra hands. John really has it down and has taught me all the tricks so i will be able to do it next time. I will also enlist a few helping hands.
See here Kip's booted hooves after the grueling 50. He is wearing 1.5's on the front and 1's on the rear. They didn't budge and oh how nice was that! I finished the ride with only 20 minutes to spare even though I kept a pretty good clip the whole way. This was a really hard ride, so the last thing I wanted to worry about was his hoof ware! Several horses were pulled or over time. Kip made it and looked like he could go on. Perfectly sound! I'm thinking they will be ok for Shamrock and then we will reapply for the Big Horn 100.
Here are some of the things i have learned about the glue ons.
:Size the boots first on the hooves
:Have everything ready and someone to hand you things... like surgery John!
:Have something clean and dry to stand the horse on, and make sure he doesn't mind it!
:Clean dry hooves and boots to start with
:Scruff up the hoof wall really well with good serrations.
:Lots of goober on the bottom and don't worry about what oozes out.
:Vettec Adhere on the inside walls of the boot.
:Sort of twist the boot a few times to spread the Vettec some. Do this quickly, as it dries fast!
:Have something close by to put trash into eg used tips
:Hold up an opposing leg for a good 30 secs to set the freshly applied boot.A helper can do this.
:When finished, tie up the horse with some goodies to keep him happy and still for 40 mins-hour to ensue a good set.
These are things off the top of my head that I will no doubt add to.
Thanks Kevin, Garrett and John for your dedication and assistance.
Thank you Kipling for being a good boy for us and knowing we are doing the best thing for your hooves!
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