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I started taking pictures after Jim had already started. What he is applying here is the Hoof-it. You can see how the back heel of the horse is taped with duct tape so it won't leak out. He's got the horses foot cleaned out with with wire brush in preparation, and now is about to pour the mixture in.
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It sets up quickly, and becomes goobery, like silicone. Ideally, you duct tape the foot and pour the mixture in under the duct tape and smooth it that way. Read Jim's comments.
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Mixing up more of it. He did some of the horses with Hoof-it and some with Equithane. The Equithane is what we used on Tevis last year. |
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This one is getting done with the duct tape, and the liquid mixture being poured underneath it and smoothed out as it sets up.
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You can sort of see here, how the bottom of the foot has been duct taped.
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This is after he's smoothed it out. In a little while after it has set up, he can pull the tape off. Now the horses are all set to ride over rocky trails and when they are done he can pull the stuff out. |
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I did the XP with Easyboots on the front, and plain 'ol wide web shoes on the hind feet. The Easyboots outlasted the St. Croix's tho.....after the 4th day they had to be replaced (worn down to nothing, almost).....the Easyboots made all 250 miles and are still in good condition :-). I didn't use any other hoof products cuz well....I did enough other new things to Rocky on this ride. Besides, better to let Jim's horses be test subjects, eh? :P
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The boots started the ride new. I did have the toes rounded and ground down on the grinder. I trim the back down almost all the way, cut the heel strap in half and flatten down the metal teeth and cover them with duct tape. Then when the boots are on (one foot gets wrapped with vet wrap)......I wrap the top of the boot with duct tape.
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You can see that the boots are still in pretty good condition.
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