One more while I have power

We are packing up to head over to the ride start.  This has been a good 2 day rest for the horses - they are finally peeing clear and the older mares have put some weight back on.  Pema is looking ribby but I expect she might be until she learns the routine.

Yesterday was occupied with fixing the manger door Scarlet ripped off and getting the easy boots on: both epic tales.  Our neighbor Randy (which is really his name, not Ray as I've been calling him) and Steve drilled out the hinges and took the door off.  I just happened to have replacement hinges and all the tools we needed.  Steve did scour town for counter-sink rivets but no luck.  After only about 3 hours the door was back and I had once again learned not to tie Scarlet anywhere near any door.

For those of you who know what gluing on Easyboots means, here is that tale:

Until this morning, I was a virgin:  I'd never glued on a glue-on glove.  Unless you count using gorrilla glue with regular gloves, which does work quite well.  But here I am in St. Joseph MO getting ready for XP2011 ride, which will take us all the way back to Virginia City NV on as much of the original Pony Express trail as possible.  (NOTE: please do not mention this ride to anyone outside this group as we are trying to fly under the radar.  The US gov types are not as amenable to this sort of thing as they were in the 1800's.)

I have used every kind of Easyboot ever made, but most often over shoes as added protection or during the winter months when I give my horses feet a break.  But I didn't want to rely on any farrier I might find in Nebraska, so I decided last November to go the whole barefoot way.  And of course glue on gloves were the logical choice:  who wants to mess with boots day after day after day.

So I talked with Kevin, with several barefoot trimmers, with my farrier, and I watched all the videos  on the Easycare website, several times.  This morning I watched them again, knowing I needed to dry the hoofs (did I mention the tornado last night?  Storm Watchers was parked in the entrance to our campground!).  I laid out the alcohol, the hairdryer, the rasp, the wire brush, the hoof stand, all the boots, Goober Glue and Vettec Adhere with their own guns.  I rasped and cleaned and fitted and grooved and alcoholed and dried each of the 

8 hoofs I needed to protect. By now I had a crowd watching, and several volunteer helpers.

So we prepped the first four boots with Goober Glue (making a froglike figure in each).  Then, as the crowd held it's collective breath, I donned my gloves, cleaned one hoof again, slapped on a temp glove, fitted the Adhere in the gun, cut the tip, squeezed some out, put on the real tip, squeezed some more out then squirted and spread until the glove was covered and pulled off the temp, put on the real one, and grabbed my gun to do the top line.  Tip had congealed. Okay, grabbed another tip and did the top line, smearing nicely with my gloved finger.  I stood up and we all took a breath.  "See how easy that was?"

The horse was still calm and the ground was still orderly with stuff, so I did the next.  Again, with only a little more glue on my gloves and oh a bit on my leg this time it went well.  By the end of the 4th shoe the ground was a bit messy, and two fingers were glued together, but all in all pretty cool. Most of my audience walked off, impressed if I do say so myself.  Then, with one horse to go and only one helper left, all hell broke loose. 

The Vettec tube was faulty - one flange was gone so the tip didn't seat.  I of course, a bit cocky from my first success, didn't really notice.  Until there was glue all over me, the boot, the ground.  Frantic now I tried to get two boots done with the badly leaking Adhere.  After all I had several full changes to make and only so much Adhere with me so I didn't want to waste any.  But by the time my fingers were glued together and to the gun, and the horse was covered up to fetlock in gunk I was ready to concede that tube's demise.  I ripped off my gloves and prepped another - cutting my leg in the process but the Adere dripped into the cut and that was the same as sealing it with Superglue right?

My last volunteer smiled wanly and drifted off so my husband tried to help but was baffled by the mess and distressed by my appearance (what with all the blood and black glue). And the gun was once again stuck to my hand, and my glove was a mitten.  But by goodness we got the last of them on and sealed and done.  And I actually think they might stay on.

40 minutes in the shower didn't do much for my appearance.  The t shirt and gloves were tossed, but my skin is not as fungible.  And during that long scrub I summed up my lessons:

1.  Do try this at home first.

2.  Keep long pants on no matter the temp and humidity.

3.  Don't try to teach a pig to sing - won't work and will annoy the pig.  Just toss the bad tube and start over.

4.  Trade in the chestnuts for black horses - mistakes won't show as much.

/debbie, humbled.

 p.s.  I do think the chunk of hair I had to cut out will regrow by the time we get home....

Today we have a meeting at 1 to get everyone ready for tomorrow, and dinner at the historic Pattee House (http://www.stjoemo.info/history/pateehouse.cfm). Tomorrow Scarlet and I ride off to the west.