Buttercup's Nov. 16, 2010, trim

I didn't go to the beach Sunday, so that meant I could go out to see Buttercup and take pics of her new duds. 

Traveling an hour to go see her has gotten a lot easier now that I have a brand-new car that gets great gas mileage! Readers should be happy to know that Buttercup's visitations are taxing the environment less. 

To start, I'd like to talk about the above picture of Bud. It seems that as her hooves improve each time, I can see more and more of her "old" personality back. There used to be a time when she was curious but slightly bratty and always game. As her hooves deteriorated over time (I think this deterioration started back in 2007), that personality turned into bitchy and aloof. Since she was aging and maturing, it was hard to realize this was a sign of an unhappy, uncomfortable horse. I'm happy to have the old Bud back. Sure she's still bratty, but I love her anyway. 

Also related to that very cute photo of Bud, I went to a Claudia Garner hoof care clinic not too long ago, and one of the things Mrs. Garner spoke of during the clinic was removing stress from the recovering horse. I think bringing Buttercup to Lisa's has done just that. Here, in a two-horse herd, Buttercup doesn't have to constantly fret about what position she is or who's the boss of whom. She can relax. And I think that's made a world of difference in her hooves. (Check out that link to Claudia Garner; she's got some great information and does photo consultations!) 

Scott seemed excited after this trim, and after seeing it I can see why. Yes, Bud has a long way to go yet in her recovery, but she's starting to show steady improvement. Her separation is very close to growing out and I'm hoping by Dec. 18 trim she will get rid of the last of it.

And here you can see the new epoxy solution in the crack. I assume it extended all the way down the crack to the toe, but must have lost the bit at the toe since it was applied.

Looking at the front shots of both hooves, it is easy for me to get dismayed. They show a lot of imbalance in the hoof. On Dec. 18, I plan to ask what the course of action will be with that because I don't know why it is taking so long to get that portion balanced when everything else is looking so positive. It appears that she is always loading the inside of her hoof and the outside of the hoof is just going more to the outside. It isn't pretty, that's for sure. 

I'm very happy about the frogs and heels. I swear, Bud's hooves have increased by about 20% in size due to the expansion of her hoof. They feel and look substantial in person. 

I'm very excited to get my own hands on them so I can get a better understanding of Scott's vision during the Dec. 18 trim and trim lesson! Hopefully this will give me much better insight  into her hooves.

Even though I've been diligent in asking questions, I think getting the hands-on experience will be extremely informative.