102. Happy hooves

As Sandy says, in the psycho-killer singsong of Jack Nicholson in The Shining, “He’s ba-a-a-ack!”  It’s her response to Gus’s recovery from the ouchy white-line disease in his feet.  She and I both notice he’s more obstreperous and obnoxious lately, a sure sign of his feeling in fine fettle.  Rather than stump along lamely as we lead him between paddock and stall, he now throws in the occasional neck-craning or foot-planting in an effort to control the direction of travel or simply to resist forward progress altogether.  

Flashing feet . . .

When Sandy sees us practicing the baby-carriage trick in the arena, she asks me to trot Gus a bit so we can assess his comfort level.  I pick up a dressage whip to send him along, but he pulls his refusenik antics until I smack the ground behind his heels.  Then he trots off, and keeps going voluntarily in a big circle.  Most of his steps look smooth and correct, with just a few strides that look very slightly gimpy.  As Sandy and I start comparing notes and I drop my whip arm, Gus immediately perceives our switch of mental focus, so he veers off and pops his front feet onto the pedestal with a sprightly clip-clop.  Of course, for that, he earns a click and a treat and laudatory huzzahs.

We’ve seen his soreness improve and then worsen before, and this time we’re taking no chances.  We agree on at least another two foot-soakings, just to make sure the fungal/bacterial invaders inside his hooves are well and truly destroyed.  I mix up another cocktail of bleachy White Lightning and distilled vinegar, and Gus is so inured to the treatment by now that when I approach with a Ziploc bag, he starts lifting his feet without being asked.  I pour in a few tablespoons of the noxious solution, tie the bags around his ankles with baling twine, and play a Scrabble game on my smartphone while he soaks.

Compared to keeping his feet in tubs of warm water, this is a (mildly smelly) walk in the park.  Still, I’ll be glad to finished with it.  And even gladder to cope with the behavioral fallout of happy hoof health.