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[RC] Hoof Armor - Lysane CreeHey everyone, Since there were many people who asked to be kept up-to-date on my attempt at using Hoof Armor, I figured it would be easier on me to send you all one post at the same time. Hope you don't mind. I received the product quite quickly and ordered directly from the company to make sure that I got the new formula of HA that came out a few months ago. They also include a how to DVD which makes everything really clear. Guess the main part is getting everything set up and within reach because once you start, I think its best to follow through to the end on that one foot. I set things up in my mare's stall because she is on shavings (over rubber mats) and the aisles are concrete. I put extra shavings just to be safe. When I trim her, I can do it in her stall and just keep her busy with hay, which she will eat even if she is on three legs. But since
this was something new she was pretty curious and didn't occupy herself with eating. She was a bit surprised with the noise of the heat gun, so I let it run and brought it near her before starting just to show her what it was. Once she got a chance to check it out and sniff it she wasn't as concerned. But anyway, the fact that she wasn't busy eating meant she had more time to think (bad) and tried a couple of times on each front leg to pull her hoof away as she got impatient - more so by the second leg. But I had a good hold of her pastern, so I just growled "no" and hung on :) She gave up fairly quickly. To her credit, there were flies still bugging her despite the fly spray. With everything set up, I followed the instructions very carefully - pick out her hoof really well, then spray with denatured alcohol, scrub with wire brush, spray and scrub again, warm the hoof with heat gun (just while the alcohol dries off),
apply hoof armor (you really don't need alot!), spread well with spatula, and dry with heat gun. The DVD says it takes 1 minute to dry (although some say two) and I didn't really time it, but even one minute can seem long when you are bent over and holding a leg. But still, nothing too painful :) Once it was no longer tacky, I sprinkled her foot with baby powder before putting it down. Just wanted to be extra careful because of the rubber mats under the shavings. I did the two front hooves last night and plan to do the two hinds tonight with a second coat on Friday night. Could have done all four last night but I got home late and had to get to bed at a decent hour. It took about an hour from the time I got there and set everything up nice and neat, reviewed the instructions and did the application. Probably will take less time once I am more familiar with it. I should be able to do a test ride on Friday and see what happens before applying the second
coat. I thought I should mention as well that the hoof does not *have* to be trimmed to apply the hoof armor, but since trimming with take off the hoof armor, you don't really want to apply it and then a day or two later decide your horse needs a trim, kind of defeats the purpose. So I did make sure my mare was trimmed exactly how I wanted because I won't be doing any trimming at least for a week. But there is no need to cut sole or do anything different or drastic. The company promotes a barefoot style trim and they don't pare the sole. What is important is cleaning the hoof well and using the denatured alcohol, so that the HA will have a good surface to cling to. If all seems to go well, I will be using it as my hoof protection for a 25 mile CTR on Sunday. Since I like to be as prepared as possible, I will carry two Easyboots for her front hooves "just in case" I notice there is a problem
with the HA along the way. I really hope it all works out and my money has been well spent LOL But so far, everything seems to be o.k. I'll let you know how things go after the ride. Lysane
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