Lessons in Glueing #3
| May 26, 2010 | Posted by Melinda under Uncategorized |
After announcing in an off-hand comment that I got my motorcycle license on my blog, I got a stern lecture from a sister.
“What is acceptable to announce on the blog, without a personal phone call to her and parents“
- Announcing I have acquired a motorcycle license is OK, and even a bit entertaining.
- What is NOT appropriate to announce on the blog without prior notification: Marriage, loss of a limb, moving to Europe, etc.
I’m was not convinced. I counter-offered with “how about a mass e-mail?”, “Only if it comes with pictures”, she replied.
So any whoo…onto the actual glueing process. Lessons learned.
I glued yesterday because it was suppose to be clear most of the day on Tuesday, and rain on Wednesday (today). Can anyone guess what happened? It rained Tuesday evening, while I glued, and is a perfectly clear day today. Mmmmm…..I will refrain from making jokes about weather forecasting here.
It was about 50 degrees. I had exactly 20 seconds from the time I squeezed the glue into a mixing tip, to the point where I could no longer get the glue out of the mixing tip. As a result, I did NOT get as much glue in the boot as was probably appropriate.
If these boots come off, it’s definitely a user error, not a product failure.
For those of you that need step by step instructions, this should help you visualize…
Step one: Dig through your throw away clothes pile and select a pair of jeans, a shirt, and a pair of shoes that are no longer appropriate for public display. Decide, on second thought, that the jeans are so inappropriate that bending over your horse’s feet in them may just cause passerbys to run into trees/fences/buildings and tie a sweatshirt around your waist.
Step two: Assemble your toys. Admire your layout. It will never be this organized again.
Step three: Prepare a trash can. A big one. A HUGE one to collect gloves, papertowels, and mixing tips. Should also be big enough to hold your sanity when you decide to throw it away and actually glue on boots.
Next step: prepare horse by crawling around on all fours while cussing. If she just stands there, you are ready. Extra bonus points if she gives a big sigh.
Next step: Prep hoof and boot. This is the easy part. Smile.
Next step: Put glue in the boot. Try and wipe it off the sole and realize that it’s already setting. Put it on hoof. Realize you don’t have enough glue. Try to take boot off. Get half way and realize NO WAY. Pause and think. Try to squirt some in sidewall – realize you need a new mixing tip. Balance hoof on top of head while you reach for the gun which is on the other side of the horse. Overextend your knee you just spent $800 in physical therapy on. Squirt glue on sides of hoof. Realize that you got some under the heel. Pull boot off enough you can frantically try and scrape that clump of glue off and then stick the boot back on. Flick that clump of glue up your horse’s nose and then yell at her for moving. Wonder if you got glue underneath the edge of the hoof, where it will bruise. Realize that while you were in contemplation you glued your hands to the boot, having lost both gloves earlier in the process. Rip away the top layer of skin and leave it on the boot.
Next step: Repeat 3 more times
Next step: go back with a new mixing tip and try to fill in any heel gaps on all installed boots. Realize you should have just left well enough alone because now you are worried you have too much glue around the back.
Next step: go home and pour yourself a drink. What’s done is done. Hope that it’s “good enough” and be grateful you got to practice before Tevis.
So I *think* her boots are good. I’m *pretty* sure they will stay on, and I’m *fairly* confident I didn’t get the glue in an area that will bruise. How’s that for confidence?! I’m so glad I tried this before Tevis, and if it doesn’t work, I know what to do better for next time (and I have my strap ones). If I REALLY screwed up and she ends up with bruises, then I still have Virgina city to go for, so I’m not stressing.
I wonder what my trainer is going to think of her pretty boots today in the lesson? 🙂
I’m thinking of trying Goober Glue which is tackier, can make a pad for the sole out of it…so if a little squishes under there, not so bad I can pretend it was hoof padding. Not this week….but soon. ~E.G.
Yep, sounds about like my experience with so-called easy foam. I never tried it again.
Wish I’d ‘a been there…
what color did you get??
The whole process wasn’t actually that bad. It definatly favored the prepared person who could work quickly. It did get better as I went along and I knew what to expect.
We wore them through her dressage lesson last night and she moved incredibly and I got the best canter I have to date. There’s definately a learning curve, but so far, I’m happy with the boots, and they can’t be TOO hard if a beginner like me ends up having some sucess with them. Next time should go smoother 🙂
COLORS! All my 2’s are red, my 1’s are yellow, and my 0’s are bronze. So right now she has one red and one yellow on the front, and one bronze and one yellow on the hinds! They are so cute 🙂
EG – this is hearsay as usual, but I have heard that goober glue doesn’t hold up under tough rocky conditions as well as adhere which is why I went with adhere. One thing I really like about the renegades is that they are open at the back. You can really see what you are doing and where the glue is going.
I used beige glue and it really shows up well against my colored boots.
The other nice thing about renegades is I just cut off the backs to the right length after gluing! So as long as the width fit, I don’t have to worry about length.
I thorougly enjoyed this post and now I must go do something about the belly ache you left me with.