Awareness of the outside world. The Artemis II mission prompted me to look up the Europa Clipper, wherein my name is being sent to one of the moons of Jupiter. Launched 14 October 2024. Still going. Arrives in 2030. Mission, NASA: Europa Clipper. Names, NASA: Europa Clipper Vault Plate. [A Pair of Space Haikus]
~~~
Horses shod at 9 weeks, 2 days!
They probably could have lasted 10 weeks, but I have made the executive decision that 9 weeks is as far as I want to push our luck.
I’ve said all of this before. I continue to be astounded at the improvement in the horses’ feet, particularly Rodney’s. He went from being shod every 4, maybe 6, weeks with post-shoeing booties to being shod 9 weeks with no issues.
I thought there was no way to change what we had.
“Life with a thin-soled, flat-footed Thoroughbred.” [Back In Booties, Fixing The Future] 2021
I thought of horse hooves as solid, immutable objects, determined by genetics.
Their feet have changed so much. We credit pine tar, good hay, & walks. I have already yapped on about this. [Setting A Shoeing Record, Again] 9 weeks, December 2024
I will probably yap about it again in the future. That’s decades of experience with horse hooves overturned in the last few years.
Previous Posts
[Yet Another Shoeing Record] 10 weeks, February 2025,
[Shoes That Last] 9 weeks, 3 days, April 2025
In Other News
The words “shoe” and “shod” continue to come out as “show” when I type. “Shod” did just now even though I was paying attention.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
Priney was actually barefoot for some of the time I had her. As she aged she got ouchy, so have to have shoes full time again. I didn’t realize that Nancy put shoes on Chief when she got him. After he apparently had an abscess – he never took an off stride and I never saw anything, the farrier notice a hole – I’d been away for a bit – that’s when Nancy told me she’d had him shod. Chief was barefoot for most of his time with me. His previous owner had used him as a field hunter. Barefoot. Saved me a lot of money.
Wow. I wished I had paid attention to the Message in a Bottle program, having your name in space is exciting! Meanwhile, glad that Rodney and Milton (Rodney at least) have gone 9 weeks without seeing a farrier, and all based on basic health, care, feed, and not $ therapies and meds. Yay! MM.