Awareness of the outside world. Raw Story: Moment Trump’s ‘most ambitious project’ began to collapse spotted by conservatives, Kelty, September 19, 2026. I was only able to read the beginning of the cited NYT article. What I find interesting is that an article about presidential decline was written by conservatives.
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Barefoot experiment is over. [Going Bare]
We have contacted the blacksmith to come out & put shoes on.
We thought it was going well.
First shoe. Right front pulled off by horse. Foot seemed fine. Horse seemed fine. Let’s give this a try.
Two weeks go by. All good.
Second shoe. Left front sprung. Removed by humans. For the non-horsey among us, sprung means that the shoe is still on, but one of the ends is bent away from the hoof.
At first, he seemed pleased to have the other shoe removed. Almost as if he did not like walking with one shoe on and one shoe off.
Left foot never adapted as well to being barefoot. Okay, but not great the way the right foot had been. The first foot was reason we thought this might work.
Abscess/bruise on right foot, the one that was doing well. Bring out the abscess supplies. [Hoof Treatment]
At first, he seemed relieved, but then nothing improved. There was clearly a specific sore spot on the hoof but an abscess never resolved. A lingering bruise? Who knows.
Maybe filler was uncomfortable without a shoe? We tried the diaper and Epsom Salts alone. Still weird. Back to soaking?
We even tried soaking both feet. He appreciated the foot soak but no change.
No obvious crisis point but neither was he embracing the back-to-nature lifestyle.
This was not working.
Cue booties. Cue blacksmith.
Overall, it was odd.
We were watching him carefully.
No lame steps. Willing to trot, even hop about if called for.
Most importantly, Rodney gets spooky when he’s in pain. It’s not a subtle thing. It’s often obvious as soon as you put on the halter, even if you don’t know anything is wrong yet.
He never did any of that. Not a whisper.
As best we can figure, he was fine standing still. As soon as he moved, his feet felt weird, or uncomfortable, or awkward. He’s a big horse with the feet of a normal-sized horse. Apparently they need support. Or perhaps he likes the padding he gets from the booties. Either way, he wants something on his feet.
Onwards!
Katherine
Virtual Brush Box 
Bless his heart.
Mom