The three-in-one equine hoof tool is a unique all-inclusive hoof grooming tool combining a hoof pick, hoof brush, tough-debris scraper and an ergonomic handle all within a whimsical equine-shaped body. For example, said redundancy may be given by no-operation instructions represented by a number of dummy sequences of a given length into an encoded data stream to be compressed, each dummy sequence being composed of a number of identical binary or hexadecimal fill-in values. The plasma grid assembly may include one or more plasma grids having slots of a particular aspect ratio, which allow certain species to pass through from the upper sub-chamber to the lower sub-chamber. The mechanical and other properties of the porous, silica-based material are improved via exposure to the ionizing radiation source.