Posted by Rick Burten on November 07, 2003 at 08:00:58:
In Reply to: Re: Horse Training for Farrier posted by Phil Armitage on November 06, 2003 at 21:34:04:
: : I own a 1995 gelding who used to be an absolute angel for the farrier. We could hold him anywhere and the farrier did not have any problems with him. That was two years ago, after we bought him. He was doing great for about 3/4-1 full years, although the farrier did not like him at all. The farrier kick his heels to get him to lift his feet instead of just picking the foot up. The gelding began to move, as a result. After about 1.25 years, until this past May, we used this same farrier, until this gelding lost a shoe, twisting it and having it stuck to his hoof. We pulled the shoe and since that farrier could not come out to reset it, we got a different farrier. We were able to trim him, but not get the shoe back on. We found out that he had severe bruising. The next time, he was worse to trim, and as soon as we got near him with a shoe, he reared and backed down the aisle. The next time it was worse, and he reared half-way while trimming. Now he is fully-rearing after a single hoof is trimmed.
: : We work with this gelding daily. He gets his feet lifted, picked, stretched forward, and held between our legs. We can do this while he is eating or while he is standing in our aisle, but our new farrier (a Natural Balance graduate) cannot. Any tips on how to get this gelding how he once was?
: Maybe he has something going on in his feet like laminitis, abcess, bruises or some other lameness and there is paine when tapping on them with a hammer. He might be OK with you picking up his feet because he knows your not going to tap on them, horses know the difference between the farrier, vet stranger and trusted owner. Try tapping on them with a hammer and see how he responds to it, if he responds then I would get a vet out to find out what is going on. If he is Ok with you tapping on them then your Farrier has to figure out what he/she is doing wrong. The farrier or a vet can also check for lameness by watching him move or checking the feet with hoof testers.
: Phil
If, in addition to what Phil has suggested, the horse now has a "learned behavior" , then it may be necessary to administer chemical restraint so that the horse can learn that he has nothing to fear. Now, of all the various forms of chemical restraint, only one, Dormosedan, will allow the horse to stand quietly and still be aware of what is going on. This allows him to un-learn the bad behavior and re-learn that he has nothing to fear. It may take several sessions to accomplish this.
Additionally, your farrier will need to assess his position when under the horse. Some times, and for various reasons, the position the farrier is in, is comfortable for the farrier, but quite uncomfortable for the horse. Especially if the horse is a heavy muscled, tight, kind of horse.
Rick