My horse was a rescue and came to me with issues, one of which was that he'd not had his feet handled. His hooves were terribly overgrown and he wouldn't let me pick up his feet to clean them. He'd obviously not been handled much. If you touched his leg, he'd snap the hoof up, but then quickly slam it down and take a couple steps back to escape the situation. I've done a lot of work with him and pretty quickly he started to let me pick up his hooves without problems. But he's still terrible for the farrier.
The first 2 times he was shod I had to sedate him very heavily. Then we moved to another barn and I stopped. I don't want to drug him every time. My farrier is really patient with my horse, and he's been gradually getting better. But today he was horrible again. He'll pick up a front hoof without problem, but after about 5 seconds he'll want to put it back down and back up. If the farrier tries to hold onto the foot (because he has a nail half way in, or he only has 1 nail in the shoe so far) my horse, seeing that flight is cut off, goes into "fight" mode and rears up to get away. At one point he actually came down with both front legs on top of my poor farrier and sent him sprawling.
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Now of course I wasn't just standing around while all this happened. I'd watch for the telltale tensing of his muscles that indicate he's preparing to pull back. I'd say "no' and try to steady him. When he got aggressive and started rearing, I'd make him move his feet. If he let the farrier pick up the foot and get a nail in, we'd put the hoof down and let him stand quietly. We ended up with a chain over his nose, a twitch (did absolutely nothing) and gave him 3 cc Ace IV. Unfortunately I didn't have anything stronger than Ace on hand, and as usual Ace was worthless.
Now I practice all the time picking up a hoof and holding it for longer periods of time than I would need just to clean the hoof. I'll take the hoof pick and simulate hammering on the foot. I'll stretch his leg forward to simulate putting it up on the farrier's stand. He's gotten very good for me. But the farrier is a stranger he sees only once every 6-7 weeks, and the training is not transferring to him. Who knows what kind of abuse my horse suffered in his past? But he needs shoes. He is perfectly sound, gets regular veterinary care, massages, and chiropractic care. So I don't think it's a physical problem. He's much worse about the front feet than the hind feet, but the hinds are just a quick trim so that's probably why. He doesn't like the hammering, but he was just as bad when we were simply pulling the shoes. So it's not the concussion. My farrier is firm yet gentle with him, and has a reputation for being good with problem horses. Short of drugging my horse senseless every time the farrier comes, what can I do? I have no problem handling his feet myself, but he will not trust my farrier to do so. I know that he's just nervous when one leg is taken out from underneath him, and so he wants to put the foot down and back up in case he needs to flee from the scary stranger.
pets question and answers,www.5d2d.com Other than the farrier, he's pretty friendly with strangers and has great ground manners. He's never disrespectful to me or anyone else. He lets me touch him anywhere on his body (though he sure didn't when I first got him) and stands well for grooming. The only other problem I've had is that he's terrible for the vet to give him shots- he jumps right off the needle. He's tolerably decent for me to give him shots though, but he still jumps a bit. Other than that, he's very calm and trustworthy. He is quite bonded to me. He's quiet for me to ride, but when other people ride him he's nervous and tense the whole time. Even my trainer has a tough time.
How do I get him to behave for the farrier? I can keep working with his feet, but no matter how good he is for me, he's a different horse for the farrier. And yes, he does need shoes. We ride on some rocky trails and though he has decent feet he needs the protection. He's not physically uncomfortable standing on 3 legs as I can hold up a hoof for long periods. And I can't ask the farrier to stop by and work with him daily. What can I do?
