Advice please (shoeing)

[Waxwing]

Our new horse is continuing to do well; my daughter had her first go at jumping her in a lesson yesterday. just over a single fence but this was achieved without any dramas. We had been told that she was green in terms of jumping and might be an odd excited buck but she pootled over a single fence without any dramas, in trot and then canter.

The only issue we have identified so far is with shoeing. We were told when we bought her that she needed holding and reassuring when shod as she didn't like the smoke. I shared this with the yard and farrier. She is absolutely fine with having her feet picked up and cleaned out; far better than our previous horse who wasn't averse to attempting to bite when you picked her front feet out.

The farrier came yesterday and was able to shoe her but her she was very snatchy with her feet and attempted to barge past the person holding her on a couple of occasions. The farrier understandably wasn't best pleased. She apparently settled a little and her back feet were cold rather than hot shod.

As I hope she will be a horse we will own for a number of years; we have done more in the past week than we managed in months with our previous two attempts at horse ownership, I would like to find a way to improve her behaviour with the farrier.

Any ideas or advice would be very welcome. I am not anticipating any quick fixes.

Many thanks

 

[Nasicus]

At what points was she snatchy and bargy? Is it at points you could recreate and practice sans farrier?
Or is it just in general with having her feet picked up and held? In which case it's probably just going to be a practice practice practice situation.

 

[Red-1]

It all sounds very positive if the only issue is one already told to you by the previous owner.

I would make it a daily practice, to stand in different areas of the yard and be held while her feet are handled. I would bang the shoes with a hammer, stretch them back and forward and also slightly sideways, as farriers tend to do that. I would hold the leg fast between yours, as some feel claustrophobic with that. Observe to see if one particular thing may be uncomfortable.

I would also have men come and handle her, if you can.

I would use a bridle to hold her.

I would be there next time to observe yourself.

As an aside, I had one that was smoke averse. I made smoke as a practice! I bought a smudging set to make a controlled amount of smelly smoke on the grooming parlour. I have also stabled next to horses while they are shod, so the horse can have a good look and see that the other horse remains unperturbed.

 

[PurBee]

Retrain the brain of the horse to associate farrier with nice things. Maybe in the horse’s past she experienced a farrier that wasn’t so nice, so it can set them up to be tense for further footwork.

For retraining, a common thing used now is to have 1 person holding the horse with a small handheld ‘lickit’ tub that they let the horse lick while the farrier is actively working on the foot. The lickit is removed when the farrier finishes that foot and places the foot on the ground. The lickit re-given when the farrier lifts the next foot.

This method, helps the horse a) be distracted with something tasty while foot is being worked , and b) will start to associate in her brain farrier-work on her feet with ‘nice things’.
This will help ‘over-write’ any previous memories/conditioned attitude she has of farriery previously. A few sessions with the lickit tub and handler will likely be required, rather than just a quick-fix 1 session re-training.

Personally, if it were my pony, and she has good quality foot conformation, and you didnt need her shod for competition rules, i’d try her barefoot. She’d still need trimming/balancing farrier work, and likely the lickit retraining method to get her more happy with her feet being worked on.

I havent used these lickits, but have seen many videos of them used - they come in all flavours, so try a few to see which one she favours more than the others, and use that flavour for the farrier re-training sessions. I’ve seen a few videos where the lickit has worked well with having really quite dangerous horses be calm for farrier-work.
I dont always think food is good for some training methods, but it really does depend on individual cases. All animals love food treats so its a great method to work with a difficult animal or one that has had previous bad experiences, that we need to correct.

Good luck with your pony, and congrats on the jumping success!

 

[tatty_v]

I use a horse lick as described by @PurBee when clipping the bits of my boy he’d prefer I didn’t do as they’re ticklish! Not quite the same as your issue but I would say definitely worth a try. The action of licking seems to calm him, and unlike a pocketful of treats, the lick lasts much longer (he’s barely made a dent in the one I’ve got).

 

[blitznbobs]

Buy a bee smoker and get her used to smoke a bit

 

[SEL]

My old Ardennes hated smoke (hurt himself trying to run through a breeze block wall when I first had him and a farrier came to hot shoe without me knowing).

Likits are your first friend. Or buckets of pony nuts - basically anything that is high reward.

Your second friend is a patient farrier who doesn't get cross and gives them breaks.

My big mare wasn't scared of the farrier but she came to me needing sedation for even a trim otherwise she'd kick - with impressive accuracy. She now relates the farrier to her likit time and we have no bother. It does help that this particular farrier is calm, quiet and doesn't faff about.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Alot of them don't like the smoke I just use treats and or a lick it put a bridle on if she is likely to barge, sometimes constantly patting the neck while they burn the shoe on can act as a bit of a distraction it does work on some horses.

 

[sportsmansB]

Cold shoeing is also fine if your farrier is happy to do it and she is much happier that way

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

Another vote for a Horselyx or other high value reward. I use it for mine when he has the farrier even though he has never had any problems and isn't shod, it's just a trim. He's a baby and I want him to make a positive link to the farrier.

He also gets to watch other horses being hot shod while standing calmly. This is to get him used to the smells and sounds should he ever need shoes.

 

[eggs]

Most of our horses are barefoot but I always make a point of standing the youngsters near to a horse that is being hot shod in case they will need shoes later in life as I find it is usually the smoke that worries them. Would it be possible to have yours shod last and let her stand near the ones being shod then go for the high value treat option whilst she is being done.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Did she come over from Ireland?

The now retired highly regarded dealer at Stubley Hollow Farm chose her dealing horses from Ireland carefully, but always reckoned on needing to accustom them to both hot shoeing and being mounted standing at a block as part of their preparation for sale in the English market .

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

Can you grab her whenever anyone else is getting shod and start standing further away, lots of treats and encouragement when she shows signs of relaxing and gradually edge closer? This is what I did with my clipper averse mare!

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

My Irish farrier cold shod Beau (imported Irish cob). He was such a pain for the yard’s usual farrier that he refused to shoe him ever again, despite endless polos. He stood like a statue for cold shoeing then later in life, he was an angel for hot shoeing. I think he just got used to it. Persistence and treats helped, he used to cow kick if I touched his hinds.