Bad experience with farrier!!

Crazycob06

Crazycob06

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Hi, as some of you know I am a first time horse owner. I have had my mare a few months and had the farrier out for the second time yesterday. He was one I found myself and on the first visit I couldn't fault him. He does a fantastic job and he is very honest (telling me she didn't need back shoes and I could go longer between visits).
My mare likes to protest a little at things but gets on with it in the end, he knew this about her the first time and was really calm with her, this time... As soon as she snatched her leg back from him he grabbed a handful of her neck, twisted it and shouted at her! He repeated this a couple of times and my mare got more and more upset and ended up rearing (only as high as she could in the cross ties) and lunging forward, nearly coming down on me. He then decided to try holding her nose in what I think you call a 'twitch' hold! Well that was it for me and I walked up and removed his hand and stated that was enough!
Once he started praising her she was an angel! All my girl needs is a little reassuring and she'll do anything!

Now my question is.... Is this normal for people to treat horses like this? The reason I ask is because everyone I told who has horses did not seem surprised in the slightest! Where as my non horsy friends where horrified!
 
It is not really the farriers place to discipline the horse unless not doing reacting puts them in danger IMO. Im not against them giving a slap to my more unruly lads but ONLY if I know they are just playing up. I would be very unimpressed if my farrier twitched any of mine.
 
That was I thought, my partner wants to try him once more now that he knows we don't except that behaviour seeing as he is so good at his job and like I said honest. I have to admit I have heard there are some ****** farriers out there and I don't want to get one! But I really don't think I can have him back, I dont think my mare will ever stand calmly for him now!
 
Change Farrier, there is no excuse for his behavior. It is one reason why I am always present when my boys are shod so that things would never get out of hand if the farrier was having a bad day & on a short fuse. Having said that , I trust my Farrier but I would still be there for my horses.;)
 
Change farrier straight away - discipline like that will instill real fear in your girl, and you could end up with problems for life (horse at my livery has terrible issues).

Explain to the new farrier what happened, and if necessary, think about using sedation or a twitch until she gets her confidence again. Tbh, i would have twisted the farriers neck if he'd done that to Shy :mad:
 
Our farrier gives her a smack on her belly when she is naughty and that sorts her out.

I would change if I was you, you are paying him to put fear into your horse when getting her feet done :(
 
My mare got very stroppy with one farrier who came in with an aggresive attitude, and told her off before she did anything. She was always bad for him to shoe afterwards, and was very glad when I finally found another farrier to do her, and she has been an angel ever since!
Change farriers!
 
It's only any good complaining about the farrier disciplining the horse, if you can honestly say that the owner would have made the horse behave. Very often a twitch hold or even just rubbing the nose can keep the horse calm for something that the horse isn't keen on. Whose idea was it to cross tie the horse?
If you are sure that given the opportunity you would have been able to make the horse stand still, then I agree that you should change farriers. I do think that your farrier was a bit too quick off the mark.
Did he finish the shoeing? If he did and she behaved, I would give this farrier another chance.
 
Working under a horse the way that farriers/trimmers do is dangerous. It's not like picking the hooves out - you are right underneath and very vulnerable. A slight slip can make your back go crunch in a bad way - which is not only painful and dangerous, it will also result in a loss of earnings.

Farriers have a right to expect a well behaved horse and to be reasonably safe when working on a horse.

Having said that - most horses 'misbehave' during shoeing because of fear or pain. Aggression is not an answer to these issues.

It is certainly not the farrier's place to discipline the horse. If he felt in danger, he should simply walk away and explain why he won't work on the horse. The owner has a right to expect a calm and professional service.

So in answer - yes it does happen a lot. But that doesn't make it right.
 
I would not be happy with this AT ALL. My horse snatches her legs too. I hold on to the leg and pull it back at the same saying 'ah ah' and continue what I was doing. She soon gives up if I don't let go. If she manages to pull leg from my grasp I'll give her a slap on shoulder then immediately pick that same leg up.
 
A lot depends on how horsey your farrier is. I know mine well, and have groomed for him. I admire his horses and their manners, know how he tells them off and therefore am perfectly happy for him to sort them out. He's especially useful with anything young and ignorant as he's a heck of a lot stronger than I am so can deal with it much more easily.
Removing shoes myself off 20 polo ponies at the end of the season was quite an eye opener as to how physically hard work it is, and also how much easier it is on a well mannered horse.
 
tbh I'm thinking your mare sounds a little spoilt and you are overreacting. Yes, the farrier's behaviour was not ideal, but its your responsibility to train your horse to behave and not endanger the farrier when is doing his job. Farriers only have so much time to get through horses in their day. Your horse's behaviour reflects on you as owner. The fact your mare had to be cross-tied in the first place surely indicates you know she is likely to play up.
 
Pearlsacarolsinger said:
It's only any good complaining about the farrier disciplining the horse, if you can honestly say that the owner would have made the horse behave. Very often a twitch hold or even just rubbing the nose can keep the horse calm for something that the horse isn't keen on. Whose idea was it to cross tie the horse?
If you are sure that given the opportunity you would have been able to make the horse stand still, then I agree that you should change farriers. I do think that your farrier was a bit too quick off the mark.
Did he finish the shoeing? If he did and she behaved, I would give this farrier another chance.
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Just as last time I could definitely of got her to behave, he decided to go straight in with hard arse attitude! The way he held onto her was in no way calming for her! It terrified her and made her react worse! I always cross tie her (not tightly) just because the YO suggested it when I got her and she has always stood like an angel in them. She prob doesn't need to be!
Yes he finished the shoeing, once I told him to stop what he was doing he was calmer with her and started praising (as I do and he did last time) and it worked like a charm.
 
Isn't twisting a bit of the neck accepted as a method of twitching? Might have been a bit overly rough about it though

Personally I'd give him another chance, it's not an excuse of course but he is probably under huge pressure to please everyone at this time of year as well as trying to finish so he gets a decent break over Christmas - a misbehaving horse may have been the final straw for him yesterday

We all have bad days and you could argue that he can't afford to but you could cut your nose off to spite your face if you give an otherwise good farrier the boot
 
Mithras said:
tbh I'm thinking your mare sounds a little spoilt and you are overreacting. Yes, the farrier's behaviour was not ideal, but its your responsibility to train your horse to behave and not endanger the farrier when is doing his job. Farriers only have so much time to get through horses in their day. Your horse's behaviour reflects on you as owner. The fact your mare had to be cross-tied in the first place surely indicates you know she is likely to play up.
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I have to disagree with you, she is definitely not spoilt! And I don't believe I am over reacting either, nobody should treat my horse like that especially without my say so. The farrier was in no danger what so ever until he became aggressive with her, that's when she started jumping around! All she did to start him off was put her foot down and annoy him! And I was not expecting her to play up at all, we just cross tie at our yard.

I am the first person to slap her on the shoulder if she snatched her foot down but he took it too far. I know my horse and I know that if you praise her she will do anything.
 
Crazycob06 said:
Just as last time I could definitely of got her to behave, he decided to go straight in with hard arse attitude! The way he held onto her was in no way calming for her! It terrified her and made her react worse! I always cross tie her (not tightly) just because the YO suggested it when I got her and she has always stood like an angel in them. She prob doesn't need to be!
Yes he finished the shoeing, once I told him to stop what he was doing he was calmer with her and started praising (as I do and he did last time) and it worked like a charm.
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In that case, ask him to come back, talk to him about the best way to deal with her and make sure that if she does start moving about, you deal with it immediately. I wouldn't cross-tie, IMO it makes the horse feel restricted and means that the owner can't do much with the horse. I prefer to hold the horse myself.
 
Thing is, when horse's leg (and often weight) is on yours, and you probably have tools in your hand or knocked up clenches to rip your arm/ jeans on the way down, then horse deciding to put its foot down suddenly is seriously rude and often painful.
 
Welsh d I am considering it, I hate the way he handled her but he is such a good farrier that I'm hoping now he knows I don't like that behaviour he won't do it. I also have to think of my mare, will she be please to see him again! I have a while to decide. The last time he was fantastic, but that was our first visit.
 
I totally understand and respect that loobylu and that's where she would of got a slap on the shoulder from me and I would of expected that from him. He caused her to react worse.
 
What have other customers of his said about him? Often other local people will have information which will let you know if this is normal behaviour for him, or if it is a one off, maybe because he is unwell, pi$$ed off about something else, or it maybe that your mare lent on him just prior to grabbing her foot back and he found that dangerous. Always worth speaking to the professionals dealing with your animals, as well, to ask why they have done what they have.
 
If he is the normal yard farrier could you maybe ask him to check the horse next time he is there? You know just pick up the feet and let you know if the shoes are wearing evenly or something? Just see him handle the horse without the pressure of shoeing and see how he treats her then
 
It does sound like an over reaction BUT horses should not mess around for the farrier! I would rather my horse was twitched or even sedated rather than have them mess around for the farrier, they have a hard, dangerous job, one that is made 100x worse by a horse that wont stand still.

If he really is a good farrier then he is worth sticking with, especially as when you told him you didnt like his attitude, he changed it. I would suggest you spend some time teaching you horse to hold her leg up for longer periods of time than just picking out feet, so she is more used to it.
 
Pearlsacarolsinger said:
In that case, ask him to come back, talk to him about the best way to deal with her and make sure that if she does start moving about, you deal with it immediately. I wouldn't cross-tie, IMO it makes the horse feel restricted and means that the owner can't do much with the horse. I prefer to hold the horse myself.
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I think I will try this, Thank you
 
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