Farrier issue WWYD

Leam_Carrie

Leam_Carrie

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It's not been a good evening. My horse moved yards a couple of months ago and so tonight was being shod by a new farrier. She has always been fine to shoe, although she is a bit funny about one back leg (pulling back, nothing worst). I got to the yard and she was part way through being done and not happy. The farrier was in a grump and she's a sensitive arab. She was playing up for the farrier as he was trying to put shoes on and was barring her teeth (never seen her do that before). As she was really playing up, I apologised to the farrier. He got her front shoes on and she was shaking. He went to put her a back shoe on and she went to kick, so he shouted at her, tried again and then smacked her. I told him to stop at this point as the horse was in a state. He left and his colleague tried, but my horse was having none of it.

Completely appreciate that as a farrier they need to take their personal safety seriously, a kick from a horse is incredible dangerous - so entirely understand they can't have a horse put them in danger. I'm just not sure what to do now:
- option one: horse played up as she didn't like the farrier and he was a bit rougher than she's used to. Get another farrier and see if she's ok?
- option two: she's decided that she doesn't like farriers. Is there anything I can give her to keep her calm?
- option three: the horse is playing up as in pain so get a vet or physio?
- option four: let her go barefoot and get hoof boots?

Or anything else you can suggest... Any ideas would be fab as I currently have a horse with just front shoes.

Thanks everyone.
 
If you can be around when she is shod, you can then handle her in the most appropriate way for her and see exactly what goes on.

Will you're old farrier come to your new yard - if she got on with him then that would be ideal.

You can practice getting her used to feet up and down lots, tapping and banging yourself a lot so she gets better with having her feet done generally.

If she is particularly stiff on one back leg I might get a vet to have a quick look next time they are on the yard, my farrier is excellent at spotting minor stiffness in my big horse, he knows if I've ridden the day before or not and often points out stiffness on one side when the big boy has been a touch unlevel.
 
Had the same problem with a farrier when my youngster was being trimmed. She said he had tried to kick her which I have never known him do before...so she smacked him and shouted. I was quite annoyed to be honest though I see that its a safety issue.
Anyhow, I changed farrier, horse as good as gold :)
 
Hmm, my farrier won't raise his voice to a horse, his view is that it is the owners job to manage the horse's behaviour not his. I wouldn't have it any other way tbh.

Your mare might not be as agile & flexible as she once was and so a bit fidgety, especially in a new place & if he was being short tempered with her. I would not tolerate it and would want another farrier tbh.
 
Leam_Carrie said:
Bit of a novice horse owner, do I get sedative from the vet?
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You can get all manner of calmers over the counter or something like Sedalin from the vet

For my jumpy nervy pony i find that the thing that works the best is a huge bucket of chaff with a scoop of pony nuts in, searching for the nuts keeps him distracted, i do have to hold the bucket or hook it on something so his head is up and out of the way
 
How do you manage with her. Is she ok to have her feet picked up by you.Farrier should take a little more time with her maybe.
 
as said, maybe new farrier was holding legs up a bit longer/at a different angle to last one, exacerbated by her perhaps being unsettled. being 18, she might not find it so easy anymore. If she's always been good before I'd give her the benefit of the doubt.
 
Personally I'd get old farrier back

If you can't.... Speak to vets about sedative....I've used Sedalin and 'the stuff that goes under the tongue' (help me out here guys!! :S)
Horse went bonkers on Sedalin as he is a worrier type so other stuff was best....
He did have a medical problem tho which made picking up his back legs in that way painful.... It has taken about 2 years for him to totally accept being shod again without a sedative and trust our farrier.....our farrier has also had to try new technics I.e hooves cant be pulled straight up and can Only be held about 1ft off the floor.

Also what time did your horse use to be shod? Only both of mine are better in the afternoon than the morning..... Weird but thats horses for you!
 
gmw said:
How do you manage with her. Is she ok to have her feet picked up by you.Farrier should take a little more time with her maybe.
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She picks her feet up for me if I tap the leg I want. After all this I calmed her down and then asked her to pick up her feet. Which she did fine and stood holding each one for a minute or so. Without wanting to sound a bit nuts I think the farriers mood upset her... she needed gentle and calm, they both wound each other up.
 
I would assume that she is probably a bit arthritic, and your old farrier probably was a bit more gentle and took his time. On top of that, she is probably still a little stressed about the move - older horses don't like change.

I would ask around if there is a more sympathetic farrier available, I would also give her bute a few days before the farrier is due (will help if slightly arthritic) and would also ensure that I was there for the whole farrier visit - and not just the end.

I am sure that going forwards she will be fine again.
 
You are not alone, my welsh sec a kick the apprentice tonight, she's in season and he was slow and she'd had enough and she's never done that before as I know of as we bought her in May, but she's been as good as gold till today. And he's a lovely quiet lad.
 
Unless the mare is on full livery, you need to be there holding her for the whole of the farrier's visit. If you had been you could have made sure that he knew about he slightly stiff leg, how she usually behaves for the farrier and any other info that he wanted to know. I'm not surprised the farrier was grumpy.
But equally I don't understand why you have changed farrier just because you have changed yards.
 
Echo Bravo said:
You are not alone, my welsh sec a kick the apprentice tonight, she's in season and he was slow and she'd had enough and she's never done that before as I know of as we bought her in May, but she's been as good as gold till today. And he's a lovely quiet lad.
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Thanks, hope yours is all fine. I love mates, but they do have their moments.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Unless the mare is on full livery, you need to be there holding her for the whole of the farrier's visit. If you had been you could have made sure that he knew about he slightly stiff leg, how she usually behaves for the farrier and any other info that he wanted to know. I'm not surprised the farrier was grumpy.
But equally I don't understand why you have changed farrier just because you have changed yards.
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She is on part-livery, so they look after her and treat her like their own - and are much more experienced than me. Part of the package is holding her for the farrier or vets.

I'm told the farrier was grumpy when he arrived, nothing to do with the horse or me - although her behaviour didn't make things better.

I had hoped to be there for the whole time and went straight after work. Lesson learnt and I'll be there next time - it's tricky being a novice horse owner :-).
 
Just try and be there next time and stand by her head, scratch her ears or whatever she likes, even give her mints just to amuse and encourage her. She just sounds like a sensitive arab, I'm sure she'll be fine next time.
 
personally I would go barefoot but that doesn't solve the problem if you want her shod, therefore I would go with option one, he was obviously too rough and you don't want her getting more nervous everytime
 
I would not have this farrier back. There has to be some reason why your horse was unsettled before you got there. Also, he will now have a preconceived view of how she's going to behave. Horses can be really different if approached by someone who is already "grumpy" on arrival.
 
Thanks for the farrier suggestions - really appreciate it.
I did try her barefoot, but her hooves got worn down on the road as she loves to hack. The farrier even today commented it was nice to see shoes properly worn.
 
Get your vet to check her out - but be there.
If she has got a bit of arthritis ask your vet for a pack of bute and then give her two sachets of bute two hours before she is shod which should take the edge off any discomfort. I would also suggest that you are always there for the shoeing to supervise things.
 
MotherOfChickens said:
as said, maybe new farrier was holding legs up a bit longer/at a different angle to last one, exacerbated by her perhaps being unsettled. being 18, she might not find it so easy anymore. If she's always been good before I'd give her the benefit of the doubt.
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I go with MotherOfChickens! The farrier caused her to 'misbehave'. Horses do what they think they need to do to survive. Either get your old farrier back or allow her to be barefoot and use boots if necessary....
 
Change farrier, be there at appointments if possible but also I would be having a vet mot. At 18 she is highly likely to have some health niggles particularly arthritis. The over wearing of shoes says so to me that maybe she isn't picking her feet up so well. Vet can prescribe some bute for when she has the farrier to help. A sympathetic farrier is a must with an older horse. Mine is superbly patient with my old mare. Have you thought about just leaving hinds off as most horses will cope with that.
 
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