Farrier/sedation ADVICE needed

I_A_P

I_A_P

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basically digby has been shod by our farrier for the third time today.
When i first had him he wasnt keen on picking his feet up but he has improved a lot.

The first time he was awkward picking his feet up but was quite happy.

Second time he kept leaping around and had to twitch him to do all feet as he wouldnt even let them keep a hold of his leg.

Third(today) again he wouldnt let one of the farriers anywhere near him...i think the farrier may have had doubts that i have no problem with him so he asked me to get hold of him....and he was absolutely fine so he then asked the other farrier to have a go and digby almost fell asleep-so he obviously has a dislike to the other one. He has no reason to not like my farrier as he is calm and patient and has never been rough or agressinve with him at all.
We managed to get both fronts done and he was getting a bit impatient so decided to do both hinds with the twitch and cold shoed him all round.

My farrier says he has never known a horse like it, and says he thinks we shd try ACP-can someone please explain what it is/how you give it to thewm/where you get it from as i have had no experience with it myself. I am very loathed to get a vet to sedate him each time its a bit ridiculous
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Any other advice is much appreciated
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ACP is a sedative, you give it to them in tablet/powder form and you can administer it yourself. You can buy it from the vets a few strips at a time I believe. Not used it myself but have friends who have for clipping etc.
Not sure I have any other helpful advice unless you have any helpful/experiened male friends or your dad maybe who could practice lifting his feet up and around like a farrier would do, maybe having a play with a rasp, have a little bang with a hammer as though you were knocking nails in... Might help?
 
thanks donadea- i may try and get dad to have a go then
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thats a good idea.

He is absolutely no problem at all, thing is when they first came he was awkward picking his feet up so i practised a few times each day and hes been really really good with me; but as i say its a bit trial and error we did wonder last time if he was just being very mpatient as he had been hanging around waiting for the vet and farrier all morning.

The first two shoes today he was fine.
 
Is he a youngster? Often with youngsters it is better to do fronts on one occasion, and hinds another, so they are not asked to stand still for so long.
 
hi, he is 6, the first time he was absolutely fine.

We were going to leave the hinds to do another day but the farriers felt it was probably better to get him done as he had been fine with his fronts .
 
iv used ACP for turning out after long term box rest. it just takes the egde off.

I used tablets the amount to give varies greatly with different horses.

Vet advised me to give 4 tablets half hour before walking out in hand, they had next to no effect! so it might take a few goes before you get the right dose.
 
My horse is a nightmare to be shod. I give her a tube of Sedalin a couple of hours before the farrier comes and he can usually do all four feet no problem I also don't give her any feed for a couple of hours so that she is hungary and is more interested in a haynet than what the farrier is doing. Also do lots of practise between visits copying what the farrier does e.g. the way they hold the legs and hammering on the shoes etc.
 
Thankyou he wasnt very interested in his haynet today despite not having eaten much this morning to be honest...he ate some but then started getting impatient.
 
My 6 year old can be a bit of a handful when shoeing & is scared of the smoke when hot shoeing. I lunge her for half hour before the farrier comes to take the edge off her.

I also give her less hay the night before so her is more interested in her hay when being shod.

I find these both help
 
Moon can be a right pain, though she has got steadily better. for our farrier at home she's an angel but for many others she's horrid!

If she's bas, I bribe her with hard feed for her hindlegs, seems to keep her occupied. Twitching works well with her too. I've never resorted to doping as it can make them a bit unsteady on their feet and they can tend to lean their weight onto the poor farrier!
 
Thanks both of you. I am against the whole dopng idea....i think if we can do the fronts like we did today without anything-he was fine! and then have to twitch it wuld probably be better for him.

i just dont want him to get stressed when he really isnt being mistreated or shouted at etc.
 
I had the same problem with G, he was terrified of one of the farriers and wouldnt stand at all. I changed farriers and have never had a problem. There was nothing wrong with the previous farrier at all, but for some reason he really was genuinely worried about letting him near his feet! Sorry not much help!

I have found the Glabal Herbs Calmer very very good for certain purposes, it chills them right out, but as boss says, can make them a bit dopey
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thats ok!

cant change farriers
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ours are one of thebest in the area...as long as hes ok with one then thats helpful!

i will have to have a think!
 
My year old plays up for my farrier, He doesn't like it when he puts the nails in, he starts leaping about. I give him some sedaline 40 mins before the farrier comes. This does help! but my pony still hates having his hoofs done
 
We give sedaline to the big girl to have her feet trimmed, there is no way she could be shod, short of anesthetising her and sedating farrier! We persevered for too long with twitching, she now does ok pretty much each time, provided she has not eaten after the sedaline has been given.
 
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