Farrier smacked my horse....

I've not read all the replies but I did read up to where you say what happened.

Tbh I do think she was right to give him a smack, my OH is a farrier and he has been hurt a few times by misbehaving horses and it's not pleasent :/

Recently he was clenching up and the horse started waving it's leg about, he tried to keep hold and the nail went into his palm. He got caught up and had his hand flung about a bit before he managed to un-impale himself. He now has a puncture wound that goes along his palm to his second last finger about 1/2-1" and will have to go update his tetanus jab which he struggles to find time to do.

A couple of weeks before he had a knuckle fractured and narrowly missed a proper kick to the face by a horse - the kick to the face was when he was doing a front and the horse attempted to cow kick with only 3 legs on the ground, it just skimmed the side of his eye socket luckily but any closer and it could have been very serious!

A couple of weeks before that a horse was pratting about and he had his shoulder pulled tearing the muscle.

He gets kicked fairly often unfortunately although sometimes through horses who are scared or nervous. He has a very lovely, quiet and reassuring manner he often gets the more difficult ones that the other farriers he works with don't want to do as they tend to behave more for him.

His best friend had his leg broken last year from a hefty kick and was off work for quite a few months while it healed :(

It's one of those jobs where they expect injuries on a relatively frequent basis but do expect that people try and instill as many manners as possible in their horses (as I'm very sure you do! :)) on the occasions when a horse is taking the pee I feel they are well within their rights to give them a wee smack to tell them it's not on.

At the end of the day it's their bodies that are their livelyhood and if an injury occurs it can be a serious knock to their income. The job doesn't come with sick pay or a pension and they have a career shelf life so they have to be as careful as they can to prevent getting hurt.

I understand why you were a bit shocked though but I'm sure you trust your farrier and I bet you next time your boy will be a lot better behaved for her ;) He was probably just testing the boundaries and now he knows he won't get away with cheeky antics ;)
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
Thank you for the sensible replies. As I say, I did wonder if I just being a bit daft.
Moomin...as you said, its better that she be the one to correct him. Certainly made him stop and think..!!! He can be a bit sharp at times so he needs firm handling and I dont let him get away with throwing his weight about. Despite some of the replies that seem to believe I dont discipline him..I do but Im careful HOW I handle him because of his past :) xx
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Good for you, You asked the question and accepted the general response.
The only thing I'd say, is regardless of his history, treat him like any other young horse. his past is the past.
 
I get the point...he needs to be treated firmly regardless of his previous life. Please dont get me wrong, I don't mollycoddle him and I do know this. Im just aware that he has a past and I dont wish to jeopardise the progress we have made over the las 12 months, if that makes sense.
He is a bit of a wally and like a teenage lad on lager at the moment so Im doing best best to give him things to think about but Im no expert and Im going slowly as I dont want him ruined.
 
Moomin1 said:
How is it untactful to say that same thing? Don't get that?
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Eh, I don't actually get what you are asking me.

To clarify, I wanted to say what DAMS said without upsetting SLH and I couldn't think of how to word it so said nothing. DAMS hit the nail on the head, in a tactful way, so I agreed.
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
I get the point...he needs to be treated firmly regardless of his previous life. Please dont get me wrong, I don't mollycoddle him and I do know this. Im just aware that he has a past and I dont wish to jeopardise the progress we have made over the las 12 months, if that makes sense.
He is a bit of a wally and like a teenage lad on lager at the moment so Im doing best best to give him things to think about but Im no expert and Im going slowly as I dont want him ruined.
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Well horses just like everything to be really clear, and it's only when you add confusion into the mix that they start to get upset and you run the risk of 'ruining' them. So when you give them a single smack for being difficult when they know what they should be doing, the horse will readily accept it and move on. If however, someone goes way over the top and really lays into them or hits them for no good reason, that's when you get an unhappy and potentially scared or violent horse developing.

ETA: I hope you don't think I was being in any way rude in my first post - you sound like you're doing a lovely job with your youngster and it is probably because you've done a good job of teaching him that he should stand still that he snapped out of it when she gave him a slap and manned up a bit. It sounds like he knew what he was supposed to be doing, he just hadn't engaged his brain properly.
 
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Ned is absolutely awful to shoe, so I always tell the farrier "without beating him, do what you like if he's naughty" last time he snatched his hoof away, he got a slap on the shoulder and a growl. He deserved it!
 
justabob said:
Oh for gods sake get a grip of yourself! What in gods name is happening to this forum with idiotic threads like this. If you feel affronted that your farrier had to try and teach your horse some manners, you should seriously look at your horsemanship skills.
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Agree!!!
 
I think it's perfectly reasonable, like the OP, to be a little affronted that someone smacked your horse, then after reasoned discussion to accept that it may have been the best thing to do. I certainly don't think it questions the OP's horsemanship skills!
 
I myself had an attempt at trimming once and have never felt so vulnerable, every twitch the horse made seemed to ripple down into the hoof I was holding. Not the same as picking out feet at all, so I have a new respect and appreciation for farriers and trimmers. It's hard work on a good horse! It sounds like your farrier did right OP but I understand why you may have got upset over it. It's hard in the moment to be exactly sure what is happening is good or detrimental. I had a farrier get very cross with my horse when she was objecting to having a back foot done. She is normally an angel and turned out she actually had something else going on and was trying to say it hurt. But I let him get angry with my horse and felt awful afterwards when I realised what was going on. So I get why you may have got upset. It's hard to see when the line is crossed sometimes
 
With him only being a baby I would make everything as easy for you and the farrier, when mine has anythnig new done (or 'different' like the farrier) his friends come in as well and are near him so he has one less thing to worry about.
 
Actually op it is you that is at fault for not setting it up properly.....horse should have been sprayed and put in an area that discouraged flies and his friend should have been tied up nearby.....you set it up to fail and your horse reaped the consequences....he is only 3 after all!! No correction should have been necessary!!
 
justabob said:
Oh for gods sake get a grip of yourself! What in gods name is happening to this forum with idiotic threads like this. If you feel affronted that your farrier had to try and teach your horse some manners, you should seriously look at your horsemanship skills.
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Oh for gods sake get a grip of yourself! What in gods name is happening to this forum with idiotic replies like this. If you feel affronted that people are upset that their farrier had to try and teach their horse some manners (even if they go on to moderate their views), you should seriously look at your lack of people skills. :cool3:

An instant response from the farrier is better than a delayed response from the handler. A hand slap and a shout is better than a hit with a piece of metal. It's the kind of behaviour one would expect from a typical farrier. There may have been a better way to deal with the behaviour, or maybe not. The point is moot - the horse's behaviour improved. The horse doesn't appear to have been traumatized. All's well that ends well.

ETA: Alyth's point about preparation is an excellent one and worth heeding for the future.
 
I would not give this a second thought correction from the farrier with her hand in the moment he kicked out will do the horse a power of good .
I would up your work handling the hind legs and feet he ought not be kicking at the farrier as a three year old.
 
My farrier was recently kicked by another horse on the yard and it ended up with him sustaining a fractured pelvis and months of recovery. The horse in question is a 17.2h 8 year old that should've known better!
 
So next time cover him in fly spray and put a light sheet on him!

My mare used to get impatient standing around to be shod, She was a fidget more than anything but it did get annoying for the farrier. The flies also drove her mad so I covered her top to toe in spray (which she hated but tough!) and rugged her for the farrier. It made life easier for everyone!
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
I get the point...he needs to be treated firmly regardless of his previous life. Please dont get me wrong, I don't mollycoddle him and I do know this. Im just aware that he has a past and I dont wish to jeopardise the progress we have made over the las 12 months, if that makes sense.
He is a bit of a wally and like a teenage lad on lager at the moment so Im doing best best to give him things to think about but Im no expert and Im going slowly as I dont want him ruined.
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I get you.
Its difficult to convey the whole picture about your approach without writing an essay ! That's one of the downsides of posting on a forum.
 
I suppose it depends on how well you know/trust your farrier.My farrier is really good with problem shoers even other farriers have said that as he has patience.We had a horse on loan that needed sedation when we got it to be shod and he took time to work with horse until she got shod without sedation and he didn't smack or anything even tho previously had been dangerous to shoe so trust his judgement that if horse needed a slap he needed it!Plus like the fact he gives them a hug afterwards!!
I know a few folk that would not even tolerate a slap to their horse no matter how much of a pratt its being.
So as long as you trust your farrier would just let it go.

ps do think as they are extensions of our family and for most a pet some folk akin it to someone else smacking your child!!
 
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Lol, we practically encourage our farrier to discipline our 4yo (he's had front shoes on this year) if he's being a bit uncouth as he's a big brute and needs a firm hand, better coming immediately from the farrier than a delayed response from us. Some days he's good, others less so. Fortunately for the farrier we have two that are angels to do - lifting feet before he gets there and never moving a muscle the whole time, so having to deal with one who's less well behaved is diluted a bit! :)

ETA I smack my friends horse sometimes if I'm grooming for her, I don't appreciate being bitten/attempts at biting me thank you very much! He's old enough to know better too but its still not appreciated! :)
 
I have not read all the replies, but I am supprting the farrier on this one. It's a dangerous job and the farrier is not there to discipline our horses for us. We have a duty to present our horses as well behaved and sensible animals. Bringing them in well in advance of he farrier's expected time and letting them settle is essential, leaving his pal out in the field shouting was not at all sensible.
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
I was there, I was at his head end..!!! I never leave people to just deal with my horses. He was being trimmed, not shod...he is only 3. And he had been fly sprayed previous to the farrier getting there.
She only smacked him with her hand. After reading all the replies here Im not going to give it another thought, I certainly wouldn't want the farrier hurt..!!! To be fair he behaved well after, I think it was me that was more suprised :o
This is exactly why I asked was I overreacting...which clearly I am :o
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I havent read any further than this comment but thought i would say you have done the right thing asking for opinions and then come to the right decision to think no more of it :)

We simply cannot allow bad manners with such large powerful animals and as others have said she probably hurt her hand more than she hurt him the naughty little sod :rolleyes:

There is a line between smacking a horse because it is geniunly scared and smacking a horse because he is being rude and naughty. If my horse was scared I wouldnt have been impressed with the smack but at the same time being at the head end i would have already had a conversation with the farrier and if it was because he was being bad mannered and naughty she would have had to of joined the queue for telling him off ;)
 
Just to clear up a few things for those who answered but didnt read any of my other replies.
The horse HAD been treated with fly spray and was in a safe area whete there were less flies about.
The horse has seen the farrier every 6 weeks since he came here with no issues other than fidgeting.
This is a new farrier that he has only seen a couple of times.
He is brilliant to have his feet picked up, picked out and messed with etc...I make this a very important rule.
He had another horse with him, one that is an angel to do in every way just for support. I have been told he needs to man up away from the friend anyway plus said friend is sold and leaving this weekend.
I have not at any point said my horse is an angel...far from it, I accept he is a git.
I have already stated through this thread several times that, after reading the replies, I have stopped and thought about it more objectively and feel that the farrier was right to smack him. As I say, I was just a bit shocked at the time.
 
SatansLittleHelper said:
Just to clear up a few things for those who answered but didnt read any of my other replies.
The horse HAD been treated with fly spray and was in a safe area whete there were less flies about.
The horse has seen the farrier every 6 weeks since he came here with no issues other than fidgeting.
This is a new farrier that he has only seen a couple of times.
He is brilliant to have his feet picked up, picked out and messed with etc...I make this a very important rule.
He had another horse with him, one that is an angel to do in every way just for support. I have been told he needs to man up away from the friend anyway plus said friend is sold and leaving this weekend.
I have not at any point said my horse is an angel...far from it, I accept he is a git.
I have already stated through this thread several times that, after reading the replies, I have stopped and thought about it more objectively and feel that the farrier was right to smack him. As I say, I was just a bit shocked at the time.
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Nothing to worry about then ;)
 
If my horse kicked out at the farrier i'd have no objection to them giving them a wallop! They'd get the same off me if they'd done that too. Not acceptable an they need to know that!
 
Agree with the replies I've read. Not read them all. But if my horse was being a twit which is quite often I'd not be bothered with the farrier giving him a smack. But I'd like to be on top if it first so they didn't feel they needed to take control

It's their livelihood at stake at the end of the day
 
Many many years ago now my pony was being a little b**** to shoe. Moving around when she had had her shoe taken off causing the foot to chip out of shape etc etc
Farrier had had enough and walloped her with the rasp. I was shocked at the time being young myself but it made her stop and stand perfectly. Never had to do it again in the 8 years I've had her either. Totally depends on the horse.
 
Clodagh said:
With him only being a baby I would make everything as easy for you and the farrier, when mine has anythnig new done (or 'different' like the farrier) his friends come in as well and are near him so he has one less thing to worry about.
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Like this thinking.
 
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