Horse grumpy with farrier... help...

[Leam_Carrie]

Well my mare disgraced herself today half taking a kick at the farrier. There wasn’t an obvious reason for it. I obviously told her off and apologised to him.

I wondered if maybe she was feeling stiff so it was uncomfortable (23 year old Arab who is stiff behind... alongside navicular, sweet itch and cushings!). He thought she was being grumpy. Only medical change is she is now on prascend - and is fresher when ridden.

She’d an odd creature - very nice and easy to do, as long as you don’t cross her line and hurt her (for a good reason e.g. nerve block or back treatment).

Hoping someone can give a magic solution so she never thinks about doing it again...

 

[TheMule]

Is she on any bute? Either give her some before next time if she isn't, or up it if she is. My oldie has a little extra before the farrier which keeps her happy

 

[Pinkvboots]

She may feel uncomfortable being shod now if she is stiff, might be worth giving her a few Bute a few hours before to help, I do also find stiff horses struggle with keeping legs on the stand for the finish off, might be worth asking if he could make the stand lower or give her break and do it in 2 stages.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Thanks both. She is on a sachet a bute a day - which she has in her PM feed. I’ll try giving her extra before she’s shod - maybe a couple of sachets that morning . X

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

I would deffo suspect your girl is in pain somewhere and is "saying" so loud and clear; my old boy could be a bit funny with the farrier sometimes as he got older, and I knew it was because he found it hard to stand around and be asked to lift his legs into difficult positions! Probably the same for your old gal.

Don't know what you can do TBH: other than perhaps to make sure she's well Buted-Up before the farrier is due to visit.......... perhaps also you could ask an equine physio to show you some stretches you could do with her to limber her up generally.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

I would deffo suspect your girl is in pain somewhere and is "saying" so loud and clear; my old boy could be a bit funny with the farrier sometimes as he got older, and I knew it was because he found it hard to stand around and be asked to lift his legs into difficult positions! Probably the same for your old gal.

Don't know what you can do TBH: other than perhaps to make sure she's well Buted-Up before the farrier is due to visit.......... perhaps also you could ask an equine physio to show you some stretches you could do with her to limber her up generally.

Stretched are a good idea. I could do some figure of 8s to loosen her up x

 

[Seville]

It would be nice if your farrier did it in stages and tried not to hold her legs too high or for too long. She sounds stiff and uncomfortable.

 

[SEL]

I've got 2 who struggle a bit. I'm all for a bit of bribery as well as bute to get the job done quickly and safely. Ardennes gets grass nuts shoved down him especially when he has to take the weight on his bad leg. Farrier is asked to be quick and not worry too much about making the feet look pretty.

Ardennes doesn't kick tho just snatches his feet away. My mare will cow kick so needs breaks - & a lot of praise and a polo when the leg is being worked on.

 

[paddy555]

I had an older horse like this, he didn't kick but was uncomfortable picking his hinds up to be shod. Farrier and I decided we would leave him barefoot behind and it worked. You can trim a barefoot horse with the foot kept very low if needed. If you want to ride you could always get some boots for the hinds for a couple of months to get him over the initial going barefoot behind. Ours was one of those who couldn't even stand on one foot with the shoe removed so I wondered what would happen without them. After less than a year he was trotting sound on gravel, barefoot on all 4.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Thanks everyone. She isn’t shod behind - so it was just a trim and tidy. He was pretty quick. Hopefully Bute and stretches will help .

 

[pippixox]

Agree with others. Try gentle stretches and some pain relief beforehand. Do they tend to have been in all night and farrier in the morning? As then will be stiffer? (Although I know it the winter you want to reduce wet mud for farrier!)

My old boy can sometimes grab his back legs a bit. But been better since he only gets trimmed now and comes in from field only for a few hours beforehand.

 

[Nudibranch]

I used to put travel boots on mine for half an hour to keep his legs warm before the farrier, as well as walking him round and giving a bute. He had arthritis in various places aged 7. When he really went for the farrier one day (totally out of character) I knew it was time to call it a day.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Agree with others. Try gentle stretches and some pain relief beforehand. Do they tend to have been in all night and farrier in the morning? As then will be stiffer? (Although I know it the winter you want to reduce wet mud for farrier!)

My old boy can sometimes grab his back legs a bit. But been better since he only gets trimmed now and comes in from field only for a few hours beforehand.

She lives out with access to hard standing and hay, to keep her moving. It was lunchtime so we may have caught her post morning snooze. Hopefully Bute and stretches will sort it.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

I used to put travel boots on mine for half an hour to keep his legs warm before the farrier, as well as walking him round and giving a bute. He had arthritis in various places aged 7. When he really went for the farrier one day (totally out of character) I knew it was time to call it a day.

I can see that this is something to watch. If she can’t have her feet trimmed comfortably then that is a pretty good sign .

Hopefully for her just a blip .

 

[MrsMozart]

Our old girl is getting stiff behind.

Her response to pain is to lash out, so she too is managed on a daily painkiller - when she needs more than that we'll know it's time - and the farrier keeps her hooves down low for her trim. So far that's working well.