How Do I Handle This please? Unhandled foal with hoof issue

L

Lakesidelil

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 May 2009
Messages
82
Visit site
I've recently taken on a little mare with a foal at foot. The foal is two months old and unhandled (no headcollar etc).

Since them arriving (last week) I was able to give the foal a little stroke and tickle last night)

The foal has a terrible long back hoof and she's sitting back on it so am desperate to get my farrier to look at it, but I need a plan of action here. I don't want to scare the poor little mite!

I have a stable which I can take the mare and foal into and the foal is very small. How should I proceed so that the farrier can do his work? Surely she's too young to have any kind of sedation and I guess my only other option is too hold her with one are round her bum and one round the front, but I am desperate not to make this a bad experiance for her.

Any advise please?
 
Can you not give her a few days of intensive, but kind and gentle, handling before the farrier comes?

Most foals this young take quickly to being handled once they have got over the initial frightened stage. You need to be gentle but persistent.

If the worst comes to the worst the foal can be safely sedated. In terms of drug metabolism foals mature very quickly compared to other species.
 
I have the farrier coming out in the morning, but unsure if I should go for it or have her done with next weeks visit.

I'm working as hard as I can with her, but I fear it's going to be very different when there's more than one person around her. I don't want to leave it for much longer though as I can clearly see it needs sorting ASAP. Why people let these things happen I'll never know!

Good to hear there is a sedation option if needed.
 
Bring the mare and foal in, you will probably have to corner the foal and may need someone to help you, be reassuring but you mustnt mind getting in there.

one hand in front of chest other behind, then get foal slip on, she will be wary of you, but you have to be quite brave and just get on with it, if you do she will soon come round.

If your not confident, i should get someone knowledgeable with foals to help you.
 
I really think you might be setting yourself up for trouble by restraining the foal to have it's feet done. Ideally you want every experence a young foal has to be a positive one, and a 2 month old foal is suprisingly strong when panicked.

I'd get out an intelligent horsemanship reccomended associate to do a couple of sessions with the foal, then ask them to come when the farrier is due to help you.

It sounds like you're not very experenced with foals, so they'd be able to show you lots of handling techniques to help you for the future with foalie
smile.gif
 
Hhhmm nothing in Lakesidelil's post shouts 'not very experianced' air 78. Perhaps a more subtle way of putting things may be a little better.

Lakesidelil as Daisychain has said. I'd go for the stable perhaps the day before and then have someone calmly restrain the foal........or do it yourself (I won't assume you know nothing).

Little foal will be fine as long as everyone keeps calm.

We all hate worrying if our horses will hate us for having something done to them.
 
At only 2 months old the hooves should be tiny with virtually no growth, i'd call the vet asap and bypass the farrier.
 
tbh i think sedation might well be safest and easiest for all concerned. the farrier needs the foal not to be struggling for him to be able to do his job properly, and an unhandled foal is pretty much guaranteed to panic... unsuprisingly.
i would book vet to come at same time as farrier, prepared to spend half an hour or so if necessary.
very best of luck, hope you get it sorted with no trauma!
 
I would alow about 2 weeks handling in order to have feet seen to without sedation.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about waiting that long as any problem should be easily rectified at such a young age.
 
Pink pencil- I don't come on this forum to be rude people, and would hate to think that my post had offended OP
blush.gif
Prehaps I could have phrased it better, or used a ? as it was more of an enquiry than anything.

The reason I said anything at all is that the OP says she has the mare and foal since last week, but the foal is still not even head collared, and given the fact that the foal has a leg handling problem and she's only managed a tentitive scratch/ stroke, having someone there to assist might have been good for the owner as well as the foal. Doing basic leg handling is always easier with two people anyway.
 
Agree with you CBFan.
If the farrier is out in the morning then ask him to have a look without necessarily doing anything to put your mind at rest that a week or so won't cause long term issues.

Then get to work handling, in the box. Foals are pretty inquisitive so if you sit in a corner and ignore her. She'll come over eventually and end up snuffling your head - don't reach out at this stage until she is really confident to stay next to you and then slowly stroke her shoulder and give her a little scratch until you can (crouching small like another foal) mutual groom her all along her shoulder and back. If she backs away just back off until she comes back to you.

I wouldn't go near her feet until she is happily accepting this and then start to stroke her legs. Little by little. Once you can do this just gently lift a front foot and put it down straight away and give her a nice scratch. Repeat all the way round - don't hold up for more than a second or two first time. From here you can build up to patting the bottom of her hoof, get a headcollar on (with a friend to hold her steady - just keep giving her a scratch and she'll settle).

good luck
wink.gif
 
There are two ways of getting over the initial 'lack of handling' issue.

One is to take your time, creep around, give scratchies where possible, slowly gain foalie's confidence. Could take weeks - or months!

The other way - and the one I would recommend - is to have one assistant holding the mare at an angle to the wall - ready to stop foal pushing between mare and wall. Then quietly move foal around until it is 'trapped' behind the mare. Quietly approach it from behind, work your way up beside it and get a thick rope around its neck, then hang on! Once foal stops panicking, start stroking it all over - or at least all areas you can reach while hanging onto the rope. Be calm, be quiet - but hang on!!

Once it is standing quietly, have your assistant pass you a foal headcollar. With the headcollar head piece in your right hand, pass right hand over neck. Quietly take the noseband in your left hand and pass your left hand up the foal's nose - naking noseband with it. Do up headpiece.

Do NOT - at this stage - try to hold the foal on the headcollar - chances are it will pull back and go over!! Keep rope around neck, and hook your little finger in the back of the headcollar so it gets the feel of pressure on its head - while your hand is firmly gripping the rope around the neck. Use that - plus the other hand behind foal - to move it around the stable - not 'leading' as such - too soon for that - more 'push and pull'! Once foal realises it can't get away it WILL settle - as long as you remain calm and quiet!

Then - get assistant (who MUST be capable and confident) to run a hand down a front leg. Foal won't like it much - tough! Keep doing it and once it stops stomping and trying to pull leg away, pick foot up and HOLD it up - for a minute or three - then put it down. Repeat! And again!! Then do back leg same side, same way. If it tries to kick, the assistant MUST hang on so foal realises kicking doesn't help (obviously the ONLY 'punishment' for kicking is that the assistant does NOT let go!! Then other side - same thing, same way.

Shouldn't take more than an hour - job done!

Of course I'm interpreting 'little mare' to mean little foal too. But I can do this with my ID foals who - while they have legs handled and picked up at a few days old - have often forgot all about it when they're due for the farrier! I had a chunky 8 week old filly in the other day to be trimmed and little Madam tried to kick the farrier when he first picked foot up. So I did a five minute version of the above, and she then 'remembered' and stood like a lamb for her first little trim!

[ QUOTE ]
At only 2 months old the hooves should be tiny with virtually no growth,

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry Marvie - it Ain't Necessarily SO! Little Magic - 8 weeks - had a good half inch of growth - with perfect feet. With all the rain some of us have had, the ground has been nice and soft and the little hooves have grown like stink! Lakesidelil's foal sounds like it might have been born with lax tendons and been down on its pasterns. These foals usually straighten up in a week or two, but they DO squash their heels down in the mean time and the toe gets no wear so she DOES need trimming back quite quickly to allow the leg to strengthen up in a normal position.
 
wouldn't go near her feet until she is happily accepting this and then start to stroke her legs. Little by little. Once you can do this just gently lift a front foot and put it down straight away and give her a nice scratch. Repeat all the way round - don't hold up for more than a second or two first time. From here you can build up to patting the bottom of her hoof, get a headcollar on (with a friend to hold her steady - just keep giving her a scratch and she'll settle).

You can do it this way - but you have to get the timing right and not let go at the same time as the foal is thinking about snatching away - either do it before or hang on to that leg until YOU are ready to let go.

Quicker and far safer for hind legs - an old fashioned wooden hook end walking stick - slip the hooked end under the fetlock and lift the hind leg up and forward to flex - once you have done this a dozen times of so the foal will not be worried about the leg being lifted - and if you need to hang on to it hold on by the hoof, not the leg- far more control. At three months old my foal could be trimmed all round without being held at all because we prepared him like this
 
Thanks all for your help.

I have handled foals before, however these are foals that I have bred and so I've always made sure they have plenty of human contact. However I've recently taken this mare and foal on along with a group of others - all either not handled or damn right naughty. It's been hard work in such a short space of time.

The foal in question did need to see a farrier and I used the method above with her Dam in the stable. All went well I am pleased to report.
 
sorry Janet, i generally steer clear of forums but thought it might be fun to join one. If it was one of ours i would be calling the ver straight away maybe thats how i should have phrased it. But not everyone i guess is able to do that. After all i've only seen this on one foal who was operated on, but occasionally you see some through the auctions who obviously have'nt been seen to.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top